Chronic Illness #BesidesMyDiagnosis

6:00:00 PM


For today's Spoonie Saturday post, I honestly had no idea what to write. I've been thinking about writing something about mourning my past life, but I haven't quite been able to put that into words yet. As you might guess, it's not an easy topic to write about.

So, as usual, I took to Pinterest. Some of you already know, I am a part of the Chronic Illness Bloggers Network. One of the perks of joining the network is a shared Pinterest board. I occasionally pin to it, but I mostly use it for inspiration. I love getting to know other bloggers that are going through some of the same things that I am. I've already met so many great people in this group and they all have so many great ideas. 

After scrolling for a while, I found a pin from Counting My Spoons titled, "Besides My Diagnosis, I Am." It sounded interesting, so I gave it a click. I soon realized that it was for the #BesidesMyDiagnosis blog hop hosted by The Girl With Five Lads. If you aren't familiar with this movement, you can learn all about it here

I read the posts of a couple more Chronic Illness Bloggers and then I decided I wanted to participate. I've made it pretty clear that one of my motivations for starting this blog is to reach out to other spoonies in the community, as well as attempt to remove the stigma towards both mental and physical illnesses. So why wouldn't I want to join this movement?



1. #besidesmydiagnosis the three things about my appearance that I love in the mirror are?

  • My eyes - I always wanted blue eyes, but I have come to love the ones I was given. They look brown from afar, but up close they actually have green rings.
  • My nails - I was never one to bite my nails, so they get pretty long. They are probably the feature that I am most proud of. One of the symptoms I'm supposed to have is brittle nails, but that is the one that I don't actually have!
  • My freckles - I'm irish and it is very obvious. I have dark hair with a red tint, pale skin, and a trillion freckles or angle kisses as my family called them.
2. #besidesmydiagnosis the things I have read most are?
  • Books! I am a huge reader. My dream is to have an entire room dedicated to books in my house. I almost never read a book more than once and my record was 43 books read in one year. After that, it's definitely blog posts!
3. #besidesmydiagnosis my favorite comfort foods are?
  • Sweets! I will always say yes to vanilla cake, vanilla cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies, and brownies. I almost always eat them with vanilla ice cream on top. However, I'm weird about ice cream. I won't eat plain vanilla unless it's an ice cream cone from Mcdonald's. My ice cream of choice is mint chocolate chip!
4. #besidesmydiagnosis my favorite past times are?
  • Netflix and Hulu - I honestly cannot count how many shows I have either watched all the way through, or are currently caught up on. I spend most of my time at home, so if I'm not writing then I am probably watching tv!
  • Reading - My other past time is reading! As I mentioned earlier I am a huge reader. I will only read physical books and my favorites are young adult books with a little magic and/or romance!
5. #besidesmydiagnosis my biggest accomplishment since illness is?
  • Starting my novel - I wish that I could say finishing my novel, but I'm not quite there. I have written the first 11,000+ words and I will be working on it again in July at Camp NaNoWriMo. If you're interested in learning more about the process, I started a blog series which you can find here
6. #besidesmydiagnosis I feel my best quality is?
  • My honesty - Others might not agree and frankly, I don't care. I'm going to be honest with people, even if it means telling them something they don't want to hear. It gets me in trouble sometimes, but I think you should be honest with the people you care about. That's why my friends always turn to me for advice.
7. #besidesmydiagnosis my motto/mantra to live by is?
  • Conveniently, I actually wrote a post about my 5 favorite quotes earlier this week! I honestly could not narrow it down to just one if I had to. Each one of those quotes means something to me and I try to remind myself of them each and every day.
8. #besidesmydiagnosis I would love to travel to?
  • Ironically, the three I's; and no, it has nothing to do with my name. I have always wanted to visit Ireland, Iceland, and Italy. Of course, I think I would jump on a plane to anywhere I was allowed to go. I don't get to travel much and I want to as often as I'm given the chance.
9. #besidesmydiagnosis my guilty pleasure is?
  • Comfort - I am happiest when I am wrapped up in a fuzzy blanket, watching tv, and eating some of my favorite comfort foods. My husband says my guilty pleasure is ice cream :)
10. #besidesmydiagnosis I have many dreams and ambitious such as?
  • Publish a novel - I am currently working on my debut novel and I'm hoping to finish the first draft this year. I've also got plans to turn it into a trilogy.
  • Run a successful blog and business - I know that everyone has their own definition of success, but I am working towards mine. I want to be able to help others through my work as well as earn a little money doing so. 
  • Follow my passions - I don't just want to be successful and work on something that I don't love. I want to continue following the things that make me happy whether or not I make a return on them. 
Accepting a diagnosis can be hard and almost always life changing. It's important to remember that we are more than our diagnosis. We are people, we have skills and dreams and passions. Just because we have an illness does not mean that these things are any less important. That's why I am a supporter of the #BesidesMyDiagnosis movement!

If you have been diagnosed with either a mental or physical illness, I recommend that you take part in this movement. I would love to get to know you a little better, so feel free drop your links in the comments!

If you aren't a spoonie, I would love for you to share this blog post!

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2 comments

  1. Love this! So great to get to know more about you! It is so cathartic to think of all we are beyond our diagnosis. We are more than patients. :)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! I love getting to know my readers and fellow bloggers, so I think it's important to tell my readers about myself too! It's weird to think that we could blog everyday and share so many things about our lives, without really telling others about ourselves. I want my readers to know the girl behind the blog; and that girl happens to be a spoonie as well as a bunch of other things!

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