Chronic Pain and Illness Starters
Feel free to change pronouns and wording as needed. I myself am chronically ill and deal with chronic pain so while some of these things are not things you should day to someone dealing with an illness or pain they have been said by others before. This also goes for things said about yourself. I want to maybe do a part 2 depending on how well received this one is
“Do I really look that bad..?”
“You don’t need to take care of me.”
“I just want to lay down.”
“Stop fighting me, I’m trying to help.”
“But you don’t look sick.”
“You look too young to be diagnosed with something like that.”
“You can’t use your hormones as an excuse.”
“You can’t be this tired all the time, sounds more like laziness?”
“I’m sorry, that sounds difficult to deal with”
“How can I support you right now?“
“I love you, and I’m here for you”
“Can you send me an article on your condition?“
“I’m trying — I’m trying so fucking hard, but nothing’s working.”
“I’m tired. I’m so tired.“
“I’m disgusting and mangled and broken and useless.”
“If one more person tells me to do yoga you are going to have to bail me out for murder.”
“So that’s why you do that thing with your feet.”
“Do you really have to pee, again?”
“What is your baseline even like?”
“I can’t remember the last time I was pain free.”
add + reverse to switch sender and receiver
[forehead] - Sender puts the back of their hand on receiver’s forehead, cheeks, and neck to check their temperature.
[clean] - Sender cleans up for a receiver too weak to tidy their area.
[meal] - Sender helps either cook or bring a meal to the receiver
[ride] - Sender gives receiver a ride to an appointment or treatment
[med] - Sender takes medications for the first time in front of receiver
[distract] - Sender tries their best to distract receiver from pain/symptoms
[wash] - Sender gets help being bathed or hair washed from receiver
[flare] - Sender sees receiver in a flare for the first time