Short, sweet and to the point I know cerebral palsy and symptoms pertaining to it, is the underlying issue, and the reason I’m struggling to move on. Some days I feel fine about it, but on other days it very much depends on what I have to deal with.

I have days where I seem to be more reconciled and those days seem fine, then I get to play back the tapes in my head, and then I'm not fine again. My emotional struggles with cerebral palsy are there because my mental struggles have never been addressed.

This is harder to reconcile because it’s been a 46-year struggle. There is a lot to let go of. Perhaps that isn't surprising after 46 years!

Ilana Estelle is a mental health and wellbeing advocate who combines educational insight with her personal experience of living with physical, mental, and emotional disabilities. She holds diplomas in Counselling, Diet and Nutrition, Nutritional Therapy, Psychotherapy and Counselling, and Stress Management. Through her writing, Ilana supports others in navigating their emotional, mental, and physical health challenges. In addition to writing for The CP Diary, her work has appeared in healthy lifestyle magazines. Ilana is also the author of three books: Cerebral Palsy: A Story – Finding the Calm After the Storm, Spirituality, Healing and Me, and Survival: The Covid Years – Time for Change.

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