Chronic illness & Living Alone

[menaughty]

Hello Everyone,

I wonder if any other members over here live alone and deal with Chronic Illnesses. I myself have a mild-moderate case of ulcerative colitis.

how do you guys manage living alone? 

 

[+ Charlie]

I live alone (with my dog), but my only serious medical problem is my age.  The other night I was lying in bed in a strange state between being awake and asleep, and wondered if I were dying. My main concern was how long it might take for someone to notice that I was missing. Then I remembered that my house cleaner was coming that afternoon, so he would find my body before it started to rot and my dog started to eat it, so I relaxed and fell asleep. 

 But my concerns about living alone are not normally so morbid. I live in an age-restricted retirement community and have neighbors who also live alone, so we tend to be alert to one another's situations. I think it is always good to have friendly neighbors whom you know well enough to entrust with your keys. The other day I had an earthquake alert on my phone, and I felt the ground rumbling under my floor. As soon as it stopped, I went nextdoor to check on my neighbor, who was widowed in December and now lives alone; to my surprise, she hadn't felt the quake at all, although she also got an alert on her phone. Soon my phone was buzzing with calls and texts from neighbors checking in, as well as friends from outside the community. I have neighbors whom I socialize with every day as I walk my dog, and I belong to a group of card players who meet regularly in our Lodge. I also belong to a tennis club and usually play tennis a couple of days a week. 

The important thing to remember if you live alone--regardless of your medical condition--is to maintain regular social contacts, and do the same things for them that you hope they would do for you.

Edited January 26 by Charlie

[+ Pensant]

19 hours ago, Charlie said:

I think it is always good to have friendly neighbors whom you know well enough to entrust with your keys

I’m fortunate in that my neighbors in both of the places where I live have keys and my garage code. High trust is a luxury these days.

[+ jeezopete]

12 hours ago, MRK said:

Anyway now that I look at this I think I should delete it. I think I will leave it up for a bit and just say even if you're chronically ill if you still have some friends consider yourself lucky, if you have a supportive family consider yourself lucky and if you're someone who is just starting to deal with something like this do your best to maintain relationships with your friends and family. I know I can be hard when you're really really sick but you will regret it if you don't.

Please reconsider and let your post remain here. At the very least, one other member may read it and realize he's not the only one in his situation. Probably not any real consolation but just knowing someone else out there understands how you feel may offer a small spark of positive thought today.

[Whoisyourdaddy]

It's difficult for me to meet people outside of this hobby. 

I rarely strike up a conversation at the gym. Everyone seems to be on autopilot while exercising (and shopping, etc).

I've considered returning to church, but I don't think I could wake up on time. (Perhaps I can find an evening service one day.)