Coping with long term illness can be a very upsetting and stressful time for everyone involved. It is difficult to go through whether you are ill yourself or one of your loved ones. It is important that you have a partner or a team at this time. Long term illness is different to terminal illness. Long term means there is a possibility of it going away. The illness will be around for a while. Terminal illness is when they cannot cure it. There are many long-term illnesses such as cancer, arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis, Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, heart disease, obesity, eating disorders etc. Long term illness is anything that cannot be cured quickly. Even with simple antibiotics or lifestyle change. Do not get this mixed up with terminal illness because some of these can be cured.
Get a prescription
Getting a prescription will help you know more about what illness you have and how they plan to help you get better. The more you know about you or a loved one’s condition the better. This will help you make sense of everything the doctor is saying. You will be able to keep up to date with your progress better if you know what is going on.
Work with your doctor
Your doctor should be your partner through this time. They have all the knowledge and want you to get better or make progress as much as you do. If you feel like you do not have the right doctor for you that is okay. A request for a change of doctor can really change your whole experience.
Make a team
Long term illness is not something you should go through alone. Whether that is your doctor, other professionals or family and friends surround yourself with people who all are rooting for you to get better even when you are finding it hard yourself. Having a team of people fighting the illness with you will help your progress.
Improve your lifestyle
As much as medicine and prescriptions are important to get better, looking after yourself is too. Making the effort to change up your diet or make different lifestyle choices will aid the rest of the treatment and help you fight the illness. Being in the heathiest and strongest state you can be in will really make a difference. Getting your team around you to make those lifestyle choices will also help motivate you.
How to deal with Depression
In a time like this it is very easy to let yourself get into a depressive state. This is also a concern for many people when their loved one is the going through the illness. Being there for them is so important but make sure you have people there for you too. It is a tough time for everyone so you need to stick together and be there for each other when they may need it.
Reach out
To help your progression you should reach out to other health professionals or anyone who has gone through the same thing you are going through. Getting a second opinion is always necessary. Sometimes doctors have not delt with a certain health condition before. It is important to identify this at the start as you may want to find another doctor. This is through no fault of theirs you may just be better suited to a different doctor that has helped patients like yourself before and have more experience in that field.
