Five stages of accepting a Diagnosis of an incurable disorder or disease.

Receiving a diagnosis of Cryoglobulinemia is scary and it is hard for our families and friends too. It is actually a grief process that we go through, not unlike the loss of a loved one, and it takes a while for us to go through it.

1. Denial
   1. Sometimes we ignore the facts and deny that it is real. Sometimes we can fall back on strong emottions… it sort of varies from one person to the next. We are all human, so this really should be viewed as good and necessary… and temporary.
2. Anger
   1. We become angry because we feel like we have been treated unfairly… even cheated of having a normal life. Nobody is to blame for this, it is simply something that has happened. This will also pass after a while.
3. Bargaining
   1. We try to make a deal with ourselves, or our condition to make it “better” somehow.
   2. We pretty soon discover that this approach does not work , and so we move on.
4. Depression
   1. Once we fully realize the truth of the situation, we sometimes hit bottom for a while… feelings of being “lost” or of “no hope” are not unusual.
   2. Be patient with yourself, once you start to learn to cope with cryo, this will improve. (ganted, some days are better than others…)
5. Acceptance
   1. We eventually learn to accept our condition for what it is and learn to cope with it as best we can.
   2. We learn that we *CAN* win some battles, and that others we can *NOT* win.
   3. Cryoglobulinemia is simply an illness, God is not punishing you, and cryo is not some evil entity out to get you.
   4. Cryoglobulinemia is simply what it is.. an autoimmune disorder, so to move on, we need to learn to work with what we have.