People, who are chronically ill, meaning they have been ill for more than six months, find that depression may plague them. The chronically ill person suffers from pain and a change of life that a healthy person does not experience. A change in body image, loss of hair, scars, loss of functioning in work and activities of daily living, can make a chronically ill person feel very depressed. Below is a great example of a case:
An African American woman, age 50, was rushed to the emergency room with terrible stomach pain. After thoroughly assessing this woman, the doctor decided to do an emergency surgery on her colon which was protruding outward. Knowing this, the woman signed the appropriate forms and the surgery took place. Six hours later, the doctor returned with news that the woman had a malignant mass in her colon which was cancer. In the end, the cancer turned out to be Stage III colon cancer and the woman had to undergo chemotherapy.
Chemotherapy took place and the woman experienced many changes in her body. This woman experienced cachexia, lost her hair, experienced tingling and numbing in her fingertips and toes, and was anorexic. Not to mention, she had scars across her stomach from the surgery and a scar on her chest where a port was implanted for the chemotherapy. The chemotherapy was complete and this woman has been in remission for three years.
Unfortunately…yes, there is sad news; she developed Trigeminal Neuralgia after the chemotherapy treatments. Trigeminal Neuralgia is a condition that causes terrible pain, “small seizures,” tingling, and numbness around the jaw, teeth, sinuses, and forehead. She gets migraines almost every day of the week, becomes disoriented, loses her appetite (from the pain of not wanting to chew), and finds herself in a midst of confusion because she “thought the pain was over when she had cancer.” For three years after colon cancer she has had to quit her job (a job she loved) because the pain was too much to bear, has been denied Social Security Disability (simply because they do not know what the disability entails and think she can still work), and has been “tossed” from doctor to doctor because they do not truly understand to condition. With all of this said, she is depressed.
How must I know? This woman is my mother.
For those of us who wake up on a daily basis healthy and are moaning about going to work or having to pay a bill (when there is money in the bank), please remember that here are people who are very ill and want to work and people who need money to pay bills, but do not have the funds. My mother is one of those people. Her pain and struggles are making her depressed. Many other chronically ill people just want there life back to the way it was before the illness. For that reason, depression sets in and then the question is raised…why me?
Remember to count your blessings every day and pray for those who are ill.
