Thankyou to invisibleillnessweek.com for making this available for those of us who deal with ongoing physical issues to participate in.
30 Things About My Invisible Illness You May Not Know
1. The illness I live with is: Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS).2. I was diagnosed with it in the year:2008?
3. But I've had symptoms since:1987
4. The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is: Living with uncertainty; never knowing from one minute or one day to the next if symptoms may flare up.
5. Most people assume: That I am fine.
6. The hardest part about mornings are:Medication side effects-constipation, jitters, headaches, etc.
7. My favorite medical TV show is: Dr. OZ
8. A gadget I couldn’t live without is: Microwave lavender scented rice heat bag.
9. The hardest part about nights are:Sleeping comfortably.
10. Each day I take 5 pills and supplements.
11. Regarding alternative treatments I: believe in doing all you possibly can to help yourself, so I have tried many with mixed results.
12. If I had to choose between an invisible illness or visible I would choose:Invisible-though I'm not sure why.
13. Regarding working and career:I think about this daily-what could I possibly do for work??
14. People would be surprised to know:How much pain I put up with.
15. The hardest thing to accept about my new reality has been:Giving up on some dreams.
16. Something I never thought I could do with my illness that I did was:mow my lawn (riding mower).
17. The commercials about my illness:There aren't any.
18. Something I really miss doing since I was diagnosed is:Carrying a cute purse on my shoulder.
19. It was really hard to have to give up:My job doing home care for the elderly .
20. A new hobby I have taken up since my diagnosis is:Blogging.
21. If I could have one day of feeling normal again I would:Cry, because I wouldn't want it to end.
22. My illness has taught me:Resilience.
23. Want to know a secret? One thing people say that gets under my skin is:"Well, you LOOK good."
24. But I love it when people:Are respectful and gentle.
25. My favorite motto, scripture, quote that gets me through tough times is: "There's no use complainin', it won't change anything!" -Viv
26. When someone is diagnosed I’d like to tell them: Read all you can, network; educating yourself and understanding your condition is so helpful.
27. Something that has surprised me about living with an illness is:The limited options for help.
28. The nicest thing someone did for me when I wasn’t feeling well was:Feed me jello after resection surgery when I didn't want to move my arm.
29. I’m involved with Invisible Illness Week because:It affects my life and the lives of people I care about.
30. The fact that you read this list makes me feel:Glad that I could bring some awareness to TOS
