Health Conditions

Living and coping with chronic illness can be difficult, especially during the holidays. It often requires stressful changes to your life and the lives of family members closest to you.

The journey to being in the practice of self-care is most effective when we define our values, learn new skills, and internalize behaviors and attitudes that support our best health. Beginning with the end in mind, results are easy to specify, such as weight loss, feel better, fewer sick days, reduce stress, and be healthier for example.

There are very few things in life you can really count on, but one thing you can count on is you will have trials and adversity in your life. When those trials are physical, it can add unwanted stress to your life, relationships, work and more.

For those who don't ordinarily feel stressed under the pressure of events or deadlines, the holidays can still play havoc with our lives. So what can we do? Plan for stress, say the experts, just like you plan ahead for any calamity you want to avoid.

For someone dealing with chronic illness there are now mobile resources available on demand that didn't exist even a few years ago. So, here are some of my favorite mobile apps.

To most people getting fit with chronic illness sounds like an oxymoron. The old me thought that people that were chronically ill simply did not exercise, ever! But experience has taught me that exercise is key

I really don't like seasonal changes because some kind of house or yard work follows. All these outdoor chores can take a heavy toll on someone with chronic illness. I've been thinking about practical ways

We all experience those moments of weakness where we give way to the groundswell of emotions arising from our illness or other forms of adversity. It can be so difficult to stay focused on healing well.

I had just gone through another round of specialized tests for my arthritis symptoms which had been escalating in intensity over the Winter. The results were inconclusive. No clear patterns. No diagnosis. No ready treatments. No answers. The only proof I had was the unrelenting pain

Last December I got the call that no one wants. The biopsy came back positive for prostate cancer. My world caved in. My brain shut down and my emotions ran to fear and depression.