The Caring Counselor

Everyone around me has been getting sick and not with the same ailments. It started with a few clients complaining about a stomach bug that hit them hard. Throwing up, sharp stomach pain, and fatigue that lasted for 3-5 days. Ew. Friends of mine getting hit with an upper respiratory virus that lingered for weeks. Yuck.

I literally rang the new year in while throwing up into a sink. I caught the norovirus. It knocked me on my ass for 4 days. It tore me down. I stayed in bed the majority of the time. The only good thing coming out of that was losing 6 pounds.

After finally recovering from that, a week later, I had to take an entire day off due to pain in my body. My fibromyalgia was flaring up. I attributed it to a serious lack of sleep. It was enough to force me to go home and cancel about 7 sessions. I sure as hell needed the rest.

This week rolled around. On Monday, I could barely talk. I sounded like a smoker of 40 years. An unusual bass followed the words I uttered. Again, I canceled a full day’s worth of sessions. As a therapist and professor, my line of work relies partially on verbal communication. My voice suffered throughout the rest of the week and only just started showing signs of improvement.

Why am I complaining about getting sick and having flares? For one, each time took a toll on my mental health as well. I missed a good amount of work, and I don’t get PTO as a business owner. I missed out on a good chunk of money. Therefore, putting further stress on me.

Also, I had to carefully gauge my limitations on any given day. I might feel a bit better, but I had to be careful. I didn’t want to risk going back too soon and ending up right back in the gutter. Talk about a delicate balancing act.

I think we furthermore underestimate the power of the mind-body connection during those moments. We must nurture both entities and use each one to support the other. A healthy mind keeps our body in good shape, keeps our immune system fighting, and keeps us in check with reasonably analyzing our physical capabilities. A healthy body provides strong self-confidence, coping skills to alleviate stress, and ways for our mind to recover.

Stay health, my friends.

The Caring Counselor