Hey there, hi there, ho there!

This week I spoke to Danielle from Xo, Faith. Danielle is SEO Manager and Freelance writer. She suffers from Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction, this rare disorder can cause chronic pancreatitis. You can find Danielle on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

“Yesterday is history; tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift, that is why it is called the present,” is my favorite quote of all time.

My name is Danielle Faith, and I run a peer to peer support magazine that aims to help those struggling with chronic pain, chronic illness, substance abuse and mental illness.

Being ill has been my inspiration to build and start my website. I make a huge point to note that my illness does not define me. I am a daughter, friend, blogger, social butterfly, dog lover, hard worker, college graduate, and so much more than my illness.

So now we know a little about Danielle, let’s have a read of her Friday Feelings entry

“Dear Diary,

While most people my age might grab drinks and dinner after work on Friday night, chances are I’m curled up under some warm blankets and heating pads that night watching the nightly news and browsing the internet. It doesn’t bother me; I enjoy what I do on Friday evening. It’s a nice way to unwind without worrying about my body or having to put myself under the microscope and go out.

“I’ve become comfortable with my illness. I know it well.”

I know when I can handle it at home, I need more medication and most importantly, I know when I need to go down to the dreaded emergency room. Currently, I’m averaging a monthly hospital visit and every three months I require a hospitalization. As bad as that sounds, it’s hard to imagine it once was a lot worse. It used to be that I was going weekly to the Emergency Room with hospitalisations every month.

As I progress, I have hopes and dreams. I want to go to school to study psychology, and I want to keep working on decreasing my hospital visits. I have a lot of supportive friends and family, and I want to find ways to give back to them to show them, that they’re important to me too.

I am fortunate that my friends and family view my illness in a positive manner. I can always rely on my family and friends to do right by me and for me that says a lot.

Today, I just want to live in the moment and not worry about the past or future.

I try hard to do this as much as possible. I’m in a ton of pain a lot of the time, but my friends, family, and dog, make it all better.”

A big thank you to Danielle for taking part in Friday Feelings blog.

I really enjoyed reading her diary entry and seeing her so positive. How about you? Do you relate to Danielle or feel inspired by her post? Let us know in the comments.

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.

Until Sunday,

Z.M

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