Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!aplcen!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!apple!snorkelwacker!mintaka!yale!bunker!hcap!hnews!129!34!Linda.Thompson
From: Linda.Thompson@f34.n129.z1.fidonet.org (Linda Thompson)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Re: DISABILITIES
Message-ID: <13064@bunker.UUCP>
Date: 23 Jul 90 20:37:32 GMT
Sender: wtm@bunker.UUCP
Reply-To: Linda.Thompson@f34.n129.z1.fidonet.org
Distribution: misc
Organization: FidoNet node 1:129/34 - ZONE 8 ECHO GATE, Pittsburgh PA
Lines: 46
Approved: wtm@bunker.UUCP

Index Number: 9438

My "coping techniques" consist largely of getting madder at
something else than however mad/disgusted/frustrated I might be at
my body at the time and directing the energy elsewhere.  Doesn't
have to be anger, just re-directing the energy, however, getting
angry will at least give me the wherewithall to at least get off my
duff and *do* something else.  This can require enough energy for
the *mad* to wear off and I have enough of a head of steam to keep
me rolling (oh well, it works for me...).

During the easiest of times, inspiration works as well (i.e.,
acquiring an interest in something that inspires me to be busy at
it).

My personal feeling is that fatigue (which is caused by a number of
things associated with various conditions) is the number one
life-taker.  It can deprive one of the energy to live and even the
energy for the will to live. It leads to apathy, depression, more
fatigue.  Bone-rending, gut-wrenching, downright never-ending
fatigue.  Hate it.

Since I work with personal injuries (and am personally acquainted
with a couple myself...), I once set about trying to prepare an
argument to present to a jury about "What is unendurable pain?"

By definition, if you are alive, your pain is "endurable", yes?
You, by your mere living presence, have proved that the pain is
"endurable." Then, what is agony?  In defining agony, pain and
fatigue are closely allied, since one feeds on the other.  That is
the p.o.a. (prisoner of agony) situation that many disabled people
live with daily.  That is the condition that is virtually
impossible to convey to anyone who has never lived it.

What would someone have to pay you to live with a headache for five
minutes?  A toothache?  How about for two hours?  How about three
days?  What about your whole lifetime?  What about ten toothaches
at once?

(How did I get on this?)  Anyway, I admire the people who cope,
however they do it.
 # Origin: Atlanta Medical Forum -- (404) 351-9757  (8:7301/204)

--
Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!129!34!Linda.Thompson
Internet: Linda.Thompson@f34.n129.z1.fidonet.org