> To all,
>
> I'm sorry if I started something that would split a group of caring and
> supportive people into the more fortunate and the less fortunate.
No, no, you didn't do that at all. Your note just happened to be the
springboard from which all of this discussion was launched, but it wasn't
personal.
> I hope that I will walk without braces and crutches someday
> and never need to use them again.
I hope you will, too!!
> Now, I'm in a situation where I'm too embarrassed to call
> my doctor if anything comes up.
Oh, please don't feel this way. If the dr. or his staff causes you to feel
this way, it could be time to check into finding another dr. Even though, in
our situation, there doesn't seem to be much they can "do", it helps to
call, talk, be reassured, and have things explained. One of my concerns is
that something might be passed off as TM-related when it might be a separate
problem, and keeping in touch with the dr. can help you know when to explore
that. And, though most of us have expressed a preference to do without
long-term medication, the dr. can help you try different medicines or
combinations to see what helps. If you're embarrassed to call because of the
recent hospitalization situation -- well, most doctors have seen patients
upset, fed up, irrational, etc., etc., and I don't think they'd think less of
you.
> My marriage is on the rocks as a result
> of my illness.
I don't remember how long you've had TM, but it is stressful for both spouses
to adjust to, and I hope you both give it some time. Maybe, if he is
inclined, you could show him some of the notes from the archives of this
list; it would help him as much as it does you to know that there are others.
Many of the notes in the archives are from the spouse of the patient. You
didn't say whether he doesn't understand the illness itself (no one really
does, fully!) or thinks you "should be better by now" or if it is just
("just"?) the emotions and stress of the whole thing -- but whatever, talk to
each other and give it some time.
>I could go on but I'm not going to. As I see it, all of
> us have varying degrees of TM but it's not the the physical disability,
> it's also how it takes your life from you and everyday is a struggle to
> get a little piece back. Hope everyone is well.
>
> Kara
One of the things my doctor told me early on was to try and ignore/forget
about the TM as much as possible and try to go on with my life. Part of me
thought, "Easy for you to say!!", but that perspective has helped me to try
not to concentrate on it (though at times it intrudes itself into my life and
takes over) and to go about what I can do. Few, if any of us, can "go back to
normal" -- we have to find a new level of normal, which may change daily.
Hope these thoughts are helpful in some way. I really don't mean to be
"preachy", but, as I have mentioned from time to time, the one thing that
helps me the most is knowing God, knowing that He has some purpose in
everything, reading His Word daily, and resting on His promises to be with me
and help me.
Barbara
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and
Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. John 17:3