When You’ve Been Really Sick…

Not many people talk about what its like after you’ve been really sick. There are things that can make it easier to know…Find out with Cathy Vartuli from http://www.TheIntimacyDojo.com and Robin Wilson Beattie from http://www.sexAbledwithRobinWB.com.

Cathy: So Robin, you and I have both been sick and one

 

Robin: Oh.

 

Cathy: of the things that I was so surprised with afterwards was nobody told me I’d be depressed like and it hit me harder because no one I don’t think people talk about it.

 

Robin: People don’t talk about it people don’t talk about when you come when you have an experience like it could be sickness or you know

 

Cathy: a car accident

 

Robin: a trauma

 

Cathy: Yeah.

 

Robin: or something like that nobody tells you that once you get through that once you get through that extremely traumatic event that you were going to feel like sh*t for a while.

 

Cathy: Everybody seems to think you’re oh you’ll be so [Inaudible 00:00:44]

 

Robin: [Inaudible 00:00:45] like oh guess what? Now you find out

 

Cathy: No.

 

Robin: you should be just be you just be cool like “yeah, Cath…Cathy” and you’re like no because you’re like you’re facing real you’re…you’re facing you’re like “oh my god. We don’t live forever.”

 

Cathy: No.

 

Robin: Guess what? And you don’t know and….and also you were you….you know when you learn that “oh my god, sh*t really does happen.”

 

Cathy: Well, just

 

Robin: Yeah.

 

Cathy: like physical strain on your body

 

Robin: Yeah, exactly.

 

Cathy: This is Robin Wilson Beattie from @sexAbled on twitter and I’m Cathy Vartuli from https://theintimacydojo.com/ and I would just I….I wanted to share because

 

Robin: Yes

 

Cathy: I was lucky that I was in a place where I could at least Google like

 

Robin: Yes

 

Cathy: why am I so tired and don’t have an

 

Robin: Exactly

 

Cathy: interest anything like even food didn’t taste exciting to me?

 

Robin: Yes.

 

Cathy: and I was like what’s wrong like oh this is perfectly normal you know two people most people after a serious illness or near death

 

Robin: Yes.

 

Cathy: It’s like two to three months.

 

Robin: Yes.

 

Cathy: But nobody in the hospital said a word.

 

Robin: Yeah, that actually should be part of rehab

 

Cathy: Yeah.

 

Robin: Where you have the emotional support. I….I….that’s why you know I….I know like for certain traumatic events sometimes you know there are support you know groups but it’s still not emphasized and talked about enough that once you….you know like sick…sickness when you like especially like when you have like I…I you know I’m being serious like a near-death experience when you when you encounter that yeah it takes it takes a while.

 

Cathy: Yeah.

 

Robin: And sometimes it’s months and sometimes it’s years.

 

Cathy: Yeah.

 

Robin: It depends on

 

Cathy: They recommend that you not make any major decisions for two to three months after

 

Robin: Yeah exactly

 

Cathy: Because you just like

 

Robin: and that’s a good reason why.

 

Cathy: Yeah. So much is changing.

 

Robin: Yeah, so much is changing and….but and it and it’s not but that was also where I have found for me because you know I’ve run up against that a couple of other times because I have a disability and my body and my neurological system a lot of times it’s like “hey, guess what? Let’s give up the ghost.” And but you know

 

Cathy: I’m glad you’re here today.

 

Robin: Yeah, I’m glad I’m here too like every time but now I’ve want that you know when I do encounter that the last time I encounter that was a year ago where I had a malfunction from my baclofen pump and I had I got an overdose and I you know had to go hospital was it was as bad but and that the thing is I was getting ready to fly out and move to California and it was so much and I couldn’t really deal with it so much at that time I’m like a recovered but I’ve learned that what really helped me is reaching out and talking to people.

 

Cathy: Yeah.

 

Robin: and reaching out and saying “hey, this is how I’m feeling” because I learned that the only way I was going to get through that was with a community support.

 

Cathy: Yeah

 

Robin: You know on some things but that’s because I already learned for me and I’ve learned that lesson you know from my last experience.

 

Cathy: Yeah, but if it’s your first time

 

Robin: Iueah we wouldn’t know that you don’t know that and so and I feel like that is that’s extremely extraordinarily important to know that that’s something I would like to actually you know helped teach people that yeah um yeah you’re what would you recommend to community that wants to support like your friends yeah you what if a friend wanted to support someone that was going through a major illness or trauma what would you recommend to them um I first off i recommend actually listening to as a person and validating that you’re hearing them and that you’re listening and that you are you’re genuinely holding space and not in the get wellston ok but you know a genuine um because then that person can feel more comfortable coming about out about how they really feel I have found for me I think one of the most profound ways I think that I can help someone I think is how you can help someone is say how would you like to be supportive yeah um because you know um late for instancelike when and when can I talk about the facts like one that you with your experience you know it was able to say hey um I I knew you know I wanted to see you yeah but I also knew that your boundaries you can’t have like what you couldn’t have like a long peace out you know the short order yeah short officially together right yeah I had took friends that were just busy an idea because I needed very little awake time I didn’t show up within an hour of when they said yeah I was like now available to visit so exactly and they were great you showed up we talked for like 45 minutes near like okay you look tired I’m going to go let your guests is there anything else you need it was perfect and that is how you be that to me that helps because I let that person know that hey there is some I’m not alone yeah I know that there are so there are people out there who do genuinely care and even though I’m adjusting right now to the fact that hey this horrible thing just happened to

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me and I almost didn’t make it you know

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it’s gonna their support their yeah like

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Micah Lisa came over and brought me

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lunch because I couldn’t cook and I

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didn’t want to decide anything they

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clean my refrigerator because it was

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food from before I went in the hospital

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there it took the trash out and I like

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okay we left you dinner bye it was like

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oh that’s that the end and that is like

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yeah that’s like that’s how you that’s

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how you’re supportive and that’s late

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and so but you’ve let make sure that

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it’s been being supportive is that you

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know listening to that person saying hey

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I’m here also losing their boundaries

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they may have boundaries new boundaries

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that they didn’t have um before well be

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a hospital yeah yeah because you don’t

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really like you don’t have yeah you

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don’t you don’t have any control yeah in

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a hospital I learned I mean that’s kind

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of where I have now a free approach to

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who sees me naked because whatever

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because they are all at your business 24

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hours yeah I think just thinking about

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service when you’ve been sick you don’t

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have the brain pounding the things but

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thinking about hey when I don’t feel

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well or I don’t have a lot of energy

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what’s hard yeah like one of my

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neighbors is she’s such an amazing woman

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Viviana she didn’t take my trash out

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every one day and bring back the roll

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them back later in the day and it to me

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that was like a huge Stratos you so just

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little things like that and learning to

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ask for what you need people sometimes

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say no that’s okay but yeah if you don’t

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ask no it’s yeah as well as mouth don’t

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get fan oh yes profits okay

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so we wanted to share this because we

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want to normalize it from yeah I wait we

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need to talk about that um and I feel

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like especially in you know whatever

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comes what may in the future um one

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thing wait you know human beings how we

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do survive is you know we’re reaching

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out and supporting each other yeah yeah

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leave comments below we’d love to know

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what you think and how you take care of

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yourself or others when they’ve had a

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major illness congratulations on taking

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this time for yourself and learning

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these things if you’d like to follow

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more of this you can subscribe to my

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