Spoonie Instructions – Stream of Consciousness Saturday

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “instructions.” Write instructions for anything you know how to do. As detailed or as rambling as you’d like. Enjoy!

I find myself wishing there were instructions for how to navigate the hydrodynamics of chronic illness. Alas, with no directions, illustrations, or instructions to say “insert tab A into slot B” we must negotiate the sometimes treacherous twists and turns based on our own research, the winnowing of advice from others, and often our own gut instinct.

I tend to think of chronic illness like a river. Sometimes we cruise along, gaining speed and enjoying the thrill of the hunt for healthy lifestyles. Other times we have to work harder to negotiate the rapids, then we float along at leisurely pace until the speed picks up again. And then, sometimes, we find ourselves suddenly flung into the white waters, using every trick and tip and last big of energy to keep from being swamped and overturned to a watery death by the sheer power of the water (or the disease).

Such has been our journey of late. We came in off the road this year due to the simple advancement of age and chronic disease. Settled down in an idyllic place that we both love, made our plans for somewhat less intensive travel and cruised along. Then came another sarcoid invasion for me and the development of arteriovenus malformation in the frontal lobe for SuperHubs. Here comes the white water. No warning, no forethought, just cruising along when a sudden drop sends us tumbling, fighting for every inch.

It’s time to break out the paddles. Time to get back to the plain old hard work of healthy living. Time to break out the Morning Pages, the journals, the soduku puzzles, the aromatherapy, the Yoga and meditation, and every other single trick in my bag just to stay afloat. So if you notice I’m not commenting or writing or responding as much as I normally do, please know it’s just that busy furiously paddling.

For Stream of Consciousness Saturday

Til next time ~Peace ~JPP