Re: Me and TM

Amy Thropp (athropp(AT)mindspring.com)
Sat, 10 May 1997 19:34:24 -0400

>Barbara and Beth,
>
>I couldn't agree with both of you more. The illness is deceiving to others;
>once you have progressed to a certain point and problems are no longer
>obvious, people around you start to consider you completely recovered.
> Someone the other day asked why I hadn't joined my company's softball team.
> I had to explain that I'm very happy to walk without stumbling let alone
>run. Although sometimes, whatever the reason I am happy to be considered
>"normal" even if its mistaken. It can show me that I am focusing too much on
>my lingering problems and not enough on the extent of my recovery.
>
>Kindest Regards,
>
>Gary
>

Yes, even I, who live with Steve every day, have to remind myself that even
though he appears to be fine, he still has good days and bad days and
sometimes bad weeks and he's not fine. He's certainly better, but operating
at 75% of where he was only eight months ago (before his attack), still is
not all better.

We also have to remind our children frequently. Steve is one of those
"stiff upper lip" kind of guys and never lets on when he's not feeling well.
He just acts irritable. I can tell, but the kids only see him as being
crabby. I usually pull them aside at these times and remind them that they
need to be extra patient and tolerant...it's not like it's his fault. And
he always snaps out of it in a few hours (or days). Then he's back to being
his cheerful self.

Amy