Tupeak Hope

O is for Office Visits – #AtoZ Challenge 2018

Today’s topic for the letter O shall be office visits. This will include such things as how to adequately prepare for, participate in, and get the most out of the limited face time you may get with your physician or other advanced practitioners. How hard can this be, you may be thinking. Well, in reality, it isn’t hard per se but many people have never learned how to do it effectively.

N is for Nuance – #AtoZChallenge

For the letter N in today’s post, the topic is going to be nuances and how they can appear where you least expect them. According to Merriam-Webster, nuance is defined “as a subtle distinction or variation” and it goes on to explain that it can also refer to a “sensibility to, awareness of, or ability to express delicate shadings (as of meaning, feeling, or value)”.

M is for Money (and Mindfulness) – #AtoZ Challenge 2018

There are two separate for the letter M today for I couldn’t decide between the two. First, we are going to address money and it’s relevance in health matters. Secondly, we are going to address mindfulness as a way of coping with your life regardless of whether you are a patient or a caregiver.

They say that money can’t buy happiness and to many, that is a trite, pointless and inaccurate statement. At times it may seem insensitive or even judgmental when money judgments are made about patients by providers. I’ve had many providers look at me and make statements about my lack of ability to afford very expensive medications without prescription insurance.

Life Isn’t Over – #AtoZ Challenge 2018

Today’s topic is one that is very important. You may have received what you feel is a devastating diagnosis and that your life is over. While it may, in fact, be a devastating diagnosis let me assure you that your life isn’t over whether metaphorically or literally speaking. This is even true in the very sad event that you’ve been given a terminal diagnosis your life is not, in fact over until you cease living. While that may sound harsh, it’s true. As the old saying goes “it isn’t over until the fat lady sings” and the same can be said about life.

K is for Keeping Hope Alive – #AtoZChallenge 2018

Today’s discussion will focus on hope and how to keep reasonable expectations of it to preserve both your physical and emotional health in regards to living life with chronic illness.

Merriam Webster defines hope in the following ways:

• Intransitive verb
  • To cherish a desire with anticipation; to want something to happen or be true
• Transitive verb
  • To desire with the expectation of obtainment or fulfillment
  • To expect with confidence.

There are days that nearly everyone may feel hopeless at one point or another. We are all human and we all have days where it seems as if nothing is ever going to get better, whether referring to a job, financial situation, health, or nearly any topic you could pick that directly impacts your life and happiness. The trick is not to let those days take root to grow into a larger feeling of hopelessness which can easily happen if we do not properly address the topic of hope and ultimately if you lose hope you can fall down the very deep well of despair from which it can seem impossible to climb back out of.