the spoon theory of chronic illness

[jinian]

Or, I imagine, lots of other things. I'm glad I have more spoons these days, but it's still a finite amount that I have to keep track of in many different ways.

(Okay, today I had about three spoons to my name, which is why I read two-and-some books, played a CD's worth of FF9, and whinged for Wim to make me tea. But, when I am not having an awful cold, the drugs and self-care really work pretty well.)

Comments

[eub.livejournal.com]

An illuminating concretization.

Best of luck spoon-spawning.

[rubricity.livejournal.com]

That is a most excellent link. Thank you for posting it.

I'm so glad I have many more spoons in my day now and I hope your tomorrow has many more.

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

that theory has never quite made sense to me. i mean, i understand it, but i did not have that "oh! that's it!" ping that so many people i know had.

the theory that i *thought* that was going to be when i started reading it, however, makes perfect sense to me. which is: everyone has to keep track of a certain number of spoons. the arthritis has given me a bunch more to keep track of. and there's stuff i just can't do when i have to keep track of that many spoons. the number of spoons varies, of course. today, not too many more than most people have. thursday, before i went on the extra drugs to help with the move yesterday? roughly an extra gross of spoons.

[jinian.livejournal.com]

I didn't get a pinging effect from it either, but I thought it was a good way to express what I have to deal with. Since I frame my social-interaction-having ability as "interaction points", I might be more disposed to a discrete-objects-for-using metaphor. Keeping track is another aspect of it, but I really like the way the spoon-spending illuminates the possibility of just running out.

[baratron.livejournal.com]

everyone has to keep track of a certain number of spoons. the arthritis has given me a bunch more to keep track of. and there's stuff i just can't do when i have to keep track of that many spoons.

Yes! That's what I thought it should be, as well.

The big problem I have is remembering to take all my various pills and potions, because for effectiveness & sanity reasons they are split into different times of day. If for some reason I get a new medication, OR it's the time of the month when I need to take extra, OR I'm ill with a virus and have to take some other medicine because of that, THEN generally speaking I forget to take one or more of my existing ones. Then suffer accordingly. It's like my brain contains a buffer which can hold ~10 medication variables, and if I have more than 10 things to take the buffer overflows and I forget some :)

Apologies for getting over-geeky, there ;)

[marzipan-pig.livejournal.com]

I totally suck at figuring out how many spoons I have, like, I think I keep dropping them or something (what I thought the metaphor would be, having to hold onto a bunch of spoons while trying to do a bunch of other stuff too.)

[elisem.livejournal.com]

Thank you for posting a link to that; I had forgotten about it, and it is so good.

(I especially like the part in it where it says, "Its hard, the hardest thing I ever had to learn is to slow down, and not do everything. I fight this to this day. I hate feeling left out, having to choose to stay home, or to not get things done that I want to. " Well, OK, not like, exactly, but agree with so much that it hurts from nodding.)

[elisem.livejournal.com]

Like, I went to Fiddler's Green, but I went home before the dance because I needed to make sure I would have enough spoons the next day to sit behind my table and work. But oh, it hurt to leave.

[jinian.livejournal.com]

Yep. I know that kind of thing. I'm sorry you didn't get to do the dance.

Sometimes a thing is worth all your spoons for the next day too, and you do it, but you never get to not be aware of that. (Well, I guess maybe one does, but it'd lead to lower quality of life in general, and I for one don't really like fooling myself.)