Covid 19 and Chronic Illness

So by now Covid has shown the world just how serious it is.  Images and stories have flooded every media outlet in existence.  I'm not going to go over a 5w's of what it is, who gets it and on and on.  What I do want to do is give updated information to the chronically ill and immunocompromised.   

I was very active with this on Facebook.  So much so that AARDA, The American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association, Inc. sent me a nice little notification saying I had shared the most for that week.

Nani!?

I didn't think too much of it.  I don't do this blog or Facebook for money, clicks, or likes.  Many of my friends know someone with an autoimmune disease other than I and I just wanted to share as much information from every credible source I could find.  Most people had no idea how it would affect the chronically ill and the information was conflicting.  No one was really thinking about us and it kinda annoyed me.

One report said "It's like the flu."  Another report said, "You'll be fine."  Then we start hearing, "The elderly, immunocompromised, and children need to be concerned."  Then we added pregnant women.  All the while, those not in the at risk groups were going on about their lives like it didn't matter and possibly spreading this thing by not practicing sanitizing of hands and social distancing.

As we saw by the college spring breakers in Florida, many people think this is a joke and that the government is over reacting.  After seeing the pictures and videos from overseas, I say the government didn't act fast enough.  If we can prevent even half of what's happened abroad, then it's worth it.

So What Does Covid-19 Do?

There are dozens of articles and infographics on this.  In a nutshell, it gets into the lungs and causes inflammation.  It can lead to pneumonia.  The immune system tries to attack it but ends up attacking everything in sight.  It can lead to respiratory distress.  Here is an article posted on AARDA by Dr. Betty Diamond of AARDA's Scientific Advisory Board.

This video by Science Insider on YouTube is the best illustration for the disease and its progression.

What Treatments Are There?

I've read an article that says they are looking into using anti-malarials such as Hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin to treat this.

Pause.

Both of these are drugs used in the treatment of Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and other diseases.  They suppress the immune response and reduce inflammation.

They are also working on a vaccine and trials for that began a week ago or so from the date of this posting.  For more information, check out the article written by the FDA here.


So what do we do?

Precautions

The following precautions come directly from the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation's website.

• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol if soap and water are not available. Please see the CDC’s Handwashing Information for more information.

• Avoid contact with people who are sick.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
• Stay home when you are sick.
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.
• Facemasks should be used by people who show symptoms of COVID-19 to reduce the spread of the disease to others.
• Avoid travel to places where COVID-19 has occurred. 

I, personally, will wear a mask when I go out.  I catch colds faster than most and I'm not taking any chances.  Some protection is better than NONE.  The media has shown us that people don't listen and they could be infected and unknowingly be spreading it.  

This thing could go on for months.  I think we need to just accept that and plan accordingly.  I'll be posting a few articles in the next few days on what those of us with chronic illness and tight budgets can do to prepare ourselves and our families the best we can.

In the meantime we should stay calm, be kind, and use our heads.  Stressing out is no good.

Until next post.

Chronic Pain and Clutter

While revamping the minimalism post, I came across a blog that sort of pressed my buttons.  I stepped away from the computer and decided to do something else as I processed the WHY this blog irritated me.

The person writing the blog did not come from a place of a person with a chronic illness.  Her blog was solely aimed at those healthy enough to follow the advice.  I tend to forget there is a difference and not everyone understands what it is to live with a chronic condition.  So once I got that through my head, I sat down and re-read the blog but put a spin on some of the information.

Chronic Pain, Clutter, and Mental Health

Photo by Sasha Freeman at Unsplash

Clutter isn't always a representation of our mental health.  More often than not it is a reflection of our PHYSICAL health or inability to clean and stay on top of our cleaning due to our conditions.  For example, last fall I had a flare.  My joints and back ached so badly that the little bit of pain medication I could take did nothing to stop the pain.  Add to that the fatigue from not sleeping due to pain and it was all I could do to just get out of bed and smile most days.  The chores backed up.  Declutter kid closets and our outside shed, I think not.

Decluttering Isn't A Marathon Session

Photo by Pau Casals at Unsplash

Decluttering takes time and diligence.  We can't just choose a day and declutter every single room.  Experience has taught me that's a sure fire way to bring yourself a world of needless suffering.  You'll be in pain, tired, achey and will probably have a much larger mess to deal with.  Then your mood will follow because you feel like crap and you accomplished nothing.

If you're decluttering to achieve a state of minimalism, you need to take it slowly.  Minimalism is a lifestyle - something you'll be doing...forever.  You've been a clutter bug all this time so expect it to take some time to transition into another lifestyle with different habits.

Don't Go It Alone

For an independent person who suddenly finds themselves limited by chronic illness, it becomes imperative that you reach out.  Ask family, friends, volunteers, charity organizations for help when it comes to decluttering.  Many will be willing to come for an afternoon or two to help.  Offer pizza!

Pace Yourself

Do one room at a time.  If one room is too much, do half the room.  Little by little it will start to add up.  Try to work for ten minutes at a time.  If that is too much, do five.  You can get a good deal done in five minutes.

Use Checklists

Just about any declutterer / minimalist will agree checklists can help focus on what needs to be done.  Go into a room and write down different areas you want to tackle.  For example:

Bedroom

• Bed - Make bed hotel nice
• Nightstands - Clear off
• Dresser - Organize top
• Dresser - Purge drawers
• Closet - Purge shoes
• Closet - Purge pants

And so on!

In no time at all you'll see a major difference.

You Are Responsible For Your Stuff

Photo by The Creative Exchange at Unsplash

Stop cleaning everyone else's room.  That's right.  Your children are responsible for their own rooms.  At some point parents stopped making children be responsible for putting their things away.  Let them clean them themselves.  I worked in a daycare once.  Toddlers know how to pick something up and put it away if you show them.  Make it a game.  Sing and dance and offer a small reward when they do what they've been asked.

Elementary, middle school, and high school kids know better.  Make them be responsible.  You have enough going on without cleaning their room too.  Be old school.  They don't clean - no phone, no tv, no friends, no excuses.  It's okay for them to be mad at us.  They will live.

For more tips, check out the article by Gabrielle Savoie at MyDomaine.com.  This is perhaps the most thorough article I've read on this subject.

Above all BE GOOD TO YOURSELF  

 

Photo by Tim Goedhart at Unsplash

You're already fighting hard against yourself with your chronic illness.  Don't make battles where they don't need to be.  Take your time, focus on what's important, and do what you can. Last I checked, there weren't any competitions on orderliness.

I hope this helps.  Thank you for reading.

As always, keep moving forward!

Second Attempt At Minimalism

Second Attempt At Minimalism

A long time ago I wrote a post about how hard minimalism is.  It was frustrating trying to do minimalism as I had seen and read so many other people doing it and I eventually gave up.

As a person with a chronic illness that affects the joints, I need minimalism in my life.  There are days when the cleaning just doesn't get done because I hurt so much.  Minimalism not only helps clear the unnecessary but makes it easier to take care of the things you choose to keep.

In 2019 I had two hospitalizations - once in March and the other in August.  You can imagine how little got done during those times.  Right before Christmas of 2019, I made up my mind that I was going to give minimalism another shot.  I scoured Pinterest, YouTube, blogs, and the internet until I found minimalist tactics that could work for me and my situation.

Six Types of Minimalists

At Simply fiercely I came across the line, "Minimalism means different things to different people."  I was like, "Huh?  Isn't there only one way to do minimalism?"

Turns out, that was wrong.

I wanted to see what other people had to say on the subject.  In my research I came across the post Six Types of Minimalists at Simple on Purpose.  Wow!  What an eye opener.  I had preconceived notions of what was and wasn't a minimalist.  I was trying to live an all white, no furniture life when that wasn't really who I am.  I like color and I entertain too many people to just have one chair.  The idea of getting rid of EVERYTHING I own made my blood pressure rise.

All or Nothing

Another thing that made me fail at minimalism is trying to do it all at once.  As a person with a chronic illness, trying to do everything all at once can have negative consequences.  I would yank everything out into a pile and in an hour I'd be exhausted or I would ache.  Then nothing got done and I was left with a huge mess.

This is a lifestyle, not an event.  It is something that becomes part of who you are and treating it like a one and done, all or nothing sort of thing guarantees failure.  Starting slowly is key to success.  After reading 7 Ways To Overcomplicate Minimalism on the blog abundant life with less   I felt validated on that belief.  The other thing that was pointed out was that we can't force our family members along.  Even children.

Any single parent knows trying to wrangle your children into things can be like an uphill battle.  You may win but you'll be exhausted afterward.  For a chronically ill parent, there is more than just exhaustion and frustration to be had.  

The Takeaways

The more research I did the more I realized there are so many people out there struggling to declutter and get to that minimalist life - whatever that means for them.  I realized that I am a frugal-gradual minimalist.  I'm all for saving money and not spending but don't want to empty my entire house.  My end goal is not to achieve the stark colors and straight lines of the ideal minimalist but to be more of an 'Aesthetic Minimalist' with a tidy, clutter free home.

I'm going to keep researching, testing, trying, blogging on this journey until I reach my goal.  We'll see how it goes.

Have you tried and failed at minimalism?  What are some of your tips and tricks?

Thank you for reading.  Keep moving forward!
Kelli

Minimalism is HARD!

After years of being physically unable to do the type of things I used to, I felt my house was beginning to look like something from Hoarders.

After the move from Connecticut, I felt suffocated by the stuff around me.  I was so fed up of bumping into this tote or that I finally snapped.  I told everyone around me, "Don't be surprised when this place starts  looking like some Japanese house with nothing in it."

But trying to go minimalist is HARD.  There are some serious choices you have to make about what goes  and what stays.  In addition, you have to rope your children into it too.  They are not always willing to part with their things no matter how much reason or bribery exists.

I told myself I needed this.  I needed to simplify my life as much as I could. Dealing with a chronic illness is hard.  Dealing with a chronic illness, teens, tweens, and too much stuff is harder.  I want to live smarter not harder for longer.

The first thing I had to tell myself was to go slow.  It took me 20+ years to accumulate this stuff so i needed to be patient and give myself time to go through it all.  I decided to do one room at  time.  Go through every single item in that room and make a split second decision on everything.  Then go through again and fine tune.  I made myself open every single thing.  Drawers, totes, trunks, bins, bags, boxes - EVERYTHING. 

I came up with the following criteria for getting rid of things.
1-Is it broken or torn?
2-Is it outdated or unfashionable?
3-Does it fit right now or has it fit in the last year?
4-Have I used it in 6mos to a year?
5-Do I really like it?

I managed to donate  six large totes to the Veteran's Thrift store by using this method.  I never realized how much useless and outdated things we had.  I still have a ways to go but the end is in sight.  Thanks to some useful information I gathered from other Pinterest pinners  and the links below, it won't be long until the makeover is complete!

http://laurenjadelately.com/how-to-live-with-less/
http://www.livestrong.com/article/1011777-50-things-throw-out-now-and-dispose-them/?reload=1
http://www.simplyfiercely.com/struggling-with-minimalism/
https://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/into-mind-3305163/30-day-minimalism-challenge-4009933387
http://www.popsugar.com/smart-living/Questions-Ask-Declutter-34352100

Have you gone or are you thinking about going minimalist?  What are your tips or tricks?

Mixed connective Tissue Disease - My story

So, if you read some of my previous writings regarding my health you know that for a long time I was  suffering with no idea of what was happening to my body.  I went from one specialist to another, having this lab done, this test done, this scan done and nobody knew nothing.  I was angry, frustrated, and physically weak.  To say I was tired of it all would be an understatement.

Unable to work and provide for my hellspawn, I gave up and went back to my family in Connecticut.  It was a hard decision to make.  I thought, "It's okay.  We'll make the most of it."  It was the worst of it.  Truly.  My extended family was less than helpful and my social life was...non existent.  My new primary made me feel like everything I was feeling was in my head and he and my pulmonologist said that I needed to just change my diet and exercise more.  But I started having MORE things happen.  The numbness and tingling in my hands and feet grew worse, my joints ached so bad I couldn't walk up stairs, I couldn't lift more than 5lbs, I kouldn't hold anything in my left hand, and I was always tired no matter how much I slept.  After the initial onset in 2012, I had to suffer from spring 2013 to the fall/winter of 2014.

I had some labs done and the doctor said some stuff showed up in my labs and he was sending me to a rheumatologist.  By this time, my joints ached so bad I went to bed with a heating pad and took pain pills just to get through the day with no pain.  I kouldn't stand for long periods or sit in a shair.  Kooking was out, playing with my kids was out, forget doing my daughter's hair or tying shoes.

The rheumatologist was more friendly and compassionate.  She listened to everything I was saying.  I told her I felt like maybe I was wasting her time and it was all in my head.  She said, "No.  There's something going on and we'll figure it out."  We did blood work and she told me I had high markers for rheumatoid arthritis.  I was given some new meds and sent along for a follow up.  

Around that time, I also broke out into a rash on my face, neck, shoulders, and my hair was falling out in patches.  When I went to the dermatologist he felt it was something else-dermatomyositis.  Some photos were taken and he opened up communication with my rheumatologist.   Between the two of them, the meds I was given were diskontinued and a new round started.

Winter in Connecticut can be a beast and that winter was no joke.  My hands turned red, white, and blue.  My primary said it was Raynaud's and suggested ski gloves.  What the heck!?  How can one 37 year old have so many things NO-ONE ever heard of?

I noticed my eyes were really dry.  I attributed it to the cold and dry air.  Nope.  At my next appointment, the rheumatologist did a test and said I had Sjorgrens.  Another diagnosis.  Another disease.  Another specialist.  Another medication.  She did another panel of tests on me that was sent to Mayo clinic.  At my next appointment (Feb 2015-I think), she explained I had Mixed Connective Tissue disease.  It's an autoimmune disease in which several diseases are putting around inside all at once.  I was told I also had markers for lupus and that either the lupus or the rheumatoid arthritis caused my lung issue and hospitalization in 2012.  She said it doesn't happen often, but the organs can be affected long before the joints are affected.

So great.  When I do it,  I do it big.  I get stuff no-one ever heard of in health class or most of their science classes.  So, what do I do?  Start searching the internet for any and every shred of information I could.  Some of it was scary.  Some of it was enlightening.  But almost 3 years later-I finally had some answers.