Why I Chose To Blog

Why I chose to blog…that is the question. I am not a writer, certainly not an eloquent one and I use an inordinate amount of commas, a plethora of parentheses and excessive exclamation marks. I pretty much do everything that my English teachers taught me not to do.

 

I have been living with a chronic illness called POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome) for 3+ years now. I have been, and still am part of many online groups via Facebook and I read a few blogs on the subject. One thing is for certain, when you are diagnosed with some weird chronic illness that not too many doctors know about; you tend to be online quite a bit trying to find any and all answers you can. If you are lucky enough, you come across many people that are in the same boat.

 

Back to the question…why I chose to write a blog. Well writing, just getting your thoughts on paper, is cathartic. Amazingly, I can sit, or lay in bed (depending on how I’m feeling that particular day) and type away my feelings on the subject of chronic illness. When I say “type away” I mean that in a literal sense. It feels so good to just get it all down on paper as opposed to talking to myself out loud on my back patio and having my children look at me as if I’m crazy. One time, when my son was much younger, he “caught” me talking to myself on the back patio. He came out and asked, “Who are you talking to?” I told him I was talking to myself. He felt bad for me and said, “Oh mom, I’ll come out here so you have someone to talk to.” Aren’t kids just the cutest? Now my children are teens and they just stand there (on the other side of the French door) and watch me talk to myself (probably thinking…boy, my mom is weird) (see what I mean by a “plethora of parentheses”) (I’m sure there was supposed to be a question mark in there somewhere).

 

I know that when I read others’ blogs, I can relate; I then know that I am not alone in this. The only people that truly understand what I am going through are people with this illness. In our town, we do not have a support group, that I know of, I do not have friends with POTS, or even doctors that really know what POTS is, much less how to treat it. So virtual is the only way I can go. Like I said, when I read other posts about people with POTS I think; they get it, they understand. I do have a very supportive family (my wonderful husband and my two awesome children), and even though they are supportive, they still don’t know, really know how I’m feeling. How can I expect them to, they are not me?

 

So, that it why I chose to write a blog. Currently, this is in the beginning stages. I have about 6 pre-written posts waiting in my Documents folder. I am still toying with the idea of beginning a blog; actually, the idea scares me. I am not computer savvy; in fact, I’m not savvy at all (quite frankly, I’m not even sure what that means). This I do know…I have a chronic illness. I find it relaxing to write about my experiences. I gain knowledge, confidence and encouragement in reading about others’ experiences. I want to help others realize that even though we might feel helpless at times, we should never feel hopeless.

 

Of course, now I’m going to have to enlist my teenage daughter, who is an aspiring writer, to proofread and show me how to work this whole “blog” thing…