In North America, we often find ourselves trying to control every aspect of our lives, especially our health. This focus on prolonging life sometimes means we overlook the importance of quality of life. We are surrounded by messages that can create anxiety, for instance that our food environment predisposes us to conditions like heart disease, obesity, and diabetes—conditions that can reduce our lifespan significantly. Additionally, we may receive the impression that the healthcare system can offer a quick fix through medication. However, when we visit our doctors and hear phrases like "manage symptoms" and "delay progression," we realize that medical science has its limitations, which can be a challenging and distressing. In some cases, the medical field can cause more harm (even if only psychologically) than good. However, it's important to acknowledge the incredible advancements in modern medicine that allow us to treat and overcome many ailments. However, it’s equally important to understand that while we receive messages suggesting we can fully control our health outcomes and conquer chronic illness, the reality is often more complex. There may not be a cure for some chronic illnesses as the medical system understands it, but there are people who facilitate healing for themselves on different degrees - physical, mental, spiritual.
The real overcoming from chronic illness is the acceptance of what is happening. The acceptance that your body is ill, the acceptance that you can no longer trust your body in certain aspects alongside the deep reverence that your body is doing its best to keep you alive. It is a lot to grapple with.
Acceptance is key to moving forward and beginning your healing. Acceptance often brings with it feelings of grief. It can be very helpful to work with a counselor to navigate these emotions and to gain a deeper understanding of your experience. Once the grieving has passed and the acceptance is present, that's when you will start to feel ready to make changes to support your body with its chronic illness. It's not easy, I know.
We often think of healing from illness as being given a pill and the ailment goes away, but with chronic illness it needs to be a multilateral approach. Our bodies are an intricate web, each system working off of another. If we heal one area, the other will get stronger. So sometimes healing a different dysfunction in your body, an example could be sleep insomnia, will make aspects of the chronic illness better. It is also important to set up a healing environment. So there are a few different realms you can focus on:
- Physical strategies (this includes medicine, nutrition, sleep, exercise)
- Mind-body strategies such as mindfulness or reducing stress
- Mental health support like seeing a counselor, or getting trauma therapy like EMDR
- Spiritual practices that bring you closer to God and security in a higher power
- Personal development - is there a personality trait that drove you into this condition? i.e. type A personality and increased stress load. Or low self esteem and additional stress from putting others needs above your own.
When all of these different elements are combined it can make a big impact on your bodies health and function. I'm not saying that the chronic illness will be cured, but you may start to heal in more ways than you imagined and the symptoms may lessen. When I say healing, I mean an improvement in your condition, the condition being cured (which would be amazing but maybe not likely), and even deeper acceptance and happiness in your life.
Another extremely important aspect to healing is listening to your own intuition. Are you feeling uncertain about a test your doctor is ordering? Are you doubting you should do X, Y, Z or feel in your gut to start a certain intervention? Listen to your gut! Your intuition is full of wisdom. I know that sometimes it can be overwhelming in the beginning to even know what your intuition is telling you because it is all so new and you know so little about what you've just been diagnosed with. Over time, give yourself permission to trust your intuition, even above opinions of those who are held in high esteem. Ultimately it is your body, and you have the right to bodily autonomy.
Never give up and do what you can. It can be extremely overwhelming to implement a whack of new things in your life and it can feel so heavy because of the gravity of the situation. Give yourself permission to do what you can and slowly add in more as you feel ready. For instance, maybe you don't feel ready to start exercising but you feel confident you could start eating vegetables at dinner. Another example could be that you feel you can take medication but you're not ready to learn the diet side of things. I'm not saying you shouldn't try your best, you should for sure try your best. However, if the stress of it is outweighing the benefits then that is ok! There is so much we "should" do, and endless options you "could" try. As long as you continue to slowly add in healing strategies you are doing exceptionally well. Don't stay stuck on the one or two strategies you started with in the beginning and be willing to make those harder lifestyle changes. It is not likely that a singular pill will cure you of your ailment in this realm.
Dare I also say, never give up hope that there will be a cure one day. There are amazing scientists studying chronic conditions and thousands of papers being released. A new scientific discovery may be the singular element to cure your chronic condition. An exciting one in my life is the discovery that endometriosis may be driven by the bacteria "fusobacterium" (1) and simple antibiotics could treat endometriosis. Endometriosis is when the lining of the uterus is found in the abdominal cavity and causes severe pain and scarring from it shedding each month.
Last but not least, seek out multiple opinions from different types of practitioners and create a support team. There are so many options out there besides your conventional medicine doctor -who will be your first step.
Consider seeking help from:
- functional medicine doctors
- chiropractors
- acupuncturists
- natural paths
- dietitians
- physiotherapists
- massage therapists
- psychologists
This is just to name a few! Dietitians, physiotherapists, acupuncturists, chiropractors, massage therapists and psychologists are the practitioners who are typically covered by health insurance. If you can afford other options great! But if not look into your health coverage to see where you can make a start at putting together your support team of experts in their field.
To summarize, being diagnosed with a chronic illness can feel overwhelming initially. As you work with your doctor and a counselor acceptance does become easier, even if it feels impossible right now. Once acceptance is in place, it makes it easier to move forward and heal other aspects of your life, which may even be part of the reason the chronic illness had its onset, but not always. Never give up hope that there will one day be a cure, but always move towards healing yourself and your life as a whole. Do this by bringing different aspects of your life back into balance with different strategies. There are many different types of practitioners who can provide support and help you bring your life and body closer to balance. Enlist their support, especially if you have insurance! Start wherever your intuition is telling you, because your gut feelings about things are valid! In fact, one of the main components that people do who go into spontaneous remissions is listening to their intuition (2). Remind yourself that you are not alone in this difficult journey.
Healing from chronic illness often requires a holistic approach, addressing your body, mind, and soul to alleviate some of the pain, and sometimes even improving physical symptoms. It’s helpful to start by gently tuning in to your body and understanding what might have contributed to your current state. This isn’t about assigning blame—illnesses can arise from many factors beyond our control, including genetics. However, keeping an open mind about how certain aspects of your life may have impacted your health can be an important step towards healing.
If your intuition is telling you that your diet could be a key player to bring balance to your body and alleviate symptoms then feel free to book a 1:1 meet and greet to see if we are the right fit. Nutrition can go a long way with managing diet related chronic illnesses like diabetes, and heart disease. It also plays a role in any chronic illness, because our body is literally composed of the food we eat. I look forward to chatting if you choose to book a meet n' greet!
-Chelsea Verbeek, Bsc RD