Tuesday 15 July 2014

10 words that have a different meaning when you're chronically ill




As you may or may not know, I'm an Essex girl. And while my home county may get a bit of stick for it's high proportion fake-tanned women (and men) and rather recognisable accent, I wouldn't wanna call anywhere else home. For this reason, articles like this one unashamedly fill me with a little bit of joy- even if they aren't always 100% accurate. After a bit of a browse around the Buzzfeed website, I discovered there was one of these lists for a variety of counties, countries and groups- Manchester, New England and students to name but a few. But was there one for us chronically ill spoonies? No there was not

Over the years I've lost count of the times a well meaning friend has informed me that they 'get tired too' or that a little exercise would do me good because it helped them when they were ill... 
No, no, no, no, no. 
It's difficult to explain to others that their tired is not my tired, their pain is not the same as my pain, and exercise for me is walking to the postbox, not spending hours at the gym. While I keep a calm exterior and politely nod in agreement, all I really want to do is throw a childish tantrum and scream IT. IS. NOT. THE. SAME (but being a mature twenty-one year old adult, I do not do this).

I know my illness is hard for those around me to fully understand and luckily for me, following my diagnosis many of my fiends took it upon themselves to find out as much about M.E as they could. But if you're still wondering just how different life can be or just what the hell I'm talking about a lot of the time, here's a little taster...


I give you:

10 Words That Have a Different Meaning When You're Chronically Ill


1. 'Exhausted'
Common meaning: Really tired after a long and/or stressful day (e.g. at work of the gym), but it's ok, have an early night and you should be fine. 
Our meaning: Unbelievably fatigued with no logical explanation. Sleep will not help and you'll likely wake unrefreshed.

2. 'Pain'
Common meaning: Discomfort of varying levels often resulting from injury.
Our Meaning: Discomfort of varying levels in places you never knew it was possible to feel pain. Once again there is no logical explanation.

3. Medication
Common meaning: The tablets or liquid prescribed by your doctor to treat illness. You likely take them everyday for a week during which your life is made a living nightmare because you cannot consume alcohol.
Our meaning: The tablets, liquid or injections we take everyday, week after to week to make life more bearable. We don't know how long we'll be on them for or how much worse life would be without them.

4. Spoons
Common Meaning: An item of cutlery. For example a soup spoon.
Our meaning: A unit of energy. For example 'I'm sorry, I can't make dinner tonight, I'm out of spoons.' See Spoon Theory

5. Spoonie
Common meaning: It's not a word...
Our meaning: Somebody suffering from chronic illness and therefore somebody whose life revolves around the use of 'spoons'.

6. Pacing
Common meaning: Developing something at a measured rate. For example pacing oneself when consuming alcohol.
Our meaning: Developing something at a measured rate. For example, our ability to walk a set distance, read for a set length of time or socialise with friends.

7. Exercise
Common meaning: A means of increasing fitness by engaging in physical activity. For example, attending the gym, running or playing sport. Exercise will also often help in curing minor illnesses. 
Our meaning: Getting out of bed. Or for those of us fortunate enough to be less severely affected, some gentle stretching and/or ten minutes of yoga will count as strenuous exercise. Intense exercise will not make us better in the long run... Don't even suggest it.

8. Doctors Surgery
Common Meaning: The place you frequent a few times a year- when you're struck down with the flu or you need holiday jabs, for example.
Our meaning: Second home. The place where everyone knows your name, your condition and your prescription. You likely frequent this place far more than could be considered normal.

9. Common Cold/ Flu
Common Meaning: The infection that knocks you out for a few days. You feel awful but know by the end of the week you'll be up and running again.
Our Meaning: The infection that knocks you out indefinitely. It's likely to cause regression and your progression will take a major step back. Unfortunately it is often unavoidable due to a weakened immune system.

10. M.E
Common meaning: Pronoun used to refer to oneself.
Our Meaning: Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. The chronic illness causing extreme fatigue and a variety of other symptoms.

While the last one is particularly relevant to my condition, I feel the others apply to all of us living with chronic illness. I'm sure this list is only the beginning of words that have a different meaning when you're chronically ill. So if you think of any others, do let me know!

Alice
x



Related Posts




5 comments:

  1. Yes, yes & yes! so true! Such a good post, I love the definition of the word spoonie haha. All of my friends for ages thought it was people who like to spoon as in cuddle?! haha!

    Hayley-Eszti | www.hayleyeszti.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha really? To be fair to them, I guess that would seem like the most logical explanation!
      xxx

      Delete
  2. Alice I am in love with this post, it explains everything so well. Brilliant post!x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Poppy! Glad you enjoyed it :) xxx

      Delete
  3. This was such a great post! I've just came across your blog and I absolutely love it:-) x

    ReplyDelete