Re: depressed
From: Loretta (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Wed Aug 29 14:27:16 2007
At Tue, 28 Aug 2007, anonymous wrote:
>
>I have endo and its been about 5 moths since I found out, I cant get
>over the shock of it and this sign comes into my head " I HAVE A
>DISEASE" I want to go back to the way I was before this. Its probably
>all in my head. I am better since my surgery physically but mentally it
>has taken its toll on me. I dont know what to do....I feel alone here,
>there is no support group where I live I know noone with this disease.
>How do you get the sign out of your head? How do you go through a day
>without thinking about it? Please help.
--
Hi Anonymous
This is Loretta, I couldn’t help but to post to yours post, I looked over what I had written and it is so
long that I cut out the middle and mailed the rest to the address above, I hope it gets to you. I just don’t
want to be taking up so much space here, when what’s left is still too long. B/c of the length of what I did
leave, I won’t go through my introduction, if you want further info on me just type Loretta in the search box.
I am compelled to offer you that it is a shock to learn we have something wrong with us, no one looks for, wants or is
happy to find out they have an illness. Sometimes it is a relief of sorts to get a diagnosis if we have been unwell and
looking for the reasons why, but when we get that diagnosis, what do we do with it then?
One thing we have to do is assess the seriousness of what we are facing, is it contagious, life threatening, or is it
controllable, curable or treatable?
This may sound silly but after the shock and anger wore off I used it as an opportunity to totally change my life, but
in a good way. I took control of my health by changing my diet to the best endo friendly one I could, I started working
on positive thinking and surrounding myself with only those things that reflected good health, good food, positive people,
humor, I worked towards removing all the negative influences I was in control to remove, those I couldn’t I found other ways
of looking at them. ‘When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change’….that has been my mantra since
I became inoperable.
Negativity, fear , worry…all these create energy, bad energy creates stress-creates ill health, just look at the rates of stress
related illness’s and you know that energy totally effects ones health both positive and negative.
In the beginning we sometimes feel anger, hostility, or irritability, doubt, depression, frustration, fear, guilt, shock, impatience,
these emotions are normal once we are told something such as a chronic illness invades our life, especially if can possibly change our
quality of life. These emotions can trigger feelings of helplessness and in turn, makes you feel you have no control which is a very
stressful state, but you can have allot of control, you are not totally powerless.
Certain things come up in life that are completely unplanned, no one is promised perfect health, or financial freedom, good kids…or a
house with a white picket fence…sometimes we are dealt something unexpected, it may not be fair, but there it is and we can’t dwell on
it or we feed it. The more we feed into it, the larger the issue grows. It doesn’t have to be a tragedy; it can be as I said a place
where a new way of life can begin. First and foremost you have to put it into perspective, thank God, it isn’t end stage cancer,
it isn’t AIDS, it isn’t a stroke where we have lost total use of some body part or our minds, it’s Endo,thats bad enough but it isn't
terminal or utterly hopeless, painful? Yes, forever? with the right treatments probably not, there are things we CAN still do.
Please understand I am not under estimating or downplaying the effects endo can have, believe me, I am ‘disabled’(for lack of a better word),
my story is one long one, my stage/case/locations severe, I fully know the seriousness that it can be,all I am saying is it isn't hopeless.
You just took the first and most important step by joining a supportive group and reaching out for friendships, information, support so you
can educate yourself on not only how others are coping but new advances being made, new alternative therapies, possible medications……and so
much more, so that first step has now been taken, time to raise the other foot to take the next steps.
Read all the links provided to you, take what is applicable to you, and bookmark the rest, you never know when that may be of use to you later.
Bring things up with your Dr, if your Dr isn’t one who is totally understanding or at least willing to listen to you, the first stages are the
best time to find the best Dr you can relate to, I think this is THE most important step you can take. If you can’t shut off the skipping player
in your mind that keeps focusing on the negatives, learn to access your mind and spirit by learning meditation, Reiki, Qui Gong….try energy healing
or EFT, if these groups are not quite enough than search for a qualified psychologist to talk to, mine really helped me. PLEASE though, be VERY WARY
of accepting ANY anti depressants at this stage, learning you have an illness naturally comes with ALL and more of the emotions I listed above, NO PILL
will change that, only time and understanding will, anti depressants can open a whole new stadium of problems, unless this leads to a severe clinical/clinical
depressions. Please first try all the above and give yourself time to work through it.
I have mailed you the rest of this letter that offers some tips, I hope you get it, and I hope it helps at least some or provides you with some ideas to think
about. Your in good hands, you can also write me ANYTIME.
All the best,
Loretta
EndoLights*
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