Featured Articles
Living With the Losses of Chronic Disease
by Laurel Saville
Liv Fun: Vol 8 – Issue 3
Advances in medical care have given each of us the promise and benefit of longer, healthier lives. But, paradoxically, because we can cure, treat and manage diseases that were, once-upon-a-time, deadly, these same advances are also giving many of us longer, unhealthier lives.
“Back in the day, people died of infectious diseases before they had a chance to get chronic disease,” notes Dr. Steve B. of Oklahoma, who has Parkinson’s. Statistics back this assertion: Using data from the Rand Corporation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that six in 10 adults in the United States have a chronic disease, while four in 10 have two or more.
Most of us will, at some point in our lives, watch a loved one steadily diminish by illnesses like Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, and many others. For some of us, the process happens to the person we see every day in the mirror.
Ten years ago, I was successfully treated for an acute and often deadly form of breast cancer; today, I’m living with the chronic, incurable and progressive disease of Parkinson’s. The emotional journeys of the two experiences have been completely different.
Acute illness draws lines in the sand. There is the before and after of diagnosis, the before and after of either death or cure. Chronic illness, on the other hand, feels more like being stuck thigh deep at the beach, pummeled by wave upon wave of physical insults.
Liv Fun
by Leisure Care
Autumn 2019
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Be My Light
by Skye Moody
In 1946, a slight, fragile figure was riding a train from Calcutta to Darjeeling, when the “call” came to her. A school-teaching nun from a convent, she didn’t question the call’s mystical origin nor consult anyone for an opinion, because the call came from the highest authority she knew.
Living With the Losses of Chronic Disease
by Laurel SavilleAdvances in medical care have given each of us the promise and benefit of longer, healthier lives. But, paradoxically, because we can cure, treat and manage diseases that were, once-upon-a-time, deadly, these same advances are also giving many of us longer, unhealthier lives.
A Season of Transition
by Alisa Sauer
From the summer sun to crisp autumn days, nothing symbolizes change better than fall. For many, it’s a time to set new routines, go back to school, and maybe elect new governing officials. The colors are changing, the scenery is changing … life itself is changing. A period of transition between the long, warm days of summer and the cold of winter, fall is nothing if not a season of change.