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From: Frank.Whitney@f1000.n261.z1.fidonet.org (Frank Whitney)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Re: dealing with life in a chair
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Date: 8 Jan 91 18:58:01 GMT
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[This is from the Spinal Injury Conference]

>it's the recent past that is a problem for me.  i have ms, the type that 
>gets steadily worse with no remissions.  so in a few months time i seem to 
>acquire a whole new set of losses to grieve and a bunch of new things to 
>deal with.  (you'd think i'd be an expert at this by now :-) )  i have down 
>times.  i wonder if that ever goes away for anyone.  i guess the thing to do 
>with the down times is to be able to recognize when it's happening and 
>develop a technique for pulling yourself out of it - like maybe posting a 
>message here asking for help when you need it! 
> 
You, sound a lot like my wife.  She has MS and although I've been in a 
wheelchair for the last 24 years because I'm a quadriplegic from a 
diving accident I wouldn't trade places with my wife Jeanne even 
though she's able to still get about without always using a 
wheelchair.  I believe that the stress associated with the steadily 
worsening condition is much worse.  At least for me and others like  
myself it's generally a one time adjustment.  With my wife as with 
yourself it's one ordeal after another.  I'm happy that I don't have 
to constantly adjust to a new set of problems as people with a  
degenerative type of disease have.  I agree with you on posting 
messages when you need help.  It's always easier knowing that others  
are pulling for you.
Frank.

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