Sometimes an issue will wake me. I go to sleep with little issues, particularly when I'm tired, but I usually wake early, with a thought and not necessarily an answer to any unresolved issues.

It wasn’t the pattern I had as a child. As a child, I couldn't get to sleep because of bad thoughts. Although it took me a while to get to sleep, with mum by my side until I fell asleep, meant I usually stayed asleep.

Now my father’s illness is around us, it's adding to my sleep issues. Add stress and it makes everything I deal with harder. Subconsciously I think I'm carrying it.

I usually deal with stress by writing blogs, but around me others aren't admitting they're stressed. Dealing with a terminal illness is stressful, whilst we're a constant support and we have to manage our lives too.

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.

Most people who read this blog

went on to read these blogs next
Date 26 July 2026
Author Ilana Estelle

Living with Difference

Seen, Misjudged, Rarely Understood For most of my life, I lived in the dark. Not because I didn't know I was different, but because I didn't yet have the understanding to explain why life always felt harder than it seemed to be ...
Read more
Date 24 July 2026
Author Ilana Estelle

The Hidden Effects of Loss

Some consequences aren't immediate, they're cumulative It's five months into four years through twin loss, and I've split another tooth. On its own, it's an ordinary event. But it's an event that made me stop and look back ...
Read more
Date 19 July 2026
Author Ilana Estelle

What Writing Taught Me About Self-Understanding

How writing became more than a creative outlet When I started writing, I had no idea where it would lead. I simply needed somewhere to put my thoughts – a place to make sense of experiences I struggled to understand ...
Read more
1 2 3 681

2 comments on “Stress and my resolve”

  1. I use to deal with stress on a daily basis and the stress related to a terminal illness is all to real to me; so I know what your going through.

    I just deal with it one day at a time mostly.

    1. Thanks Lisa. Of course we deal with terminal and stress differently. I cope better when I dip in and out of seeing my father. Although I am not great around illness I make the effort when I feel I can.

      I understand your sentiments too. Taking one day at a time is all we can do. When someone is dealing with a terminal illness, their health can change very quickly. Dealing with things one day at a time is a good way to deal with things.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe to receive regular updates

Enter your details below to be the first to receive updates on new articles on my blog.