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Post by Lurkingpea on Feb 23, 2023 0:10:55 GMT
Is this new to you? Maybe you don't know many people with chronic health problems. Including mental health issues. We've been using the spoons thing for at least 15 years. I'm glad you found out about it. It was new to me. I know lots of people with chronic health problems. I spoke to two of them about this. They had not heard of it either. The op said her friend introduced it to her. Obviously she had not heard of it before. Who is the “we” you are talking about? This post and lostinspaces post seem very myshelly. Unnecessarily rude.
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cycworker
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,378
Jun 26, 2014 0:42:38 GMT
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Post by cycworker on Feb 23, 2023 5:00:24 GMT
I'm one of those people on the border. I have more spoons than many, but less than the average healthy person. So many days, I'm just fine, especially if they are just normal days. But give me a bunch of super active or stressful days, particularly in a row, and I'm just gone. And what's active to me may not be what's active for you. For example, I just spent the long weekend with my daughter at an out-of-state tournament. This required flying, renting a car, driving another hour to our destination where I'd never been, getting up wayyyy early in a different time zone, spending much of the day in the heat while socializing with strangers or people I barely know, keeping my daughter on an even keel, doing team stuff after hours, getting to bed late, no privacy, etc. etc. etc. Every one of these things is outside my norm (except the even keel part) and stresses me physically, mentally, and emotionally. But you can't really explain this to anyone, because I did have a great time with her. If I try to explain how very drained I am, it makes no sense to anyone. It's because I borrowed the next month's worth of spoons! I did it, but now there are just a few spoons washed and replaced in the drawer every night, not a full drawer. But people in my circle don't quite understand, because I got to travel and spend time with DD and had fun! I know what you mean exactly, have experienced too many times to count! Just because you were able to do these things and enjoy them doesn’t mean there won’t be consequences. And just because you’ve done it once before doesn’t mean you’ll be able to do it again as the number of spoons we have on any given day can fluctuate. I’ve been using this theory for a while to try and help people who’ve expressed interest to understand. Unfortunately, there are always those who will not acknowledge that some people just don’t get as many spoons, or that it takes them way more spoons to complete a completely ordinary task than it does the next person. That is me. Tomorrow morning I'm heading to Vancouver for an overnight work trip. It snowed here today. I don't drive in Vancouver, so I have to: -double check in the morning that everything is packed -hope my home support arrives on time to assist with my shoes/compression socks -get a cab from home to the ferry terminal -board the ferry, with my overnight bag -get some toast or something because I won't have had time at home to eat -get off the ferry & meet a colleague who is also attending the meetings -at various points make sure I can find an accessible washroom that works for me -we then need to get a cab to the hotel -drop off stuff & double check to make sure room is right, accessibility-wise -try to get a quick bite of lunch -do our meetings -finish checking in And then do it all over in reverse the next day. All I am going to want to do the rest of the weekend is sleep.
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Post by monklady123 on Feb 23, 2023 10:46:45 GMT
This has been discussed several times on this message board. I've been around here for quite a long time and have never seen posts about this. Thanks OP for sharing this.
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Post by dewryce on Feb 23, 2023 12:58:21 GMT
cycworker I hope your trip goes well with no unforeseen glitches!
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Post by scrapmaven on Feb 23, 2023 16:31:22 GMT
The Spoon Theory can be posted many times, because it's a great way to understand chronic illness. There are varying degrees of illness. Some people have mild issues and some of us have severe issues that greatly impact our lives. There's a scale w/a huge gray area. I think the most important thing for anyone w/chronic illness is attitude. You can't control your illness or pain, but you can control your thoughts and feelings. Be sad, of course. Be angry, but work on acceptance. That doesn't mean that you are fine w/it. It just means that your learn to adapt to your situation and make the most out of your life. I'm trying to find more ways to enjoy life despite my crummy health.
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PLurker
Prolific Pea
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Posts: 9,754
Location: Behind the Cheddar Curtain
Jun 28, 2014 3:48:49 GMT
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Post by PLurker on Feb 23, 2023 16:41:56 GMT
Yep, sometimes the drawer is full of spoons, a good day.
Sometimes I feel like they're all dirty and in the dishwasher, unavailable until another better day.
Most days are somewhere in between.
My simplistic gauge is just a feeling. Up to going to xxx (choose a spot/activity). Some days, "of course, let's go!". Other days, "nah, not worth the effort." That's the days that the dishwasher has all the spoons.
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RedSquirrelUK
Drama Llama
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Posts: 6,782
Location: The UK's beautiful West Country
Aug 2, 2014 13:03:45 GMT
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Post by RedSquirrelUK on Feb 23, 2023 17:35:53 GMT
Yep, sometimes the drawer is full of spoons, a good day. Sometimes I feel like they're all dirty and in the dishwasher, unavailable until another better day. Most days are somewhere in between. My simplistic gauge is just a feeling. Up to going to xxx (choose a spot/activity). Some days, "of course, let's go!". Other days, "nah, not worth the effort." That's the days that the dishwasher has all the spoons. That's how I feel. I work Tuesdays and Wednesday a back-to-back late->early, and Fridays. I have to borrow Wednesday's spoons from my day off on Thursday. It's frustrating not getting much done on what should be my day off. Ditto my Mondays off after working Friday and then being with DH over the weekend. I now dread bank holidays because I lose half my weekly recharging time. It takes me a couple of weeks to recover after a bank holiday week. This May we have 3 bank holidays because of the coronation and I'm already planning my spoons. But I consider myself very lucky because mine was caused by Long Covid starting almost 3 years ago followed by cancer, and I am getting better. My spoons are gradually reappearing in my drawer. ![:2thumbsup:](//storage.proboards.com/5645536/images/zKsqKGInldFvtmx415J3.jpg) I really feel for people who don't have that hope.
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Post by HelenaJole on Feb 23, 2023 17:38:41 GMT
When my sister discovered Kratom I said, "It gives you more spoons?" and she said, "It gives me waaay more spoons!"
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Post by Prenticekid on Feb 23, 2023 17:43:58 GMT
Is this new to you? Maybe you don't know many people with chronic health problems. Including mental health issues. We've been using the spoons thing for at least 15 years. I'm glad you found out about it. I know people with chronic illness and mental health issues. I've never heard of it before. Thank goodness she shared the information since a lot of people apparently have not.
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Post by bluebird71 on Feb 23, 2023 17:45:15 GMT
Is this new to you? Maybe you don't know many people with chronic health problems. Including mental health issues. We've been using the spoons thing for at least 15 years. I'm glad you found out about it. It was new to me. I know lots of people with chronic health problems. I spoke to two of them about this. They had not heard of it either. The op said her friend introduced it to her. Obviously she had not heard of it before. Who is the “we” you are talking about? This post and lostinspaces post seem very myshelly. Unnecessarily rude. Well, every single person I know online who deals with chronic pain, mental illness, etc, has been using this spoon theory since at least 2005. That's who "we" means. And I didn't say anything to you or about YOU but here you are, pointing a finger at me and calling me "rude". Yet I would never EVER do that. It's funny to me how the rudest people like to point fingers at other people. And yes I am talking about you right now. If you and your friends aren't on the internet or don't pay attention to things, that's your business. The spoon analogy is super common.
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Post by lainey on Feb 23, 2023 18:36:17 GMT
It was new to me. I know lots of people with chronic health problems. I spoke to two of them about this. They had not heard of it either. The op said her friend introduced it to her. Obviously she had not heard of it before. Who is the “we” you are talking about? This post and lostinspaces post seem very myshelly. Unnecessarily rude. Well, every single person I know online who deals with chronic pain, mental illness, etc, has been using this spoon theory since at least 2005. That's who "we" means. And I didn't say anything to you or about YOU but here you are, pointing a finger at me and calling me "rude". Yet I would never EVER do that. It's funny to me how the rudest people like to point fingers at other people. And yes I am talking about you right now. If you and your friends aren't on the internet or don't pay attention to things, that's your business. The spoon analogy is super common. You were rude and condescending, own it.
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Post by putabuttononit on Feb 24, 2023 7:52:26 GMT
I’ve always appreciated this visual picture and this concept - a way to share some of my struggles. I have severe fibromyalgia, and the term I say to my dh is “pain energy”. Constant pain zaps my strength. One thing I can’t seem to explain well enough is storing up energy so you can manage a job, trip, task etc. if I know I have a “big” day on Tuesday I have to plan a day of rest for Monday and “recovery” day on Wednesday.
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Post by Linda on Feb 24, 2023 14:28:10 GMT
One thing I can’t seem to explain well enough is storing up energy so you can manage a job, trip, task etc. if I know I have a “big” day on Tuesday I have to plan a day of rest for Monday and “recovery” day on Wednesday. Yes - we planned to walk around a street festival last Saturday - I took Friday easy and skipped Physical therapy and planned for an easy day on Sunday.
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Post by librarylady on Feb 24, 2023 16:20:59 GMT
I have heard of this before, but figured some peas had not.
If chronic pain/illness is not part of your life, this helps understanding.
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Post by scrapmaven on Feb 24, 2023 17:12:53 GMT
librarylady, thank you for posting this thread. The Spoon Theory explains so much of what chronic patients endure. I was on a medical trip in another time zone and my spoon jar is almost empty today. So, I'll rest and hopefully, tmw I'll have more spoons. The smallest things can require a spoon or spoons.
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cycworker
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,378
Jun 26, 2014 0:42:38 GMT
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Post by cycworker on Feb 25, 2023 4:23:02 GMT
cycworker I hope your trip goes well with no unforeseen glitches! It did! A few glitches, but only ones I'm used to... Like, I really should know by now that the 3:45 pm ferry is shift change & that always makes it harder to get boarding assistance. I mean, I got it... it was just bit of a communication breakdown.
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