Recent medical diagnosis

Hi there,
Recently I found out that I have a rare disease in my feet where the blood supply gets cut off to my feet. And also that I have early onset osteoarthritis… I’m 30, pretty healthy and it’s been quite shocking. But it came off the back of a year of feeling increasingly bad foot pain & problems walking, where I told myself I was probably just tired then finally going to the dr and getting tests done.
I’m feeling quite shocked and upset following the news. Its a life long thing that can be managed but also there are risks (including amputation risks like with diabetes) especially later in life. I also have to wear very sensible shoes from now on… which I know I should be grateful that there’s ways to help me live with less pain, but this makes me quite upset too because they can can be very ugly!!
Also they’ve told me I shouldn’t continue my dance classes which are such a highlight of my week & im deeply upset about this.
It is my first time experiencing any access needs and it’s taking me a while to adjust to this identity shift? And accept that there are some things I can’t do, or as easily. There’s frustration and grief there at this happening so young.
Right now though my feet are in agony every day and it is effecting my daily life. I had wondered if it was in my head before so it’s validating to find out it’s a very real thing. And I’m glad I’ve found this out early because it increases my ability to do something about it.
So yes, lots of complex emotions at this stage – and feeling quite down about it. While thinking I should be grateful of the positives and that it could be worse etc.
What I do want is to take action to make the adjustments I need: I’m creating a ‘toolkit’ of things to help me – like supportive shoes, special inner soles, exercises, ice, compression socks, intuitive rest time… And hope I can get things to a more manageable state.
But do you have any tips on getting one’s head around a change like this?
Thanks so much

 

 

Answer:

Celebrating you for taking care of yourself so incredibly well.  I would offer that the biggest tip is to give yourself time. There is no rush to getting your head around it.  Even though your brain might want to downplay this diagnosis or compare it to other health issues a person might have, it’s still a significant event in your life.. It’s very new information.  It’s normal to have a period of disbelief or confusion and fear around it.  This will not last forever.  Be patient. What do you know about yourself that will help you through this time? Who can you add to your support team?