Any disabled members?

I too have severe back pain issues and heart disease plus a few other issues that resulted in me being granted a government pension some 22 years ago.

Finding a means of distracting my attention from my own issues has been a huge challenge and it is interests like knife collecting and activities such as participating in BF that helps keep me getting up each day.

The support from the folk here is outstanding and I am realising that it is due to the fact that so many have hard and painful life experiences that they are dealing with too.

All I try to do is live in the 'now' and if a chance comes to laugh I take it but if I have to spend the day in bed due to illness I hope that things may be better tomorrow.

I hope your tomorrow is better than your today. :thumbup:
 
L4/L5 disc removal and checking of a fracture that seemed to have healed itself. Hit a dog (rottie) on my bicycle. Went to the Varsity doc who patched the grazes then a month later for "tight tendons" Unfortunatey it was a resurected GP trying to suppliment his pay. 6months later I got first treatment. So eventually I spent my 21st bday in high care after repair. I have pain daily in my pelvis and live on pain killers. Many specialists and nothing wrong? I now do (for 18months) 4-8km/ day walking with weights on legs and wrists and in a modified backpack. My weight is down, stress gone, painkillers right down. I know that I will live with the pain but getting painkillers is a bitch with a lecture from the Pharmacist each time. The one lady understands as her dad has a back problem.

I have been left with a hyper sensitive patch near the op that no-one goes near for fear of being bitchslapped on uncontrolable reaction to triggering extreme pain. A few co-workers, my mum, kids, my mom's god daugther at her engagement party, wife last week. That is the major reason why I wear a back brace. My son hit it with a tennis ball off a bat last month and I blacked out, spent the next couple of days in bed recovering.

My father lived with chronic emphasima for 16 years. He never complained saying that it was his fault. He still used to make it to all my interschool matches.
 
Prosthetic right hand -- indestructible polycarbonate sheath topped with a modified stainless steel hook. I do not consider it a disability . . . and neither does SSD. Denied twice. If it is not service related you need to be "100% disabled" and completely unemployable to qualify for tapping into your Social Security account. So if you're not blind, retarded, or in a wheelchair you need a good lawyer.
 
23 years Retired AF, 100 percent disabled and unemployable.

VA has been great... I can't say enough good things.

Take the meds... appreciate what you CAN do, when you can do it... And as best you are able, move through the stages of grief; Denial, Anger, Bargaining, and Depression and on to Acceptance as soon as you are able.

God speed!
 
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USMC Vet. 100% service connected. shattered vertibre, ptsd, bilaterial tinitus(?), Really screwed up knees and bad vision. Went to battle with the VA for 3 years. Not an easy job.

Best bet is to get a good county service rep or DAV/ Legion Rep and know your Federal code of Regulations.

Glad to know there are others out there.
 
DAV is the best!
 
A lot of us here have what many people think of as "handicaps". Some are worse than others. Some handle it better than others. I won't go into detail on my problems because it just don't matter. But in the words of a now-deceased philosopher/songwriter, Warren Zevon, "Enjoy every sandwich".

:):thumbup:

EDIT: NSFW Music Link...
 
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Hope this post finds you well on a Saturday Bill. Today, I will pull your knife out of the safe and carry it, the one that honors your sister. 777.

Go with God Bill, it is not always easy to understand, but you know what I mean.

Chris
 
Dude, ... Yank out your axe and let your fingers do their thing. Guitars that are handled tenderly make sweeter music. Feel better. Prayers and smoke.
 
i have fibromyalgia that has me in constant pain 24 7 and no meds work on me. i have taken stuff that would knock out anyone else. i have some good days but they tend to be far and few between the older i get.

i have tried to get ssi many years ago but was turned down. i found out they dont consider it a disability.
 
Hang in there! There are always positive memories to remember and positive things to come. I got fused two years ago because of a duty related injury. I just had a trial nuerostim placed inside me yesterday. I won't take anybody telling me I have to live with the extent of pain and other injury realted To problems I suffer. It's been a fight to get the care but I'm not giving up. I know it's easy to get down and your injuries are way beyond anything I have experienced but faith goes a long way. My dad was a marine and lost a leg. He spent an entire career working heavy industrial construction. He had doctors tell him he couldnt do it. He even managed to snap a few of his "indestructable" prosthetics legs in half. They all thought he was nuts. Growing up we never thought of him as disabled or handicapped. I know the work caused him great pain. he did his best for himself and his family. Most people never even know not even his bosses. He gives me hell about my back now, but he's a great source to go too. A buddy I served with is a quadaorelegic. When he first got hurt all he wanted to do was die. He now has a wife, step children and a miracle baby. He is one if the happiest people I know and he refuses to give up. Find that inner strength you know you have. Hold on to it and never let go. When things get tough it's okay to talk about it. That is what friends and family are for! Your not in it alone!
 
I am a young guy. I got my first disabilities when I was 19. I am 28 now. After being convinced by several doctors that I got 10 years left to walk and my injuries are permanent, I gave up on myself. I took all the medication the doctors gave me and fell into a slump for a couple years.

My biggest mistake was to quit fighting. You can never give up on yourself. Today, I have kicked most of my medication and am getting the will to live again.

You have to keep fighting your disabilities and never loose hope.
 
Try to look at your life this way; The old "pre-disabled" me is dead, so I now need to learn to live with and accept the new, living me as best I can." Though it may sound a bit morbid, that thought has helped me a great deal. Don't try to compare the "you" that you really are now, to the "you" that you used to be (it's a losing proposition).

In the past I used to look at what I previously COULD accomplish and get depressed because I couldn't do it anymore. Hanging rain gutter around my house for example; I'd grab 5 lengths of gutter to install, only have the strength and stamina to actually install 2 lengths before the pain forced me to stop, and I'd be disappointed in myself for not doing what I used to be able to do (5 pieces). I've learned now (with the help of a pain psychologist), to look at the two lengths of gutter I just installed and say to myself, "Good job! You finished two lengths of gutter!!:thumbup::thumbup: (instead of fretting over the five I'd hoped to and couldn't install).

Look at what you CAN do and be happy about it. Forget what the "old me" could do because "he" isn't here anymore. CHERISH that which you CAN accomplish!!!!

ON EDIT: If you live in constant pain, don't be too proud to seek help from a good pain psychologist. It's helped me to an unbelievable extent.
 
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