Having Polycystic Kidney Disease, how do you characterize yourself?
Do you characterize yourself as someone who is a victim of circumstances about which you have no control?
Well, to some extent, that is in fact the case.
Now, accepting that, how are you responding to this?
Do you have a sense of “Wow! I have an incurable disease. I feel like a marked person. I’ll never be really healthy. Will I have any kind of life? Will I be able to have love in my life? How much pain will I experience? How long will I be able to work?”
These are all normal responses, and the questions are the proper ones to ask.
Now, in the “real world.” PKD patients are in all stages, with differing amounts and degrees of physical symptoms, different kinds and degrees of support, different access to high quality medical care, etc.
We’re all different.
Yet one major aspect that we can control is how we characterize ourselves.
Although we are told that PKD is not a “death sentence,” it is, so far, a “life sentence.”
Do you feel like you are soul imprisoned in a sick body?
Or do you feel that your “life sentence” is an opportunity to develop your self within the limits of your disease as you now experience it? With the added understanding that part of your adventure, or “Odyssey” may take you to place where some level of healing, physical, emotional, and spiritual can take place?
In other words, are you internally responding in a passive or active manner?
Do you consider yourself “merely” a patient, quietly “obeying” your doctor’s orders? Or an active participant in your own care, seeking information, asking questions, seeking support, educating people in your circle, living as much life s you can?
The way you “visualize” your own self, the way you describe yourself in relationship to your disease, has a major impact on your quality of life.
If you feel “intimidated” by your PKD, I believe that you don’t have to be. Yes. You must acknowledge your disease, but you can live a full life if you discipline yourself to respect the limits that your disease imposes on you (diet, medications, pain, time for dialysis, time for appointments, etc.) and work around those constraints.
Focus on what you CAN do. Not on what you CAN’T do.
And you can do a lot!
Don’t let a couple of diseased kidneys hold you back! A great Odyssey awaits you!
I hope to “see” you on the road!
Peace and Blessings!
Coach Richie Perl
Certified Professional Coach
Certified Trainer of Neuro-Linguistic Programming
