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ChronicBabe Blog Carnival #9: The Big Breakdown: When everything goes to hell, what do we do?

Welcome to The Chronic Babe Carnival #9: The Big Breakdown: When Everything Goes to Hell, What Do We Do? Sixteen ChronicBabes tell you exactly how they deal when things go down. We've got some great stories and tips for you, Babes!

Big change is coming!

Jenni, the ChronicBabe Editrix, has penned a spontaneous epiphany that will inspire you: “It's Time for Some Big Change at ChronicBabe HQ.” And Babes, transformation is in the air! Have you ever had a moment where everything becomes crystal clear? An enormous moment captured and documented. Stay tuned to this channel because the beginning of something bigger is coming!

Getting by with a little help from our family, friends...and animals

"As We Are." Maya at Loving With Chronic Illness tells some beautiful stories about silver linings and staying positive. And she faces the reality that a person can’t be relentlessly positive 24/7. Even Pollyanna knew that, right? Sometimes it’s okay to be less than positive. Thank goodness for amazing family, friends and boyfriend. And sometimes parents are right…

Gerri at 50 is the new 40 got stuck “Down the rabbit hole and back out again – now.” What’s a ChronicBabe to do? Where is that shovel? Her people help dig her out of that hole!

Sometimes our four-legged friends are the only thing that keeps us from spiraling down into hell. Julio is Nickie’s “go-to” guy. Nickie shares just how vital her service dog is at Nickie’s Nook in “A Guide to Easier Times.”

Step-by-step, we shall overcome!

We all have different ways of handling those days from hell. KD at Making Noises has a “Full Circle” of stuff going on when life interrupts her plans. Step-by-logical-step, KD does what it takes to “get ‘er done." Hey KD, ChronicBabes are wishing the best for your Punkin. Life with a chronic disease can be a life well lived…even if you’re a cat!

How does compulsive list-making help in the face of the big breakdown? For Dana at I Already Gave My Right Arm to Be Ambidextrous, it is a very useful coping technique, as she tells us in “The Big Breakdown: When Everything Goes to Hell, What Do I Do?” Without those lists to keep her focused, crazy things can happen...like getting so overwhelmed and unfocused that a car door was left wide open while she was at an appointment. Dana shares other coping strategies that she uses including pray, pray, pray!

Lists are useful tools for ChronicBabes. Loolwa of Dancing with Pain has provided several lists to help us focus and find a way, step-by-step, to heal ourselves. “Dance through a Setback” and find a way to take control. When you’re hit by a setback, calm down the pain and stay in the driver’s seat of the inevitable roller-coaster ride, she teaches us in “Coping with a Physical and Emotional Pain Setback.”

All it takes is a little hope, grit and determination

Katie at Overflowing Brain is a finalist in the BlogHer Voices of the Year humor category. This is a big deal and Katie is hilarious! However, in “Facing it, Part 2” she’s not funny; she is fierce! In spite of constant pain, Katie is absolutely determined to reach her goals. She’s got what it takes; hope, grit and determination. We’re rooting for you, Babe!

Some days you just fake it till you make it. Nessie at Lipstick, perfume and too many pills admits that “Nothing feels good being under the gun.” But when everything is going to hell, juggling dishes and looking pretty helps maintain sanity in the face of adversity.

Setbacks suck! Selena at Oh My Aches and Pains! is grateful that particularly painful times have passed. She’d prefer not to think of them at all. However, in “A Saving Grace for When Everything Goes Wrong” she shares the one thing she has come to rely on to get her through the big disasters as well as the everyday setbacks—something that ultimately makes all her misfortunes bearable.

Does it help if everything happens for a reason?

Sometimes what appears to be the worst thing in the world…isn’t. At Tales of my Thirties Rachel confirms that “The cliché speaks the truth.” She talks about finding one's way through an acute health disaster to find that maybe everything does happen for a reason and maybe everything that doesn't kill us makes us stronger. And clichés are clichés for a reason.

Amanda's Journey is “The Beginning of The End.” What happens when bad goes to worst, when the prognosis you've feared for almost 18 years becomes reality? All you can do is take it one day at a time, trust in whatever you believe in, treasure life, cherish those close to you, and take things one day at a time.

Brittney of The Road I'm On shares her “Faith, Hope and Elbow Grease”. Getting knocked down and finding the way back to a vertical position, or on top of "The Hill" means relying on some mental elbow grease to troubleshoot, a little bit of faith that everything happens for a reason, and the ability to keep hope when things are looking a bit bleak.

How we deal isn't always "by the book"

Pity the poor Fibrochondriac. Kathy’s life resembles a train wreck. Too overwhelmed to cope and unable to deal with the stress, she comes clean with her solution to The Big Breakdown. Hey, a little self-inflicted public humiliation never hurt anyone...

When Elfenkate, at Into A Barrel and Over My Life, can’t ignore life, she thinks: “If Only I Were An Ostrich” and then the tunes of Barry Manilow are her pity party play list. But wait, a Proclaimers song comes on, Fred and Ginger show up and hey, life’s not so bad!

S.L. Wisenberg aka Cancer Bitch is “Cooling from a Meltdown.” Cancer Bitch has an unusual method of dealing. After a meltdown, eat ice cream then heat up and become an activist. Try it!

Like what you see here? Why not enter the next ChronicBabe Blog Carnival?!

We're having so much fun running a blog carnival! But maybe there's room for improvement; we want to hear your suggestions. Let us know what you think in the discussion over at the Forum.

Want to participate in the next carnival? It's two weeks from today (publish date: August 10, 2010), and the theme is: How do you deal with the medical establishment? Do you have a secret for getting around billing issues? Do you have a favorite approach to reaching your doctor in off-hours? Do you ever freak out with people? Tell us!

If you want to participate, send us your name (as you would like it to appear), the name of your blog, the name of your post, and a 1-2 sentence description of the post. We'll let you know if you're accepted. Send all that to chronic babe @ gmail dot com. The deadline is Sunday, August 8, at 10pm CST.

P.S.: Why not spread the love and submit a post from your favorite ChronicBabe blogger? Tell us who you love to read and we'll include her, too!

And as always, we thank our pals at Fibrochondriac who makes this carnival awesome!

Posted: 7/29/2010 in Blog Carnival | Also posted in: Coping

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