1. The illness I live with is:  Sjogren’s Syndrome, but I also have Autoimmune Pancreatitis, Autoimmune Hepatitis, Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, Fibromyalgia, and Arthritis.
2. I was diagnosed with it in the year: 2007
3. But I had symptoms since: I was a small child.
4. The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is: to life in a wheelchair.
5. Most people assume: that I’m too young to have this many health problems.
6. The hardest part about mornings are: waking up way to early in pain and never getting enough sleep.
7. My favorite medical TV show is: House, I suppose, but I don’t really watch it anymore.  I have a hard time concentrating on TV.
8. A gadget I couldn’t live without is: my mac.  It is my connection to the rest of the world.
9. The hardest part about nights are: trying to get sleepy despite the pain.
10. Each day I take 28 different medications. (No comments, please)
11. Regarding alternative treatments I: am only open to trying ones that have been shown to work in some sort of clinical trial.
12. If I had to choose between an invisible illness or visible I would choose:  an invisible one.  Since I’ve recently started using a wheelchair, my illness has become move visible and I long to look “normal” again.
13. Regarding working and career: I am currently on disability.
14. People would be surprised to know: that I don’t remember what “no pain” feels like.
15. The hardest thing to accept about my new reality has been: that I can’t just push through the pain and exhaustion without making myself sicker.
16. Something I never thought I could do with my illness that I did was:  travel for pleasure, but I recently went to an alternative reality gaming conference in Portland.
17. The commercials about my illness: don’t exist (which could be why no one seems to have heard of it).
18. Something I really miss doing since I was diagnosed is: hiking and other physical outdoor activities.
19. It was really hard to have to give up: my independence, but I’ve had to learn to accept a lot of help from others.
20. A new hobby I have taken up since my diagnosis is: scrapbooking.  I’m completely obsessed and even do it from bed when I can’t sit up at the table.
21. If I could have one day of feeling normal again I would: backpacking through Australia.
22. My illness has taught me: that happiness is where you make it for yourself.
23. Want to know a secret? One thing people say that gets under my skin is: “You just need to exercise more.”
24. But I love it when people: Call or email me out of the blue to let me know they are thinking of me even if I haven’t been up to hanging out lately.
25. My favorite motto, scripture, quote that gets me through tough times is:  Everything might not happen for a reason, but you can make a reason out of everything that happens.
26. When someone is diagnosed I’d like to tell them: that life isn’t over and that they will find ways to cope and adjust.
27. Something that has surprised me about living with an illness is: how much opening up and sharing about my illness has given me the opportunity to meet new people who in turn share about themselves.
28. The nicest thing someone did for me when I wasn’t feeling well was: lug all my scrapbooking supplies to me in the hospital, so I could take my mind off being there with my favorite activity.
29. I’m involved with Invisible Illness Week because: I hope by raising awareness people will have more sensitivity and empathy for the people in their lives with invisible illnesses.
30. The fact that you read this list makes me feel: hopeful that my sharing about my experiences will make positive difference.

Find out more about National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week and the 5-day free virtual conference with 20 speakers Sept 14-18, 2009 at www.invisibleillness.com

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