Patients for a Moment – Call for Submissions

Each January 6, I smile with a sense of relief that the symptoms of hypothyroidism were relieved soon after a blood test confirmed a diagnosis and I began taking that little pill on a daily basis to replace the hormone my thyroid stopped producing.

Each March 14, I celebrate another year of managing type 2 diabetes, with all of its ups and downs. Life would be easier without it, of course, but I live well in spite of it.

Generalized anxiety disorder and seasonal depression are another story. I do not remember the first symptoms of each of these – maybe six years old for anxiety and thirteen years old for depression? And I certainly do not remember the exact days that the actual words “anxiety” or “depression” were spoken to me or my parents.

In my experiences in connecting with others with chronic illness, some celebrate their “diagnosiversary” or a birthday as a way to say, here’s to another year of life. Some look to their diagnosis with relief that their symptoms have an answer. Others lament another year with a condition that saps their physical and/or emotional strength, hoping for a cure to materialize. Still others were diagnosed soon after birth or as young children and know nothing of life without their conditions. And, of course, there are some of us for which a diagnosis still lingers.

So, for this edition of Patients of a Moment, please consider the above paragraph while you explore what living another year as a patient means to you. Is a diagnosiversary or birthday something to celebrate, or more of a sad thing, or both?

Please include the following:

• Blog name and URL
• Blog post and URL
• A short description of your post
• Name to use

Submissions are due by Sunday April 17 at 10 pm MDT to talesofmy30s at gmail dot com.

(While you are mulling over the topic, please make sure to visit the current host of PFAM – Hayzell at Possibilism.)