(Discomfort Zone podcast) Ep 3: Unconditional Love

Chronic pain tore my life apart...and brought my sister and me closer together.Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and TwitterTRANSCRIPTLisa listened to episode 1 of the show right before sitting down with me for an interview.Jason: So what did you think of the episode?Lisa: I thought it was very well done. I thought it was very emotional and very raw, very real. I really enjoyed hearing it.Jason: I think that the voice acting in it was really good except for the paramedic. I feel like the person who just did that voice just kind of really sucked.clip from episode 1 Paramedic (Lisa): Sir are you OK? Do you need assistance?Lisa: I felt like she was very realistic and I would definitely hire her for a huge, big screen production as well. I am trying to find out who she is, but she did a really good job.clip from episode 1 Paramedic (Lisa): Wait what? What do you mean? Lisa mom and Jason laughingJason: I don't know but I disagree with you on that and I don't think that I'll ever be bringing her back on to the podcast.Discomfort Zone podcast episode 3: Lisa SEE LINK IN MY BIO * How chronic pain tore my life apart and brought my sister Lisa and I closer together 👦👧 * Lisa and I talk about the darker days of my illness, the impact my health has had on her, and our use of humour as a coping mechanism 🤒 💙 * #LivingWithPain #NPAW2019 #fibromyalgia #chronicillness #MECFS #CFSME #intractiblepain #spoonie #spoonielife #endthestigma #breakthestigma #itsokaynottobeokay #discomfortzone #depression #depressionlies #suicideprevention #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #chronicpainwarrior #invisibleillness #chronicpainlife #chronicfatiguesyndrome #chronicfatigue #chronicillnessawareness #discomfortzone #anxiety #comfortzone #siblinglove #siblings #familyJason: Well we will have to agree to disagree. In general, how did my condition impact you when I was at my worst?Lisa: I actually felt guilty for going to work some days because I knew you were sick and I felt almost like I needed to be at home with you guys trying to help everyone. You and I were texting back and forth a lot and I would always try to check in with you, almost every day. I felt like part of my job as your sister was to touch base with you everyday and just remind you that we all love you and that we cared about youJason: I think you guys did an incredible job of that. Maybe it didn't seem like much for you guys at the time, but I would call you many evenings during the week right before bed. I'd be feeling my worst pain, the side effects of the medication would be kicking in and I would just feel like total crap. I would just call you and I'd be breaking down. Even if I left her phone call and I was still… What’s the right way to explain this…. Even if I wasn't fully calmed down, just having somebody to listen to me was incredibly helpful.Lisa: Yeah I think that's what you needed for a big part of it. I think all of us felt very helpless and I think mom and dad especially felt helpless in their only way of feeling like they could help you as through instrumental means, so providing you with proper care, providing you with means of comfort and food. That was how they were able to help. But I think from an emotional standpoint a lot of us had run out of options. There was no way of telling you that you just have to tough it out and to keep pushing, keep pushing forward and keep going on. It was hard to get you to do more than you were already doing on a daily basis. One example was when you were just walking upstairs, you wouldn't even come downstairs for a little while and the thought of trying to encourage you to go outside would not have even happened. So I think the main thing was just even to encourage you to maintain your current level of function and to prevent any future further deterioration. I think that was a big part of it.Lisa (right) at age 8 and Jason (left) at age 6 dressed in soccer uniforms for recreation league photo nightJason: Definitely. From an emotional standpoint, I think something that you really excelled at was just adding a little bit of humor to my life. So I'm not really sure if you were trying to be helpful or if you were just trying to be a jerk, but you'd come in, you'd pull off my socks and blow in my ears and just…just the image of you doing that to me when I don't have the energy to retaliate. Were you trying to help me out there or were you just trying to be mean?Lisa: So Jason and I always play this game called touched you last. I actually saw you being sick as an opportunity to win a small victory.Jason: Can you kind of explain what the game is?Lisa: It's pretty self-explanatory. But basically whenever you and I are saying goodbye to each other, whoever touches the other person last wins. So most families’ goodbyes revolve around hugging one another or shaking hands. Jason, you and I… it's almost like a game of tag and whoever touches the other person last is victorious. So I saw you being ...