The holidays are an exceptionally difficult time for those who are chronically ill and homebound. Many of the things people do in preparing for and celebrating Christmas are impossible for us to do. Simple things like Christmas shopping, visiting with friends and family and even baking. Many of us have a long list of things commonly used in most homes that cause us such severe physical symptoms like difficulty breathing or swallowing, dizziness, migraines, weakness and worse that we are limited to our own 'safe' environment (home). Even at home it is difficult to avoid many things. So please when you come to call one us make sure you're not wearing fragrances of any kind. This includes not only the obvious things like perfumes and aftershaves but also fragrances in such things as deodorant, laundry soaps, hair products and body lotions.

Some people with chronic illnesses such as CFS/ME and FM have a type of fatigue that is exhausting and worsens with any type of activity. While they may wish to participate they may find it simply impossible to do so for longer periods of time. They do better with shorter intervals with rest periods in-between. Some days any physical activity may put them in bed for the rest of the day and some days they may not even be able to begin the activity at all.

If you know someone who has a chronic illness here is a short list of ideas of things that you could do to bless them this Christmas (or any) season:

(Important! No matter which thing you do please consider what you put on and what you wear so that you don't trigger symptoms. Also remember that what may seem like minutes to you may seem like forever to someone who fatigues very quickly. Try to help see to it that your 'help' isn't exhausting them more than its helping them)

  1. Get a small group together and go Christmas caroling on their front lawn :)
  2. Take a plate of leftovers to them. In trying to do things for Christmas they may have no energy left to cook for themselves.
  3. Offer to do some Christmas shopping for them when you're going out...Even grocery shopping is often needed and very helpful!
  4. Stop by to help them decorate. Often we forego decorating at all first because we can't get to the stores to buy supplies, or don't have the money to buy any or just don't have the energy to do it with.
  5. Surprise them by showing up to clean their kitchen or bathroom :)
  6. If they have children offer to take the children to events your family is attending or out to to buy gifts for their mom/dad. Trying to do things for the kids is one thing that chronically ill people tend to push themselves to do which often causes them to be so exhausted by Christmas that they have to spend it in bed.
  7. Give them some Christmas music! It's surprising these days that if you can't get out to shopping malls you rarely hear Christmas carols or see Christmas music shows on TV anymore. Last year I had to dig to find my own music to listen to because there just wasn't any on TV ! We 'need a little Christmas' cheer too! :)
  8. Drop by some Christmas goodies. When making cookies make a few extras :) Do inquire ahead of time about food allergies though.
  9. Make sure the person has family or friends around them and won't be left at home alone on Christmas Day. If they don't try to remember to make a short call on Christmas and let them know someone is thinking of them.
  10. And most important of all----let them know you want to try to understand and do care.

I'm sure there are many more things I could add if I could think of them right now. I'm sure you have a few good ideas of your own! :) Let's all remember the elderly who are alone at Christmas too...

Zona