The Things We Don’t Say Quotes

“Ignoring my pain to hold a conversation is exhausting. I may have put on a fake smile all day at work, so when you ask me to hang out, the answer might be no. I might just want to curl up in a blanket and forget how to be a person for a while. My relationships suffer. I have lost a lot of friends because I am no longer able to keep in touch. For those who think texting is not good enough, it might be all we have. If I am unable to get out of bed, at least I braved the brightness of my phone screen and the stabbing pains in the back of my head it will cause to let you know that I’m thinking of you.”
― Julie Morgenlender, The Things We Don't Say: An Anthology of Chronic Illness Truths

“Of course, chronic pain—these days mostly from the rheumatoid arthritis and the muscle tissue attacks—can create its own problems with cognitive thought. I call this the “Screaming Face” syndrome, and this is how I explain chronic pain to people who don’t have it. Imagine that you wake up in the morning and there’s a disembodied face hanging right in front of yours, blocking most of your field of vision. The face is screaming, not even in words, “Aaah! Aaah! Aaaaah!” All the time, nonstop. You will be using up a lot of your resources to block out the Screaming Face enough to get up, shower, dress, find some food, not to mention any work you might want to do. You have to speak over the Screaming Face, and your train of thought is often derailed. When I warn my partners that it’s a Screaming Face day, they know that they will have to repeat statements, and that I may seem distanced or distracted, and it’s not personal.”
― Julie Morgenlender, The Things We Don't Say: An Anthology of Chronic Illness Truths