Waiting

I know that the act of waiting for many people is a huge problem. Waiting for the repairman, waiting for a date, waiting for someone to call, waiting for test results, etc.

Often we're told that waiting is part of anxiety and I believe that is true. I also believe it's true that many folks who are in excellent health physically and mentally, have a problem with waiting.

Right now I'm waiting on a referral from my doctor to see a specialist. I know it's going to take weeks before my records are sent to the specialist and I'm called for an appointment. I've been thru this process many times before. It's only been three days of waiting and I'm getting frustrated already.

How do you manage to wait for weeks without going thru anxiety, frustration, hopelessness, etc.? Can you distract yourself for long periods of time? If so, how? I seem to only be able to distract myself for a little while and then start wishing they would hurry up and call.

I'm exercising in an effort to keep the aches and pains from getting worse while I wait. Walking in the beautiful autumn weather distracts me but I can't walk all day! lol.

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How do you manage to wait for weeks without going thru anxiety, frustration, hopelessness, etc.?

</div></font></blockquote><font class="post"> spirituality and meditation

that and the time already invested in getting better. what's one more week/month/year when decades have flown by? seriously........the amount of time already spent waiting for referrals, appointments, med trials, new therapists, federal assistance, etc. has given us a glimpse that things in this world are not going to change so we had better adjust our attitude towards change.

we accept things that are beyond our control and let them go because holding on to them just drains our energy too much.

we turn our attention to what is going on in life BESIDES our disease/disorder. not always easy especially when not sleeping due to meds and feeling funky from issues raised in therapy but necessary in order to have what could be called a life.

walking is great if physically safe to do! how about low impact gentle stretching video or dvd? there are many available from libraries as well as PBS stations airing yoga and stretching programs. look specifically for ones that are completely from a chair (seated stretching or sitting yoga) or say that they are for limited range of motion. that is for your own safety so that you can learn what works for you w/o the danger of overdoing it too soon. just an idea.

one mantra helpful to us: this too shall pass

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we accept things that are beyond our control and let them go because holding on to them just drains our energy too much.

</div></font></blockquote><font class="post"> I sure agree with that statement. It drains our energy to wait because we know we can't do anything to speed up the process.

I believe it's physically fine for me to walk. It's usually an acceptable form of exercise for most ailments. I can see that the stress of waiting could actually cause this physical ailment to worsen if I don't get a handle on the stress soon.

Spirituality and exercise will work better for me than meditation, although I know that meditation works well for some people.

I highly value each week, month and year of my life so it really does matter to me how I spend them. Waiting isn't a way I like to spend my time. Maybe in a day or two I can go on about living and forget about waiting.

Thanks for your reply (((((((zh)))))))) Much appreciated.

I sympathise. I'm not good at waiting. (that's an understatement, btw!)

Things that help a bit
Talking to friends
Reading
Swimming (my preferred form of exercise)
Listening to music (sometimes)
Sewing (ditto!)
Watching mindless TV
Playing computer games
Housework (yuck!)

Caroline

Thanks for your reply Caroline. I agree that housework is yuck. One day while doing some cleaning I actually started tying to figure up how many times I've cleaned the toilets in the 35+ years that we've lived here.

Talking to friends helps.....guess that's why we all post here. I had a good phone conversation with my daughter last night and that helped a lot.

I finally made it thru all the waiting to see the Rheumatologist that I was referred to. The waiting wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. After a day or two, I was able to focus on other things.

Now however, I'm waiting again. This time for all the test results. Once again I'm sure I'll get busy with all the holiday stuff and the time will pass but now I'm experiencing fear.

I'm wondering where is the most appropriate place to talk about fear. I suppose it is anxiety that causes us to focus on all the what ifs. When you feel like @#$% and you're having all kinds of tests, can you help but feel a bit of fear?

Maybe faith in a higher power will help. Anyone else have some ideas? I'd appreciate your good vibes. Thanks.

Wow Ozzie I just saw this..I do not do well waiting on medical tests.....sadly I have to often...I think if I were you...I would also talk about this in HEALTH, ANXIETY ...AND DEPRESSION so more people see what is going on with you....
What do you fear the most??? I may be a loon but I am medical smart

I guess I fear all the dreadful diseases that a Rheumatologist sees people for. I don't want to have any of them but I fear that I do. Too many symptoms lately.

Thanks for the support Sleeps. I'll think about posting this in some other places too. Waiting.....grrrrrr.

Ozzie, I thin I fear the unknown the most. I hate waiting to learn what next step I take. Good luck with the waiting.

Thanks wisewoman. Some of these steps and these tests are pretty unpleasant! I think you're right.....fear of the unknown is the worst.

Tomorrow I'm going Christmas shopping so that should keep my mind off things. I hope so.

Ozzie you can PM me any time...I know the fear of the worse stuff is a biotch...and I have somehow managed for the most part to move it away from me....For me one of my worse fears came true and well I think you get numb after a while...Some of the BEST research and docs are at Duke University on RA and I wish there was a way you could go there...I think it is NORMAL to worry on it...I mean if you arent able to fuction then its bad but keeping busy with spurts of fear and worry I dunno I think its normal

my dear friend.....so sorry for all that you are going through.....i hope that mthe test results get back to you soon and that all your fears were for naught......thinking of you during this difficult time and yopu can blow off steam at me anytime.....

{{{{{{{{{Susan}}}}}}}}}}}

I'm so sorry I missed this before! My prayers are with you, Sis. You're right in trusting your Higher Power with it. Turn it over and let Him do the worrying for you. That's what I do.

(((((((((((((((((Susan)))))))))))))))))))

)))))))))ozzie(((((((((( bumps for you. I hate waiting for anything, let alone test results. Distraction plus people who care....... Sometimes I go ahead and let myself proces the worst that could happen........ once I go through all that brings up, there's not much left to fear, I can shake myself free of the future and get back to the present and do something besides worrying about something I can do nothing about.
I hope you're ok. I really like to see you here.

((((((((((((Ozzie)))))))))))) I am thinking about you. I hope your waiting turns out good results.

Perhaps it's just a clique' that not knowing is worse? I can think of many things that were told me that were worse than not knowing! hehehe I do ok with waiting for many things... and can't wait well at all for other things. Also, it depends upon whether I am in a flare, or triggered as to how long I can wait. If it's in a stuck elevator, my initial reaction is NO WAITING! but I think if, after making that call ... and I have to wait... then I would do better... I hope.

Well.... you don't have to wait for winter anymore do you? ((((ozzie))))

Wondering on you Ozzie I am burnt mentally so I doubt I will be on much later tonight but wanted to say hi

Thank you Julia. I hope my fears turn out to be baseless too.

Thanks for the prayers Tomi. They are much appreciated and very important in my opinion.

Thanks a bunch for the hugs Fuzzy.

Thanks for sharing hillbunnyb. I can only process a little at a time. For instance......I'll look something up on the computer regarding what I'm worrying about and can only read a little before I start getting too upset. Fear of the unknown when it comes to health issues, sure makes me uncomfortable.

Thank you for your good wishes bipolar_bear.

Yep, I could have waited a lot longer for Winter to set in. lol

I know you're right.....some things are easier than others when waiting. Thank you very much for the reply and for the hugs. Hope you feel better soon. ((((((Sky)))))

Thank you Sleeps. I appreciate you thinking of me. I was gone all day! I've pm'd you.