Most of you know that I have Crohn’s disease. Currently, I am doing fine; but there are times when I don’t have nearly enough spoons.
For anybody who has or knows somebody with health issues, this description my help explain what it’s like.
my thanks to Benze of http://benzeknees.wordpress.com for leading me to this post.
FiftyFourandAHalf 
I had re-blogged this too! I gave it to my hubby & a good friend & I could see how much better they understood what it felt like to be a disabled person since I was diagnosed with COPD.
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Well, I hope you’re doing ok now, Benze! It is a great description.
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Thank you Elyse! This is a great way for people without chronic illness to understand those of us that do. I took a look at Christine Miserandino website, I found a joke there that is priceless! Here’s the link:
http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/articles/sick-humor/sick_not_stupid/
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Glad you liked it. I will check out your link!
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That was hilarious!
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Thanks for the share, Elyse. I have more chronic GI diseases than I care to think about.
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Ooh. Yup. Can’t hit “like” on this comment. Sorry to hear you’re on the “beeb there” side.
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Really well articulated, Elyse. Thank you for sharing this.
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Well articulated by somebody else, Naomi! But it was certainly worth sharing. Because all of us either are or know somebody with spoon challenges!
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So true!
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I am familiar with the spoon theory thanks to a good friend who lives with autoimmune arthritis. She introduced me to the theory as a way of explaining what it is like having a chronic condition such as hers, looking at her you would think that there was nothing wrong. It is a very helpful explanation and I’m so glad you shared it.
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I’m so glad you commented, too. You’re the first who read it from “the other side.” Your comment is a testament to just how good the spoon theory is. It sounds like you have a better understanding of what your friend is going through. And that can only help you to be an even better friend.
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This was exactly what I needed to be reading today. It’s been a string of those “not enough spoons” days lately, and I’m trying to work up the courage to get in the shower, even though everything hurts today. But I think it is worth risking a spoon, if for no other reason, so that I can feel the heat of the warm water hitting my scalp. In the grand scheme of things, today is just another Monday. But now, armed with the Spoon Theory, it makes me a little more generous towards myself on those Not Enough Spoons days. Love this! and thanks for sharing. Hope your day leaves you holding on to a few extra spoons.
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It took me a while to figure out how to link back to the original story (The Spoon Theory) written by Christine Miserandino on her But You Don’t Look Sick website, but I finally found a way to link to the story on Facebook (and shared the link there, and began following her, too). Truly, one of the best descriptions of living with chronic illness I’ve ever come across. So simple, and yet it really explains it in a clear way.
http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/articles/written-by-christine/the-spoon-theory/
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Thanks for that link, 99. I took a look at it and there are some treasures. My favorite was:
Sick Humor: The top ten worst suggestions commonly given to someone with a chronic illness – See more at: http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/articles/sick-humor/sick-humor-the-top-ten-worst-suggestions-commonly-given-to-someone-with-a-chronic-illness/#sthash.OEjKmHKH.dpuf
While I don’t recall anybody saying anything totally offensive, it is a hilarious link!
Thanks again. Wishing you service for 20!
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So sorry for the silverware shortage, 99. I do think that missing cutlery days tend to group together to make you/me despair. (I wish the remedy were as simple as my mothers when her cutlery was missing. She would go out to the backyard and look around where I’d been playing …)
I really do think that this description makes the whole thing understandable. Or more so. Healthy and sick alike, we all have days when it is hard to get out of bed — but when there is something wrong, the struggle is so much harder. In fact, when I’m sick, that’s what gets me most. The fact that I never wake up just happy to hear the birds chirp — instead I wake up and want to roll back over and hide under the pillow.
For me lately, I am doing fairly well. I have enough spoons most days. My treatments, while they don’t solve everything, make me feel pretty good. And now, instead of counting my lucky stars, I will count spoons. Wish I could offer you a couple on my good days, 99. I really wish I could!
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I haven’t been able to let go of this one. Still loving the Spoon Theory. Even shared it with one of my sisters, via a link on facebook.
A vewy long time ago (we’re talking eons), I wrote a story called Spoons of Dirt. It was about a young girl who tried to commit suicide by digging a grave with a serving spoon, and how the moon would shine against the metal of the spoon as she dug out the earth, one spoonful at a time, under the darkness of night. How she had risked severe punishment for stealing the spoon from her mother’s fancy silver service, and how having that spoon in her hand offered the promise of freedom.
That story was a really long time ago, and left the echo of appreciation for the simplicity of a spoon. Now, after reading The Spoon Theory, my appreciation of spoons has quadrupled. You might even say I’m sort of over the moon about spoons.
🙂
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What a sad story. But knowing a bit about your history makes me understand a bit.
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Sad, yes. But while that little girl held the spoon in her hand, she was able to dream of freedom, and imagine a different life. That simple spoon held a lot of power.
Thankfully, she grew up, and has gone on to appreciate spoons in an entirely different way, thanks to her blog-sister friend. I’ve never said this to anyone before, especially considering that we’ve never even met (IRL), but you feel very much like a sister, in many ways. Humor, passion, wit, anger, frustration, intelligence, sorrow, sadness, and of course, a love of wiggly and warm puppies. Sisters of the world, united by the blogosphere.
Hope your Wednesday is tolerable. Hey, we’re not reaching for the moon and stars here. Some days, it’s enough just to get through the day. 🙂
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My dear friend,
I feel very much the same way about you, 99. But I am too afraid to claim another sister. The lifespan of my real-life ones was not good. So we need to come up with a different word. For that reason and because you never piss me off like my actual sisters did (especially by dying).
XXXX
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I’m down with that … and the only reason I haven’t ever pissed you off (yet) is that we have the magic of words at our disposal, and both of us seem to enjoy using them carefully, and sometimes, with wild abandon. Word-warriors in spirit. Spitting out volumes of words, or using them sparingly. Either way, it seems we have something to say.
We can choose any moniker, but I’m sorry to say, that eventually, one way another, we all cross over that one-way bridge. I’m just sorry you lost your sisters way too soon. Before you’d had a chance to give them a proper ear-full. 🙂
Thankfully, at least for today, both of my sisters still have the awesome opportunity to listen to my droning voice. Well, one of them, anyway. The other one never has heard a word I’ve said, despite the fact that she pretends to be listening. In truth, she wishes I would hurry up and die, so she could have yet another reason to be mad at me. She’s been angry with me all our lives, and doesn’t seem inclined to wake up to the fact that she’s transferred all her anger towards our mother to my head. So I’ve done her the favor of just accepting her anger. She’s ain’t heavy … she’s my sister.
Sometimes I amuse myself my imagining whacking her in the head … maybe, considering the theme of the day, with a spoon? Sorry, couldn’t help myself. Manic days give me an excuse to be whacky. As if I needed an excuse.
XXXX right back to you
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Left a comment on her blog. I thought that her way of illustrating to people who are healthy what it’s like to have to make the most basic kinds of decisions just to get through the day for people with chronic debilitating conditions was brilliant.
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I agree completely. It’s hard to describe how it feels when simple things are so difficult. She did so perfectly!
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Excellent post Elyse. thank you very much. i left a comment on the blog site.
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Isn’t it brilliantly simple?
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I just read your comment over there, Paul. I knew you had some issues, but didn’t know how many. What a sick trick of fate that a driver should have such a hard time getting a bloomin’ ride.
Where are you located?
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Thank you for sharing this. 🙂
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Hey stranger! Looking forward to seeing you soon!
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Christine has lupus and we call ourselves spoonies.
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It is a great description. It is a perfect description. And spoons hang together!
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We also use comments like I need more spoons. Or I only had two spoons today.
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I hope you’re doing ok these days. Lots of spoons!
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Read my post on Tuesday. Thanks for asking.
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