Re: If you *actually have* a physical disability, what is it
Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2012 2:04 pm
First off, I won't go into the aspects of the mental disabilities I do have. However, if you are curious to read about them, you are more them able to do so. Probably best just to click my name and view my posts for the easiest way. Since I am scattered around a bit.
One thing I found out really recently, is that due to something congenital (from birth) was that apparently in my neck, I had something of like, the gap that is between the spinal cord and the vertebrae that allows for some aspect of movement between, the gap was shrinking to the point of bone against nerve. I first noticed things probably a good 2 years back, but my mom (back when I lived with parents) would never take me seriously. Even to recent times it was the same. I practically had to be all loud (not angry really, just loud) for her to get the point that, I did my damnedest to endure as much as I could and that even at times, when my legs felt like Jello during work, I didn't quit or ask to go home. Yeah, maybe I did have to sit a while and "gather energy back" but at least I pushed through. It took the fact that one day, my body feeling like lead and me feeling really sad for her to "get the point" and then have things get checked out.
I had my neck surgery November. The doctor said if I didn't get this, it could have led to full paralasys from the neck down. Considering the fact that 4 vertebra were involved, chances are, it may have been in that danger zone of stuff that controls things like breathing and bodily functions, but I have no idea how true that is or not.
Still, I seem to be persevering and the doctor says I can return to work February. Whether or not anything changed or not other then not worrying about paralasis or not is just something I have to wait & see on I suppose. I have made really good progress within the almost 2.whatever months that have gone by. Yeah, I have one hell of a scar that runs from the base of my skull down to near the top of my shoulderbaldes, but it is something to remind me of it.
one other thing, which the doctor thought could be related, and maybe is, or just not cureable, is the aspect of how my body's sensitivity levl to touch is to the point of near nonexistance. Hard to describe that feeling. I mean, yeah, if I get cut or something, then it registers stuff. But say, if one were to want to rub my arm or something, or even slap it till it was bright red, even then it may not register much. The only way I would probably know is due to the faint temperature differance and seeing them touch me. He mentioned something about there being something he called "Spinal cord signal change" which is something that can't be fixed. No clue what effect it is having on me either though.
Makes me feel weird as, for me, knowing that a partner doing their best to give me some form of tactile pleasure (Be is sexual or not) and having to have them realize it has no effect on me and them being sad, would in turn make me sad. And before you suggest it, no I an not into pain related sexual thingies. (Yeah, talk about getting technical with my words there brain. >_<) But yeah. For me, it is kinda like, why bother trying for a relationship. Maybe that is negative to some, but for me it is just how things are I guess. It just is, kinda like neutral or something.
So yeah. Hopefully, I am not being too wordy or long with my post. IF you wish to ask more about me and other stuff, be it after you read my other posts or not, feel free to ask. No matter the question, chances are I'll answer it. Just how I am. THERE ARE NO BAD OR WRONG QUESTIONS!!!
So yeah. Anywho, take care everyone.
EDIT: Probably could be considered as physical that I just remember (Forgot as I use the computer almost always so as to not have to be in a situation) but my fine motor skills are nearly nonexistant. For example, printing, which some may take for granted, to me, is harder. My dad would always say that my printing (not meaning writing as in cursive stuff) was like "Chicken Scratch" I was usually the only one who could read it, and even there were times where I couldn't read it and I had forgotten what I wrote.
I kinda laugh at my dad's comment looking back.
If I were to print the previous sentence in a legible manner, it could very well take me 5 minutes or more due to the sheer amount of force of will I have to exert over my hands and the muscles. Even then in the middle of small words, having to stop because my hands/arm wants to cramp up. I don't even remember cursive. I can barely do cursive, and even then has a touch of the old "Chicken scratch" in it. XD So, yeah. I have tried my hand at drawing, and sometimes it is kinda meh. But then again there are other reasons why I haven't done much other then it seems my nad not wanting to obey my brain. But it is more a mental thingy I suspect.
I brought up something interesting elsewhere, can't remember if here or another forum. Would something that is a mental condition that affects one in physical ways be allowed to be considered as physical?
The reason I ask, is because some people speculate that some with Aspergers/Autism to be a mental realted thing, when it has to do with the aspects of the nervous system.
For me, other odd things that I suffer from are things like, hyper sensitivity to certain types of smells. For me, anything that is chemical like, literally makes me choke, gasping for air, unless I say, use my shirt as a breathing filter. Heck, I can barely go down the detergent isle. And worse, I was in a job at retail. I didn't have to be in the isle. Even being 3 or 4 isles away, the smell was as though a "Normal" person perhaps opening the lid, and sniffing the smell from the top. Sometimes making my stomach upset as well.
Sometimes my hearing is almost too sensitive. This is going to sound a bit weird, but has any of you ever noticed how loud and deafing the sound of pure silence is? I know that sounds like an Oxymoron, but it is true. It is a type of noise that makes you wish to make ANY form of alternative noise to temporarily get rid of it.
And, what about aspects of being overly sensitive to bright light, were one has to wear sunglasses most of the time when it is sunny, even even if you want to read a book, because the light bouncing off the page, can make your head feel funny?
These are other things I have to deal with. Let's just say I have all sorts of things with me that are "messed up".
Granted, I have lived with it so long, it is no longer "Disabling" so to speak, as once you find a way to make it not hinder your life, can it then be considered as disabling, or instead, merely something that is a nuisance? Just throwing that bit of mental chewing gum out there for you all the think upon.
For me, I only really see the neck thingy and the surgery recovery as being disabling. And, the symptoms I had. I hope, that work will not make those symptoms return, but if they do, then I'll just know I have to cut back on certain things and be limited in what jobs I can do, sucky as it seems. For me, at least the important thing is the mindset and mental fortitude you have in the face of it all. I am the type to give more then everything I have and if that isn't enough, then there is nothering more that I can do and I just have to accept it. Getting upset about it, hating yourself wondering why things are one way or another is not the way to go.
For those of you who have that which you consider disabling, I ask you not to hate yourself and do your best to simply accept the fact that sometimes, as f*cked up as life can be, there is times where no mattter the amount of effort one can put out in all its forms, sometimes, things are the way they are and ones just has to come to terms with it. Once you are able to, you will realize that you can live your life without that burdening weight and perhaps try to find happiness of some sort.
So to all of you that have what society labels as a "disability", do what you can, try to think positive as best you can and show society that disability is just a word that they use to put others down and that YOU WON'T allow yourself to be put down.
Hopefully, my words have inspired some people.
Someone mentioned I inspired them simply from them reading about my "Life story" which I posted in the "Why I can't play this game thread". If you wish, feel free to read, then if you want, feel free to PM me. I am always happy to talk to others. And, as I stated above, there are no wrong or offensive questions to me. So if you want to ask something but are afraid of how I'll take it, just ask away, ok? ^_^
One thing I found out really recently, is that due to something congenital (from birth) was that apparently in my neck, I had something of like, the gap that is between the spinal cord and the vertebrae that allows for some aspect of movement between, the gap was shrinking to the point of bone against nerve. I first noticed things probably a good 2 years back, but my mom (back when I lived with parents) would never take me seriously. Even to recent times it was the same. I practically had to be all loud (not angry really, just loud) for her to get the point that, I did my damnedest to endure as much as I could and that even at times, when my legs felt like Jello during work, I didn't quit or ask to go home. Yeah, maybe I did have to sit a while and "gather energy back" but at least I pushed through. It took the fact that one day, my body feeling like lead and me feeling really sad for her to "get the point" and then have things get checked out.
I had my neck surgery November. The doctor said if I didn't get this, it could have led to full paralasys from the neck down. Considering the fact that 4 vertebra were involved, chances are, it may have been in that danger zone of stuff that controls things like breathing and bodily functions, but I have no idea how true that is or not.
Still, I seem to be persevering and the doctor says I can return to work February. Whether or not anything changed or not other then not worrying about paralasis or not is just something I have to wait & see on I suppose. I have made really good progress within the almost 2.whatever months that have gone by. Yeah, I have one hell of a scar that runs from the base of my skull down to near the top of my shoulderbaldes, but it is something to remind me of it.
one other thing, which the doctor thought could be related, and maybe is, or just not cureable, is the aspect of how my body's sensitivity levl to touch is to the point of near nonexistance. Hard to describe that feeling. I mean, yeah, if I get cut or something, then it registers stuff. But say, if one were to want to rub my arm or something, or even slap it till it was bright red, even then it may not register much. The only way I would probably know is due to the faint temperature differance and seeing them touch me. He mentioned something about there being something he called "Spinal cord signal change" which is something that can't be fixed. No clue what effect it is having on me either though.
Makes me feel weird as, for me, knowing that a partner doing their best to give me some form of tactile pleasure (Be is sexual or not) and having to have them realize it has no effect on me and them being sad, would in turn make me sad. And before you suggest it, no I an not into pain related sexual thingies. (Yeah, talk about getting technical with my words there brain. >_<) But yeah. For me, it is kinda like, why bother trying for a relationship. Maybe that is negative to some, but for me it is just how things are I guess. It just is, kinda like neutral or something.
So yeah. Hopefully, I am not being too wordy or long with my post. IF you wish to ask more about me and other stuff, be it after you read my other posts or not, feel free to ask. No matter the question, chances are I'll answer it. Just how I am. THERE ARE NO BAD OR WRONG QUESTIONS!!!
So yeah. Anywho, take care everyone.
EDIT: Probably could be considered as physical that I just remember (Forgot as I use the computer almost always so as to not have to be in a situation) but my fine motor skills are nearly nonexistant. For example, printing, which some may take for granted, to me, is harder. My dad would always say that my printing (not meaning writing as in cursive stuff) was like "Chicken Scratch" I was usually the only one who could read it, and even there were times where I couldn't read it and I had forgotten what I wrote.
I kinda laugh at my dad's comment looking back.
If I were to print the previous sentence in a legible manner, it could very well take me 5 minutes or more due to the sheer amount of force of will I have to exert over my hands and the muscles. Even then in the middle of small words, having to stop because my hands/arm wants to cramp up. I don't even remember cursive. I can barely do cursive, and even then has a touch of the old "Chicken scratch" in it. XD So, yeah. I have tried my hand at drawing, and sometimes it is kinda meh. But then again there are other reasons why I haven't done much other then it seems my nad not wanting to obey my brain. But it is more a mental thingy I suspect.
I brought up something interesting elsewhere, can't remember if here or another forum. Would something that is a mental condition that affects one in physical ways be allowed to be considered as physical?
The reason I ask, is because some people speculate that some with Aspergers/Autism to be a mental realted thing, when it has to do with the aspects of the nervous system.
For me, other odd things that I suffer from are things like, hyper sensitivity to certain types of smells. For me, anything that is chemical like, literally makes me choke, gasping for air, unless I say, use my shirt as a breathing filter. Heck, I can barely go down the detergent isle. And worse, I was in a job at retail. I didn't have to be in the isle. Even being 3 or 4 isles away, the smell was as though a "Normal" person perhaps opening the lid, and sniffing the smell from the top. Sometimes making my stomach upset as well.
Sometimes my hearing is almost too sensitive. This is going to sound a bit weird, but has any of you ever noticed how loud and deafing the sound of pure silence is? I know that sounds like an Oxymoron, but it is true. It is a type of noise that makes you wish to make ANY form of alternative noise to temporarily get rid of it.
And, what about aspects of being overly sensitive to bright light, were one has to wear sunglasses most of the time when it is sunny, even even if you want to read a book, because the light bouncing off the page, can make your head feel funny?
These are other things I have to deal with. Let's just say I have all sorts of things with me that are "messed up".
Granted, I have lived with it so long, it is no longer "Disabling" so to speak, as once you find a way to make it not hinder your life, can it then be considered as disabling, or instead, merely something that is a nuisance? Just throwing that bit of mental chewing gum out there for you all the think upon.
For me, I only really see the neck thingy and the surgery recovery as being disabling. And, the symptoms I had. I hope, that work will not make those symptoms return, but if they do, then I'll just know I have to cut back on certain things and be limited in what jobs I can do, sucky as it seems. For me, at least the important thing is the mindset and mental fortitude you have in the face of it all. I am the type to give more then everything I have and if that isn't enough, then there is nothering more that I can do and I just have to accept it. Getting upset about it, hating yourself wondering why things are one way or another is not the way to go.
For those of you who have that which you consider disabling, I ask you not to hate yourself and do your best to simply accept the fact that sometimes, as f*cked up as life can be, there is times where no mattter the amount of effort one can put out in all its forms, sometimes, things are the way they are and ones just has to come to terms with it. Once you are able to, you will realize that you can live your life without that burdening weight and perhaps try to find happiness of some sort.
So to all of you that have what society labels as a "disability", do what you can, try to think positive as best you can and show society that disability is just a word that they use to put others down and that YOU WON'T allow yourself to be put down.
Hopefully, my words have inspired some people.
Someone mentioned I inspired them simply from them reading about my "Life story" which I posted in the "Why I can't play this game thread". If you wish, feel free to read, then if you want, feel free to PM me. I am always happy to talk to others. And, as I stated above, there are no wrong or offensive questions to me. So if you want to ask something but are afraid of how I'll take it, just ask away, ok? ^_^