Tonight (haha I guess it’s today now, I really need to be going to bed earlier, but pain is keeping me awake) marks one month of having a really intense and loooonnngg bout of acute pancreatitis on top of my normal chronic pancreatitis. Although I suffer from chronic pancreatitis, I also suffer from acute pancreatitis where my normal level of pain escalates significantly in comparison to my every day chronic pancreatitis pain. The past few years of dealing with pain I have learned some strategies for coping, one of my most used strategies is distraction. Through distraction, I try my hardest to put all of my focus on something other than the pain and sometimes if my pain isn’t too bad it helps quite a bit!
My current “distraction” is immersing myself in all things Christmas. The few weeks before Christmas is my absolute favorite time of the year, I truly believe that there is something about this time of year that is absolutely magical. Even though some of my chronic illnesses and cold weather do not mix very well, the joy of Christmastime nearly cancels out horrible the freezing weather makes me feel. Due to being especially sick around this time last year and again this year, I haven’t spent much time outside of my house, my grandmother’s house, and my doctor’s office, so the cold hasn’t been as big of an issue as it could be. This is my first time doing all of my Christmas shopping solely online , which at first seemed a little bit disappointing, as I love to see all of the storefront holiday decorations. It actually turned out to be for the best, online shopping is incredibly fun for me and most websites tend to have excellent sales that wouldn’t necessarily be found in stores, plus they often put cute decorations one their sites, like this incredibly adorable sale ad for Talbots!
If you have a chronic illness and are dealing with any type of flare during the holiday season I highly recommend trying to get all of your shopping done online because it is truly incredible to shop without dealing with severe pain and extreme exhaustion!! Here’s to online shopping and all of the joy and convenience that it has brought me this year!!! 🙂
There are so many other aspects of the holidays that have helped distract me from my illness and pain. I love to go on drives with my family to look at Christmas lights, it’s so neat to see how everyone decides to decorate their home. So many houses look absolutely amazing and I really enjoy documenting them with my handy dandy iPhone camera! I’m still hoping to be able to get to see at least one official driving light show this year, luckily there’s still a few more days before Christmas to try!
Some of my other favorite holiday activities that I’ve also used to try to distract myself from pain include: Christmas crafts, watching endless numbers of holiday movies, decorating the house and the tree, and listening to Christmas music and singing along to every song. I have indeed spent hours creating a Spotify Christmas music playlist :). I also plan on starting one of my Christmas puzzles tomorrow, which is another favorite holiday tradition in my family.
The best part of the holiday season for me is spending time with my family and seeing the happiness that this time of year brings to them as well! For Christmas my family gathers at someone’s house and we exchange gifts, eat a delicious home cooked meal and desserts (one of the things I miss most about Christmas before I was as sick as I am now not able to enjoy all of the different amazing foods and goodies that my pancreatic disease prevents me from eating) and enjoy every moment we have together. I have two brand new members of my family, my baby cousins, who I am extremely excited to see, as this will be only my second time getting to spend time with them. I’m lucky to get to see a lot of pictures of them in the meantime!
The holiday season has been such a blessing for me over the years and I hope that it brings you as much joy, happiness, and much needed distraction as it brings me! Have a wonderful holiday season!
chronically carrie 