MB Amazed

Even “wipe-out” days are not as bad as they used to be. Had another wipe-out day today. Yesterday was a long difficult day getting to the doctor for help with my struggling heart. It took everything in me to get there but it was necessary. It was also worth spending the next day in bed to recover. Wipe-outs usually are not any fun but I was able to bring a laugh to this one. 

Remember that old song Wipe Out? If you are too young to have any clue what I am talking about this will be a treat for you. It is a fun song, in part, because it applies to everyday life that we all go through. The song literally only has two words WIPE OUT. Ok, I am exaggerating. I looked up the lyrics and I stand corrected.

“Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, wipe out” ~ Surfaris – Wipe Out

If you enjoy the drums, watch this one  ~ Ventures – Wipe Out

Trust me, I am not trying to make light of the horrible days we can have while being chronically ill. I have suffered right there along with all of you. Yet any time, anything comes up that can bring a smile to my face I latch on and enjoy. Rarely does this Wipe Out song get played but when it does it makes me smile. After a rough two days, I went looking for the song.

We all wipe out from time to time. Everything comes crashing down, feels like we are drowning and it takes a while to get to steady ground again. That is life, sick or not. Add illness and trauma and it can be difficult to find a way to laugh.

On our journey through chronic illness, we are going to wipe out. It is not as miserable when we know it is a fact that we have to walk through it. Sometimes we can even see it coming and ride it with a little more ease.

Knowing that my heart was struggling more than what I could handle on my own, I had to get to a doctor or emergency room. I knew the adventure would be exhausting. I knew it would push all of my buttons from trauma I have had that have landed me in doctor’s offices and hospitals. I knew that if I let fear grip me, I would not even leave the house to get help. Away I went. It was difficult. I just took it one step at a time.

One of the doctors even came out to the waiting room and introduced himself and I got stuck on my name. MY NAME!!!! Who gets stuck on their own name. All I could do was laugh and say, “I have Lyme and I forget things.” He laughed and said he had Lyme years ago and understood how goofy it gets.

Everything gets turned upside down when you walk through chronic illness and are hit with the wounds of trauma. We are going to have wipe out days. And then we are going to need recovery days to get our baring on dry ground again.

Simply accepting this will happen over and over again during chronic illness has helped me wipe out with much less impact. Every episode I have to go through is practice for the next. Over the years I have noticed that I do not wipe out as badly as I used to. The recovery is not as long and little by little it reduces the stress on my body. Reducing that stress is moving me through the healing process.

I am amazed at how we look at our current situation can help us to move through it.

During this wipe out, I just laughed at myself. I enjoyed my Wipe Out song and certainly enjoyed finding pictures of wipe outs to share with you. It made me think of my feet in the sand and feeling gentle waves swaying me from side to side while I rolled with it. Sometimes all we can do is roll with it. That does not take away the pain and the misery but it helps us move through it with less intensity.

How do you deal with your wipe out days?

Maribeth Baxter, MBNC (Certified Mind-Body Nourishment Coach)

Donations are accepted to serve others on their chronic illness journey. Maribeth Baxter, MBEC provides voluntary certified health coaching services to the financially limited during their time of crisis.