What Will A New Year Reveal?

A Chronic Voice is again hosting the monthly linky for those of us with chronic illnesses. She’s given us 5 prompt words to get us thinking.

Beginning

January is a month of new beginnings. Most people think of it as a time to make resolutions or start a diet. I don’t make resolutions because they inevitably fail. But, when the calendar turns over to January 1st there is definitely a feeling of newness.

After all the business of the holidays are over, I feel a breath of fresh air and like new goals can be made and met. I feel happy! Being chronically ill, I often feel a beginning whenever I get a new doctor, a new medicine, or a new diagnosis.

Symbolizing

Symbols are everywhere and we often don’t even notice the effect that they have on us. We often use symbols in our chronic illness community. The butterfly symbol is used for fibromyalgia, lupus, and other autoimmune diseases. The zebra is the symbol for Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. There are all sorts of awareness ribbons that are representing different diseases based on a certain color.

Most of the diseases I have use a purple ribbon. There are varieties and different organizations use a slightly different symbol. I have so many different ones that I can’t just wear one color of ribbon. So, I just don’t wear any ribbons. But, I do like the awareness shirts.

Enduring

It may be a new year, but I’m still dealing with the same health problems. My skin is dry and peeling. It hurts. My rash biopsy is still bothersome, but has stopped itching. The dime size hole hasn’t left and it probably won’t. I’ll have another biopsy scar. My eyes hurt from Sjogren’s dryness.

I’m enduring all these things and more. Because my insurance changed on January 1, I can now get Xiidra for $100 instead of $550. My insurance premium is higher this year, but we figured out that we would save money in the long run. Drug prices are ridiculous!

Revealing

I don’t know what all will be revealed this year. My health is always a mystery and I never know from one day to the next what will happen. My recent blood work showed a decrease in my kidney function again. The tests also revealed SSA was still positive, pointing to my Sjogren’s Syndrome diagnosis.

My skin rash biopsy is healing slowly, and I wonder what the biopsy will reveal? I hope it won’t be anything that’s new, but if it is I just hope that the doctor can actually tell me what it is. If I could just get the proper treatment, it could probably be controlled.

Gracing

I wasn’t sure what gracing meant, other than to say, “she was gracing us with her presence.” Then, I read that it can mean to elevate. During Christmas, when we couldn’t visit our children, I thought about how wonderful it is when our children are with us. They really are gracing us with their presence. It is an honor to spend time with those we love.

One goal I have for this year is to spend more time elevating God in my life. I want to spend more time in prayer and Bible study. God gives grace and He is the most important thing in my life.

I’m really thankful for a new year. I’m glad that 2020 is over. Even though things aren’t better yet, there is hope on the horizon. This makes it easy to celebrate a new year.

@2020, copyright Lisa Ehrman

Disclaimer: I’m not a medical expert. This post contains my my opinions only and is not meant to be medical advice. If you have a medical concern, please consult your personal physician.