Why I Blog About My Illness

To be frank I started blogging because I felt alone, in hopes of fighting that feeling and letting others known that they don’t have to fight this fight alone.

 

blogging pen

If I were to look back at my past and think about activities that I really enjoyed, writing would not be anywhere on the list. In fact I would say that it actually would be on the least liked list. And it was possibly on the list of things that I don’t do well! In fact when I decided to start blogging in January of 2018 some of my closest friends actually laughed at me. And I got many questions about why I would want to do something that I had never enjoyed or been good at. The answer was easy. I wanted to share information with people in a way that they could understand it.

I knew why I wanted to write, and my purpose for starting a blog seemed like the next right thing to do. One of the biggest reasons I decided to blog was simply because of how I felt when I was diagnosed. I felt very alone and like there wasn’t anything out there for people like me; for people with multiple Chronic Illnesses. I quickly found my people and started my support group so that aspect was taken care of. But I still felt like there was something missing. After years of searching and trying to figure out what the missing piece to the puzzle was I finally figured it out. There were no blogs out there that mixed personal experience with research for the conditions that I had. Sure, there were a million and one blogs out there about each of my conditions separately but nothing about them combined. And not many bloggers who didn’t claim just a certain niche. But talked about ALL THINGS chronic illness. And I felt like that was a hole that really needed to be filled.

The second reason I decided to start blogging was simple. I brought a different qualification to the table. Not only was I a Spoonie, a Warrior, a Lupie; I am a Registered Nurse. So, you may be thinking how will that help? I felt like it gave me a leg up. From my education and time as a bedside nurse I learned how to take research and academically written papers and bring them down to a level that everyone can understand without needing a medical dictionary beside them. I felt this was a HUGE game changer because there is now so much research being done, but it’s often so hard for people to understand due to the way its written. I wanted to be able to spread the research to everyone who needed it in a way that they could understand it.

words scrambleBut if I am being honest, when I started blogging I did it for me. I did it as an outlet. I didn’t necessarily need people to read it but I knew if I was feeling misunderstood, frustrated and angry that there were probably hundreds or possibly even thousands of people who were also feeling that way! I hoped that by me sharing my writing that people would see that they are not alone in their fight. That others are fighting the same or similar fight. I hoped that they could see that they are not alone in their feeling of depression or frustration. That they aren’t alone if they have thoughts of harming themselves. But they do have someone (me) to reach out to if they start to feel that way. Or if they just need to talk. Or they have a whole family (Lupie Groupies on Facebook) who are always around and available to talk if they need to.

To be frank I started blogging because I felt alone, in hopes of fighting that feeling and letting others known that they don’t have to fight this fight alone. I truly felt that I was called to write. That it was something I needed to do. Not just for me and my journey but for each of you and your journey. I needed to blog all about chronic illness, combining personal testimony with research. I blog so that you can see you are not alone in the fight. If I can help even just one person understand their disease and get them connected to a community I have done my job! If I can provide information to people in a way that they can actually read and understand, I have done my job. Blogging isn’t for everyone, but it has made my life so much more fulfilling knowing that I have had an impact on others who are chronically ill!