Living with Chronic Illness with Ilana Jacqueline
Living with Chronic Illness with Ilana Jacqueline » Listen
Date: February 5, 2018
Episode Description
When you’re chronically ill it’s very lonely. Sometimes days aren’t what you planned. Sometimes you just can’t get up. Sometimes you just can’t meet your friend, or go for dinner. Sometimes it’s the pain. Sometimes it’s overwhelming fatigue. The “sometimes” are hard to explain, and since you can’t see the “sometimes”, it’s hard to get anyone to understand. Ilana Jacqueline shares her own journey coping with a chronic illness in her book “Surviving and Thriving with an Invisible Chronic Illness” and helps others find their way in their most vulnerable moments.
Dr. Risk’s Thoughts
I had a lot of fun recording this show. Ilana is bringing information to light that often isn’t talked about with illness. How do you survive the day to day? This is something all of us have had to figure out on our own. In my own journey, it was about surviving and doing the least amount in a day. I didn’t realize that my relationships were being affected because I was too sick. If I had had this information, I would have been able to reach out sooner and explain what was going on. This book is a must read for anyone who has a chronic illness, or knows someone who does.
Guest Information
Ilana Jacqueline is the author of Surviving and Thriving with an Invisible Chronic Illness. In her book she shares her humbling, hilarious, and heartfelt experiences coping with chronic illness. From full contact fights with skull-cramping migraines to making peace with being a human pincushion, she writes boldly and unabashedly about breaking down, getting back up, and pulling off the bandage that is “coming out” about the shame and frustration of living with chronic illness.
Jacqueline is a health journalist and professional patient advocate whose work has included writing for publications like Cosmopolitan and The Huffington Post on the patient experience as well as working for healthcare companies and patient advocacy groups as a consultant and advisor. As a health advocate and regularly interviewed expert on chronic illness, Jacqueline looks to help patients advocate for themselves at their most vulnerable moments.
