Hey there, hi there, ho there!

This week I spoke to Caroline from Living with PoTS . Caroline suffers from Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (PoTS). PoTS is a debilitating type of Dysautonomia and is often found in people with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. You can find Caroline on Twitter.

 

I’m Caroline, I’m a final year Uni student in Yorkshire, studying Psychology and Education. I love reading, especially Harry Potter, baking and crafting, and my dream is to live abroad and work with disadvantaged children.
I’m relatively new to both the chronic illness and blogging communities, having suffered with PoTS like symptoms all my life, but only just figuring out what it is. I’ve been amazed by how supportive everyone is.

So now that we know a little about Caroline, let’s look at her Friday Feelings entry.

“Dear diary,

Friday night again, well 4pm. I’m in bed, exhausted from the week. Tonight is worse than most, Friday is food shop day, and dragging a week’s worth of stuff back on the bus means the pain is worse than usual. Later my flatmates will be going out, I’ll be lying in bed trying to sleep, constantly being woken up by them. Eventually I’ll probably give up and turn my laptop on. If it’s been a bad week, I’ll stick a DVD on, if it’s been a better week I might try get through some of the mountain of work I’ve been avoiding.

Right now I’m still getting used to my chronic illness. I’ve been suffering for years, but always just assumed I was lazy, or hadn’t eaten enough, or a million and one other excuses. Although having a reason is a relief, it’s scary. It’s here to stay and I need to learn to live with it. I’m sure one day I’ll know where I stand with it, I’ll have a diagnosis and a symptom management plan, and I’ll feel more in control, but that day is not yet.

The future is overwhelming. In July I’ll graduate, and have to enter the real world. I’ve always known what I wanted to do, I never even considered that I might be too ill to do it. So right now it’s back to the drawing board, desperately searching for a job I can do, without having to move away from the doctors I’ve only just met, who will be supportive of my illness. My degree has 3 contact hours a week, so I have no idea how I’ll cope with work, I don’t even know how I’ll cope making tea tonight, or having a shower. Long term planning is nothing short of impossible.

I wish people would stop telling me to be positive. I am positive. I’m also realistic. When I say this illness isn’t going away, it’s not. That’s a chronic condition. When I say it limits what I can do, it does. That doesn’t mean I’m not ambitious. I will find a job and a life that I love, it just won’t be what I was planning, but that’s okay. My condition is part of me, it does not define me.”

A big thank you to Caroline for reaching out to take part in our Friday Feelings blog.

Do you relate to Caroline’s entry? Do you constantly hear that you should be more positive from those around you? How do you deal with it? Comment below to offer some advice to this new Spoonie.

Want to write your own Friday Feeling entry?

Send

A high res photo

A short paragraph about yourself

What illnesses you have

Your diary entry with the following topics in it:

It’s Friday, many people will go out tonight for a few sociable drinks with their friends. What do you do on a typical Friday night?
How are you feeling at this moment about your chronic illness?
How do you feel about the future in regards to your illness?
How do you feel about the way people view your illness?

and links to your blog and social media to evienevin87@yahoo.ie

Be sure to put “Friday Feelings” in the subject bar.

So until Sunday (I know, I know I said I’d have it up during the week),

Z.M

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