Message from Jamie Holloway
For eleven years I have been learning to live well with chronic illness. It hasn’t been perfect. I haven’t always been successful at achieving my goals. It has been a chaotic, messy, learning experience that has made my life adventurous. I have learned a lot about how complicated, dangerous & even emotionally, spiritually & mentally draining living with several diagnoses is.
I am asked by my many doctors, nurses, caregivers, friends, family, strangers & store clerks how I have maintained my good attitude despite the many medical adventures, I have lived through, that might have left me feeling bitter, angry, broken & unforgiving. All I can say is, I made decisions & I followed through. One decision was to fight for me. Jesus fought for me so why shouldn’t I?
I also realized, I didn’t want my crawl through lifelong sickness, just for my own benefit. I wanted to be a wellness advocate & help those who are in the same predicament. I wanted to be one of the helpers that Mr. Roger’s speaks about. I do this by reminding myself that my attitude can help me navigate through the dark channels of chronic illness.
I am determined to say thank you to the doctors, nurses, caregivers, anyone who helps me. Showing gratitude reminds you that your life is not over just because you are sick. I say thank you & I mean it. I also decided that I didn’t want to become idle. I want to actually accomplish something, so I started writing.
I believe communicating my pain, needs, & being willing to listen as part of communication allows me to be able to be in a good relationship with my team. I have a good support system of family, friends, doctors, nurses, & caregivers who allow me to achieve many of the goals I have made. I am able to live in my home & able to keep on breathing, writing, reading & loving on my boy, Nicholas.
Since 2017 I have been an owner of Wellness Works NW. I serve as the Research Manager. I am a lead writer & my column is called Chasing Wellness.
Book Reviews
I love reading. This is one thing that keeps me busy and not feeling sorry for myself because I sometimes feel useless in my condition. I have enjoyed every book I have read, even if some of them weren’t my favorite. I enjoy the process of reading and reviewing books.
Read Jamie’s Latest Blog Posts…
Living Ministries!
I have been writing about Living Ministry events for some time on my blog, so I thought I would introduce to you what Living Ministries is. I am the secretary, which means I take notes and answer the emails. I am proud of each member of the organization that I...
Updates
I decided to write an update that doesn’t have anything to do with me moaning about anything that my body is doing. I am going to share some happy updates. First, I started the process of heading back into therapy. I realized that I need some help to guide me through...
Brain Fog
“To live, to err, to fall, to triumph, to re-create life out of life!” James Joyce Re-creating life out of life, what a thought! Is it possible? Do I have the strength, endurance, and enough dirt to create a new life out of the shambles that I have now? I...
Ugliest Of Days
Every time I went on my Facebook page I kept getting messages popping up telling me to stay strong, stay positive, keep fighting, or find the beauty in the ugliest of days. I think God is telling me something. I have been feeling like crud. My writing...
Adventures In The Hospital
You were probably wondering why I haven’t written for the last couple of days. I was in the hospital fighting an infection just below my trach. Wednesday evening around 5 PM I noticed that the infection was growing even after I started my antibiotics. It got so...
Finding Joy
Yesterday morning I woke up with a new problem brewing. Just below my stoma there lurked an infection. It looked like a bruise, so when Myron came he suggested we go to the urgent care center on Main Street here in Vancouver Washington. I couldn’t get a hold of...
Do I need A Prince Charming To Save Me?
My neighbor and I were discussing the Cinderella complex and the movie “Tangled” came up. I love “Tangled. I enjoy the story line. Here is why. Rapunzel is stuck in a fortress of doom and dread. Bored out of her mind while the woman who she believes is her mother uses...
Beautiful Day
I have been resting this weekend. I will be having a long week of appointments and then next Monday is my chemo treatment and then of course another assessment so I can get back into therapy. The month of May is a busy time for me. I wish that energy could be stored...
Music For The Soul
Today I thought I would share a couple of songs that I listen to while I am moving for my health. To be honest I have not been moving like I should lately, because I feel like I am so out of shape, so out of balance that I will never be where I would like to see...
Mindful Living
A few months ago I read Jim Nicolai’s book “Integrative Wellness” and I thoroughly enjoyed it. In his book he talked about his spa he worked for and this is that spa. “Mindful Living” takes each month of the year and focus’ on one aspect of health. For example,...