Message from Jamie Holloway
For eleven years I have been learning to live well with chronic illness. It hasn’t been perfect. I haven’t always been successful at achieving my goals. It has been a chaotic, messy, learning experience that has made my life adventurous. I have learned a lot about how complicated, dangerous & even emotionally, spiritually & mentally draining living with several diagnoses is.
I am asked by my many doctors, nurses, caregivers, friends, family, strangers & store clerks how I have maintained my good attitude despite the many medical adventures, I have lived through, that might have left me feeling bitter, angry, broken & unforgiving. All I can say is, I made decisions & I followed through. One decision was to fight for me. Jesus fought for me so why shouldn’t I?
I also realized, I didn’t want my crawl through lifelong sickness, just for my own benefit. I wanted to be a wellness advocate & help those who are in the same predicament. I wanted to be one of the helpers that Mr. Roger’s speaks about. I do this by reminding myself that my attitude can help me navigate through the dark channels of chronic illness.
I am determined to say thank you to the doctors, nurses, caregivers, anyone who helps me. Showing gratitude reminds you that your life is not over just because you are sick. I say thank you & I mean it. I also decided that I didn’t want to become idle. I want to actually accomplish something, so I started writing.
I believe communicating my pain, needs, & being willing to listen as part of communication allows me to be able to be in a good relationship with my team. I have a good support system of family, friends, doctors, nurses, & caregivers who allow me to achieve many of the goals I have made. I am able to live in my home & able to keep on breathing, writing, reading & loving on my boy, Nicholas.
Since 2017 I have been an owner of Wellness Works NW. I serve as the Research Manager. I am a lead writer & my column is called Chasing Wellness.
Read Jamie’s Latest Blog Posts…
December 2021 Empties
Can you believe the last three days of the year are here? 2022 is on Saturday. Mind blown! December I took a small break from self-care masking and facials, because I was still getting used to living with an oxygen tank on 24 hours a day. Energy is something I did not...
Book Review: Burn After Reading
You probably know this about me, but I am a journaler. I keep a daily journal where I write my gratitude list of five things I am grateful for daily and I also keep track of my happy moments and just recently because my friend Sarah influence me I started...
Book Review: The Choice
When I was in high school in Longview Washington, I had a German teacher who was a concentration camp survivor during World War two in Latvia. She has the mark on her arm. I remember her showing it to us in our class. I learned a lot from this teacher....
Book Review: Finding the Mother Tree
I love trees. I have always felt a deep sense of connection to them. I appreciate everything that they have given us: oxygen, beautiful furniture, warmth, wonderful essential oils, and coverage from the elements. When Literati club said our November...
Book Review: Lights Out!
While recovering from my surgery on November 19th, I read a great novel by Natalie Walters called Lights Out. If you love CIA/FBI foreign intelligent novels then this is the book for you and the series for you. I’m looking forward to the next books in this series. I...
Empties for November
Can you believe there are only 4 more days in November? Wow! It has been a crazy month and I did not do a face mask for two weeks and I just did one this morning for the first time. I had throat surgery on November 19, 2021 and spent 4 days in the hospital...
Book Review: Unbound
I use Audible for nights when I am not able to sleep well. I love reading, but sometimes in the middle of the night it is not feasible to turn on the light and be distracted by the light, so I listen to a book on my Kindle. This time around I listened to Tarana...
Book Review: All Things Lovely
I aspire to have a picture-perfect home that is well organized, clean, looks picture ready for those fabulous photos and no clutter anywhere. My reality is far from this. I live in a small one-bedroom apartment, and I have a ton of medical supplies that...
Book Review: A View Most Glorious
As I have stated before on my blog and reviews, I love historical fiction. “A View Most Glorious” by Regina Scott is no exception to this love. This historical fiction is set in the state I reside, Washington. Coraline climbs Mount Rainer which is about 300...
Empties For October 2021
October sure went by fast, didn’t it? I was amazed. Here are some great products I tried this month. Self-care was a challenge for me, but I forced myself to do it. Skin care is vital for me. I have sensitive skin and taking care of it is one of my goals. That is why...