Real-life handbag essentials: pillbox, prescription and lipstick. (Image: Supplied.)
What are your handbag essentials? Let me guess: phone, keys, wallet, lipstick, emergency Twix bar – the usual suspects. But if you have a chronic illness like I do, there’s something else you’re always stashing in your bag: medication.
Well, in an ideal world, I’ll always have my medication in my bag. Just like how I always remember to pay my car registration and flush the toilet after I use it. In reality, I’m quick to forget about my medication, to the detriment of my health. But don’t worry, I always wash my hands after using the loo, I promise.
Running around unmedicated is obviously not living my best life. So, if you need to take meds everyday like me, here’s some tips on how to remember those pesky little pills.
Be open with your friends and family about your condition.
It’s hard to admit this, but I often feel embarrassed about having a chronic kidney disease. There’s many undignified things that are involved in managing the condition, and taking medication three times a day is at the very tip of the iceberg.
There’s something revealing and vulnerable about taking out a pillbox in public and gulping down a little white pill. It might not sound like much, but that gesture tells the world, “I’m not well. My body doesn’t work like yours. I won’t survive without this little pill.”
But as exposed as I may feel, it’s of utmost importance to me that I tell my friends, family and colleagues about my kidney condition. Not only does it explain some things about my lifestyle (e.g. sometimes I have to stay home for an entire day to do a 24-hour urine test, which is basically collecting all my wee in a giant bucket. #sexy), it also helps to keep me accountable for my own health.