Maddie

I asked my neighbor for some input on adjusting to illness. When I read this, I just thought, WOW! It definately deserves it's own post. This girl is strong and smart and sweet. And she plays princesses with Jain, so we love her!!

As you know, I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease when I was 16.  At first I was overwhelmed because my life had significantly changed at an age where I was least expecting something like this to happen.  I felt like I was on my own and had to learn how to deal with this trial without putting my burden on others.  I was struggling with a disease internally and people didn’t always see that it was affecting me just by looking at my outward appearance.  Things finally got bad enough that I soon had to let others in and accept their help in my situation.  I learned that so many people go through different challenges but can have a hard time showing it on the outside.  It doesn’t matter what people’s problems are; they can be suffering from Crohn’s disease, a death in the family, or even cancer, but I now know that it is so important to be aware of others’ needs and do everything possible to help them adjust to their new situations.  Because people made a difference in my life, I want to help make a difference in others’ lives.  This is a huge part of adjusting to illnesses, because it is impossible to deal with some specific struggles on your own.  There are always other people willing to be of support, and I want to be that person in the lives of those I love.  I was so grateful that people around me wanted to be there for me when I was struggling.  But what meant the most to me was when people asked how I was doing a year after I was diagnosed.  When other people became aware that I had been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at first, they wanted to do all they could to help.  Their words were sympathetic and comforting, but this support eventually died down.  People moved on with their lives and went back into their daily routines.  Although everyone else moved on pretty quickly, I was still learning to adjust to my Crohn’s.  I can count on one hand how many people kept me in their thoughts and remembered what I was going through.  Months later, someone asked me how I was doing with my illness when I hadn’t talked about it for a while.  This meant so much to me because I knew that people still cared about me and wanted to make sure I was adjusting alright.  It is the simple things people do for me that truly help me to better adjust to my illness as I go about my life.
Adjusting to my illness has been difficult these past three or so years, and I have had to learn to deal with certain things on my own that no one else can do for me.  All of my efforts to heal myself physically and emotionally have greatly helped my life, but I couldn’t do everything on my own.  My family, friends, and neighbors who are close to me have filled the remaining holes in my progress towards adjusting.  No, my life will never completely go back to how it was before, but with others by my side I have been able to make more progress than I would have been able to on my own.  I have made a commitment to myself to “pay it forward” to others and do the same for people who are going through similar things.  I can relate to those who struggle and really want to do what I can for them.  After all, it is the least I can do to help others adjust to their illnesses after many have helped me adjust to my illness.