I’m waiting in the doctor’s office. It’s apparently my thing now. Some people go out to eat, some go to bars, while others go shopping, I get to wait on doctors. I should have been forewarned about my present course of lifestyle long ago. But, unfortunately, there are many things you won’t hear once you or someone you love is diagnosed with a chronic illness.

For instance, I spend a lot of time rearranging my schedule or finding someone to help me take care of my children while I wait. I wait at the doctor’s office, hospitals, pharmacies, and if I’m really lucky, I get to wait with my ear glued to the phone while on hold with the insurance company, clinics, and my personal favorite, social security (eye roll). The most frustrating part, besides all the waiting, is knowing I will be doing it all again for follow up appointments, emergencies, or fighting with insurance and social security. It’s a guarantee. Hours of my life are spent with my butt glued to a chair dealing with something associated with my illness or that of my son.

Getting my son one of his medications got bad a couple years ago. It was so bad that I was on the verge of a breakdown. My son has a severe form of eplispsy and the best medication used to treat it was offered solely through a specialty pharmacy. This pharmacy needs a disclaimer, “Warning: dealing with our business is bad for your health”. In reality, that’s a problem with a lot of businesses and people who are supposed to help those with chronic illness, they really don’t.  All the extra appointments, phone calls, and paperwork just add to the already mounting stress of chronic illness.

So people like me wait. We wait for a break in hopes that something easier will come along. We wait for improvement in health so we can wait at the doctor’s office less often, we wait for the right medication so we don’t have to deal with pharmacies, insuance, and new medication schedules. We wait, wait, wait…..

When there is little in terms of health that we can control, it’s nice when we get a helping hand, a word of encouragement, or we are at the receiving end of a kind deed. And thank goodness those nice things don’t come with a wait…. they come into our lives and remind us we are not forgotten while we spend a good part of our days doing things we’d rather not.

If I have to wait for something, I’d love for it to be a vacation, a home improvement,  an evening, or better still, a weekend away but these things are usually physically and/or financially out of reach so that’s when the company of a good friend, a laughter filled conversation, or any time we can get to enjoy the things we love are invaluable. Chronic illness changed how I look at life and what’s important. When my mom takes time out of her day to wait with me at my appointments, my husband volunteers to be the one to fight with the insurance company, or my friend drives her shoulder to my house for me to cry on, it’s a big deal. When I feel like so much has been taken away, the little things become the big things that matter.

I know how hard it can be to find the right words when someone is struggling. In truth, there are no right words, what matters are those well intended actions. Even if you don’t know what to say, pick of the phone and try something like, “I wanted to see how you were doing today,” send a text, mail a card of encouragement, offer a smile, or volunteer a few minutes out of your day to wait along with someone like me or my son who spend a lot of time doing it alone. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t know what to say or do, being in the company of a friend is always worth the wait.

*d*