Sherry begins today’s episode with an update on her recent diagnosis regarding the uncomfortable numbness in her hands, and her next steps for treatment. Melissa and Sherry revisit their conversation about dream work, and discuss how liberating it can be to speak upsetting thoughts or feelings out loud to another person, as holding them in can make them turn darker. Next they talk about loneliness and isolation, both during the pandemic, and also the deeper sense of “soul loneliness” that often accompanies chronic health issues or sensory loss. They discuss the shame attached to loneliness, their preference for one-on-one conversations as individuals with sensory loss, and how loneliness can be a rite of passage in the spiritual journey toward growth and maturity. Finally, Melissa reads the moving words of John O’Donohue in his poem “For Loneliness,” and the show closes with a breathing exercise that calls on listeners to meet their loneliness with compassion.

This podcast is not psychotherapy and does not contain medical advice, but is simply a recording of two friends talking.

Episode Highlights:

• Sherry received a diagnosis regarding the numbness in her hands
• She has relapsing-remitting MS, which causes demyelination and lesions on the brain and spinal cord
• Sherry’s numbness is extremely uncomfortable and she likens it to the feeling of ants crawling under her skin
• Steroids are the first line of defense for demyelination, but Sherry had a very bad allergic reaction to steroids and does not want to go that route - instead she’ll be doing plasmapheresis
• She’ll need to have a port put in and go in every other day for this procedure
• She’ll also need to have an IV infusion - intravenous immunoglobulin
• Sherry loves the doctor she is working with now, and it makes all the difference to work with someone who truly listens and cares
• She will also be trying hypnotherapy with her psychologist, and Melissa notes that this is similar to the dream work they discussed last time
• Melissa shares that when she has a recurring dream or a thought that’s bothering her, sometimes simply saying it out loud changes it
• Holding on to upsetting thoughts or feelings can make them turn darker
• Next, they speak about loneliness and isolation, particularly during the pandemic
• Melissa only had one person in her quarantine “pod” and would go weeks without seeing anyone in person
• After three weeks of isolation, Melissa felt a deep sense that something wasn’t right - she finally figured out that it was loneliness
• Sherry feels that being met with loneliness is a positive step toward growth and higher consciousness
• She shares her own experience of loneliness after she first got sick and felt like no one else could understand what she was going through
• She felt like she was inside of a cocoon and there was a healing happening inside
• This comes back to leaving the pieces on the ground
• Sherry had trouble understanding true loneliness before she got sick as she is an introvert and always enjoyed alone time - but this was different kind of “soul loneliness”
• In the past, if Melissa felt lonely, she would ignore that feeling because it’s so attached to shame - there’s something wrong with you if you’re alone
• Melissa and Sherry both prefer small groups of people because their sensory loss can make big crowds overwhelming; it’s easier to communicate with one person at a time
• Trying to process what everyone is saying can bring on mental fatigue
• If you move through the feeling of loneliness, the shame goes away and the truth is revealed - there is nothing wrong with being alone
• “For Loneliness” by John...