The Dual Diagnosis Diaries: 💜 Dear Warrior, This One Is for You

Dear Diary,

Today, I don’t want to write only to myself.

Today, I want to write to the person who has had one of those weeks.

The kind of week filled with doctor appointments, phone calls, insurance battles, test results, unanswered questions, sleepless nights, pain, fatigue, medications, symptoms—and the exhausting responsibility of trying to keep living your regular life while your body is doing anything but behaving regularly.

So today, this diary entry is for you.

💜 Dear Warrior…

Maybe this week was hard.

Maybe you smiled through meetings while your body was screaming for rest.

Maybe you answered, “I’m fine,” because explaining everything would have taken more energy than you had available.

Maybe you spent hours in a waiting room just to spend ten minutes with a doctor.

Maybe you waited for test results.

Maybe you fought with insurance.

Maybe you picked up another prescription.

Maybe you canceled plans you desperately wanted to keep.

Or maybe nothing particularly dramatic happened at all.

Maybe you were simply tired of being sick.

And that is heavy enough.

🦋 You Don’t Have to Earn the Right to Be Tired

One thing chronic illness has taught me is that exhaustion doesn’t always come from what other people can see.

Sometimes the hardest battles happen quietly.

It’s the mental math of deciding how much energy you have today.

It’s wondering whether that symptom is something you should worry about or just another Tuesday.

It’s planning your day around bathrooms, medications, treatments, breathing, fatigue, food, pain, accessibility—or whatever your body has decided to add to the agenda.

It’s constantly adjusting.

And sometimes, it’s simply waking up and realizing you have to do the whole chronic-illness thing again today.

That counts.

💜 I Know “Warrior” Can Feel Complicated

People living with chronic illness are often called warriors.

Sometimes I embrace that word.

Other times, I think:

Can the warrior please clock out? Because she is tired. 😂

I didn’t volunteer for this battle.

I didn’t wake up one morning and choose Crohn’s Disease.

I certainly didn’t send MG an invitation to move in.

Yet somehow, here we are—me and my two autoimmune roommates—continuing this strange little journey together.

Being a warrior doesn’t mean I’m fearless.

It doesn’t mean I never complain.

It doesn’t mean I handle every setback gracefully.

Sometimes being a warrior looks like advocating fiercely for yourself.

Sometimes it looks like getting through an appointment you were terrified about.

Sometimes it looks like laughing because if you don’t laugh, you just might cry.

And sometimes?

It looks like lying in bed and saying:

“That’s enough for today.”

That counts too.

🦋 Look at What You Carried This Week

Before you criticize yourself for what you didn’t accomplish, think about what you did carry.

The symptoms.

The uncertainty.

The appointments.

The fatigue.

The responsibilities that didn’t disappear simply because you weren’t feeling well.

The emotional weight of living inside a body you cannot always predict.

And somehow…

you made it to today.

Maybe not gracefully.

Maybe not productively.

Maybe with tears, sarcasm, prayer, medication, heating pads, naps—or pure stubbornness holding the whole operation together.

But you’re here.

And sometimes surviving the week is the accomplishment.

You do not have to minimize what it took to get here simply because no one else saw how hard it was.

🎵 Music Playing…

“Rise Up” — Andra Day

Because sometimes strength isn’t about charging into another battle.

Sometimes it’s about finding enough within yourself to rise one more time—even if you rise slowly.

💭 Reflection Corner

Instead of asking yourself:

“Why didn’t I do more?”

Try asking:

“What did this week require from me—and what do I need to give myself now?”

Maybe the answer is rest.

Maybe it’s quiet.

Maybe it’s laughter.

Maybe it’s time with someone you love.

Maybe it’s permission to do absolutely nothing without feeling guilty about it.

Whatever the answer is, listen.

You spend so much time listening to what everyone else needs from you.

Don’t forget to ask what you need from yourself.

And if this week knocked you down a few times, remember: you don’t have to turn every difficult experience into an inspirational lesson.

Sometimes you’re allowed to simply say:

That was hard.
I’m tired.
But I’m still here.

And for today, that is enough.

💜 From One Warrior to Another

You don’t have to be strong every minute to be strong.

You don’t have to fight beautifully.

You don’t have to turn pain into positivity just to make other people comfortable.

And you certainly don’t have to pretend chronic illness doesn’t sometimes completely suck.

Being a warrior isn’t about conquering everything.

It isn’t about staying positive every second.

And it definitely isn’t about handling everything perfectly.

Sometimes it’s simply carrying what you can and giving yourself permission to put down what you can’t.

So if nobody has told you lately:

You are seen.
You are heard.
You matter.

Not because you’re sick.

Not because you’re strong.

Not because you keep fighting.

But because underneath every diagnosis, medication, appointment, treatment, flare, and symptom…

there is still a whole person.

And that person deserves compassion too—especially from themselves.

So, Dear Warrior…

Tonight, you don’t have to prove how strong you are.

You don’t have to earn your rest.

You don’t have to feel guilty because your body needs more from you than you wish it did.

And you don’t have to apologize for putting some of that weight down.

You’ve already carried enough.

💜

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💜 Until Next Time…

Give yourself the same grace you so freely give to everyone else.

Rest when you need to rest.
Laugh when you can.
Cry when you need to.
Advocate when you have the strength.
And when you don’t?

Rest until you do.

Because you are more than your diagnosis.

You are more than your symptoms.

And even on the days when survival is the only thing you accomplish, your story still matters.

Until next time, keep advocating, keep learning, and keep giving yourself grace.

With love, strength, and a little humor along the way,
💜 Kia Lorice
Founder • Author • Advocate • Future Wellness Coach
The Dual Diagnosis Diaries