#spoonie humor
I DID IT. I FINISHED ANOTHER COMIC. AHH!!
On that note, I like to imagine that Brain Fog’s voice is Keith David and Earth Kitt speaking in unison. Mauhahahaha.
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SPOONIE THINGS NO ONE TALKS ABOUT PART 23
Being hungry, but you can’t eat.
I know this isn’t universal for most illnesses, but for me, I find myself in this situation far too often.
The most common reason for being hungry and not being able to eat is that you’re in too much pain to go get something, the thing you have to eat takes too much effort, or you would have to shop/cook which you don’t have the energy for.
There is very few things as frustrating as being starving and not having the energy or spoons to go get food. Then you end up in a loop because in order to get the energy to go get food, you need to eat something. It can cause you to spend several hours waiting for pain waves to pass or hoping the impromptu nap will give you what you need to get up.
The other reason this can happen is that your stomach just decides to screw you and even though it is obviously upset, you still feel hungry. So you start the gamble on,
“Is my stomach hurting because I’m hungry so food will help? Or will this food completely wreck my stomach even more?”
The holidays are so hard for spoonies. Please be kind this year
When someone tells me I should be positive about my chronic illness:
One of the many things that can suck about being chronically ill is that your life can be, on all counts, amazing.
Loving family, a cute puppy, comfortable financially, a nice house, working cars.
But you still feel like your life is horrible.
You still feel as if life has treated you unfairly when to other people, your life is amazing.
“You should be grateful.” the voices of your peers and doubts tell you. “At least you’re not living on mats in a mud hut.”
But they don’t understand.
The pain that is trapped in my body doesn’t care about what kind of car I drive.
There is no amount of physical comfort on this planet that can help me.
My illness doesn’t care what my life has to offer, it only makes me ill.
SPOONIE THINGS NO ONE TALKS ABOUT PART 22
Distractions are essentials.
Whenever you are not distracted, as a spoonie, that just means that your brain can pay more attention to your pain.
For me, I can’t survive without something to occupy my mind. Something to push out the constant throbbing, something to escape to.
Because when your outer world is silent, your body seems to scream even louder than before.
I never catch a cold, I immediately catch my death.
Why do I only get the will and the self-confidence to change my life in the middle of the night?
To tell you the truth, I’ve never forgotten my homework. I just considered sleep as a higher priority.
[Comic of Potsie and Susan in their Halloween costumes—Susan, finishing up her 80s inspired outfit, asks Potsie, “So, are you finally going to tell me what you’re dressing as for Halloween?” Potsie says, “Only the most terrifying thing known to humankind…” She spins around and makes a scary face and says, “A primary care physician who says your symptoms are all in your head!” Susan is surprised for a second—then squints as Potsie smiles. In the second image, Susan puts her hands on her hips and says, “Nobody’s gonna get that—” while Potsie sadly says, “I know.”]
Happy Halloween, everybody! I hope you all have a spook-tacular day!
[Comic of Potsie and Susan eating dinner–Potsie is pouring tons of salt on her food while Susan frowns and says, “The American Heart Association must hate you.” Above them are the words “POTS Problem #2: Salt!”]
What’s your favorite salty food?
Fun fact: While pickles and pretzels are often a go-to salty snack for POTSies, there are a lot of other options out there! A quick google search for “saltiest foods” or “saltiest snacks” shows that condiments, breads, and even cake mixes can be surprisingly high in sodium! Basically, processed food is terrible for “normal” people because so much of it is so high in sodium—but that makes it pretty good for us! Just check the labels on the things you’re looking at when you shop and see what sorts of things are high in sodium!
Sodium/salt is important for POTS patients because it helps hold in all that extra water we’re supposed to be drinking. The salt + water combo = a higher blood volume, which helps combat symptoms like blood pooling and low blood pressure. Finding the amount of salt that works for you can take some experimenting, as everyone has different salty needs, and some people need so much extra sodium that they can’t get it all via food and have to take salt tablets. Talk with your doctor about your own adventures into the land of salt and see what they recommend for you specifically—you don’t wanna add too much salt, as it can make you feel gross. As with most POTS things, finding the right salt + water combo is a delicate balance and can be a bit tricky, but many patients find that a proper balance really helps their symptoms!
What high-sodium food have you found that’s surprised you? The internet told me Raisin Bran is super high in sodium, which I thought was really weird.
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[Image that says “Types of Palpitations: *The gentle tickle *The hummingbird flutter *The cough-inducing THUMP *The “I think a horse just kicked me in the chest”]
Tag yourself–I’m “cough-inducing THUMP.”
[Drawing of Potsie dressed up as Harry Potter, looking into the Mirror of Erised–her reflection is holding a spoon. Above her it says, “Harriette Potsie and the Sorcerer’s Spoon”.]
“The spoon chooses the spoonie, Harriette…”
The second in my series of spoonie spoofs! You can find the first one based on The Lord of the Rings here.
Misery may love company, but chronic illness loves a crowd.
