First of all, getting hit by chronic disease in my late 20s was not something I ever imagined. I guess nobody does. I can give some details, since it's a throw-away account: I caught a severe bacterial infection, required prolonged antibiotics treatment which caused organ damage. Catching the disease was a low-probability event, getting organ damage, too. In retrospect I realise how lucky I was that the disease was caught early on and treated. I would have been dead otherwise.
As for living with the illness. You need to find a doctor that you can work with. There will be tough times and you need someone you can trust and reach 24/7 when things go south (which they do from time to time in my case). Also, without counselling I wouldn't be here today. Your career is impacted, your family life is impacted, your sex life is impacted. I needed someone to talk to and that someone had to be outside my social circle. I had 3 sessions per week for the first months, now I go once a week. It helps.
Also, people will get upset for different reasons. Your friends, family co-workers etc. Counselling helps, but most of the time it's still hard to tolerate and accept the pain and the anger. Most of the time I'm managing their expectations, not mine.
Some people mentioned good diet, sleep, no alcohol. This is the absolute baseline. If you have serious chronic disease, you cannot afford any of these luxuries. For every mistake you make, you and someone else will have to compensate. Discipline is key.
That being said, I still have a very fulfilling life. I go on vacations, see my friends (or rather most of the time they come over and visit), have some form of a career, have a loving partner and we're planning on having children. Life is good even if it's not like I imagined it 5 years ago.
As for living with the illness. You need to find a doctor that you can work with. There will be tough times and you need someone you can trust and reach 24/7 when things go south (which they do from time to time in my case). Also, without counselling I wouldn't be here today. Your career is impacted, your family life is impacted, your sex life is impacted. I needed someone to talk to and that someone had to be outside my social circle. I had 3 sessions per week for the first months, now I go once a week. It helps.
Also, people will get upset for different reasons. Your friends, family co-workers etc. Counselling helps, but most of the time it's still hard to tolerate and accept the pain and the anger. Most of the time I'm managing their expectations, not mine.
Some people mentioned good diet, sleep, no alcohol. This is the absolute baseline. If you have serious chronic disease, you cannot afford any of these luxuries. For every mistake you make, you and someone else will have to compensate. Discipline is key.
That being said, I still have a very fulfilling life. I go on vacations, see my friends (or rather most of the time they come over and visit), have some form of a career, have a loving partner and we're planning on having children. Life is good even if it's not like I imagined it 5 years ago.