Read on Twitter
This is a thread about processing and grieving when you have a chronic illness and how it’s okay to need support:
There is a quote making its rounds on social media lately and it really truly resonates with me. “Just because I carry it all so well doesn’t mean it’s not heavy.” That is very true and something that I often don’t stop to think about enough.
Sometimes I can go weeks or months dealing with a lot of things: nerve pain, muscle weakness, dislocations, progressing disability, more braces and mobility aids, seemingly endless waits to see more specialists and have more tests...
...and I don’t even stop long enough to realize that this is a lot to deal with and I deserve time and grace to grieve a bit and to process all of these changes.
I’m a pretty happy person, so it can easily seem like all of this is “no big deal,” but honestly, it’s a really big deal. This is a lot for someone to experience on a daily basis. This is a monumental life change. This is really hard stuff.
But if I wasn’t sharing these very personal thoughts in writing on the internet, only a couple people would know that I struggle to carry this weight sometimes. It’s not something I will easily bring up in conversation.
So check in on the strong people in your life. Check in on your chronically ill friends who have been sick for so long that they just seem to have a handle on everything. That very much includes your friends with mental illnesses, not just physical illnesses.
Sometimes it might be too heavy for them but they’ll keep on smiling anyway. Sometimes it’s been years since they got sick and the “get well soon” cards stopped coming long ago, but they’re still deep in the middle of it all.
Sometimes just a quick message saying “hey, I bet all of this feels like A LOT sometimes,” is enough. Every once and awhile we need someone who isn’t us to nod our way and recognize how heavy this shit can be, even if we’re carrying it all and smiling while doing so.
