Dear friends in cushie land:
There is a reason I haven't posted lately. My computer went belly-up and is in the shop to be rebuilt. Hopefully it will be a much better machine to work with when I get it back. Until then you all have my best wishes!
Stanley Loper
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Coping
Hello again from a Zebra!
In this post I intend to talk
about how to cope and live a meaningful life with Cushing’s. Some of the advice applies to any chronic
disease, however Cushing’s is different from many of those since it is curable. It’s just a matter of which way one has to go
to get cured.
So you have Cushing’s? Okay, don’t bother with the grieving process;
remember it isn’t the death sentence many other diseases are. It can be treated or cured. So go straight to the acceptance step and
roll up your sleeves because a positive attitude is a must. Then fight.
Fight!
Go after the cause of your
Cushing’s and don’t take no for an answer.
If you have the diagnosis no doctor has any business telling you to just
sit on it and wait. The sooner you get
treatment the better. That means finding
the tumors and getting them out or one of the other options open to you. Educate
yourself on Cushing’s so you know when somebody tries to hand you a bill of
goods. You may get some resistance from
insurers and others, but keep up both the fight and the pressure on them
instead of you. That is the most
positive thing you can do is to stand up for yourself and force the doors open
to your treatment.
Do something for others!
There are few things more
satisfying than helping others. There
are forums online and on the social networking sites where those who still
suffer from Cushing’s and other chronic diseases get together to share
information and for mutual support. Join
in. Be active in helping your
fellow zebras in their journey. They’ll
help you as well when things seem dim and you go through some off the really
discouraging experiences you will have.
But do your best to help as much as possible. That will help you keep the positive attitude
which is so important for zebras to have to cope with treatment, or even
long-term problems. And, please, if you
do find a cure quickly please stay around and help. Zebras need those who’ve been there and done
that and the experience they’ve gained along the way.
Do something for yourself!
Be a little selfish and do
something for yourself. I don’t mean go
out and buy that pretty pair of shoes you’ve been wanting, though that doesn’t
hurt once in awhile. What I mean is to
find something to do which fills your life with beauty, something positive and
active mentally, physically or both. I
was sitting around feeling sorry for myself one day when I saw the story of a
man who’d had both a career and the joy of his life destroyed in an automobile
accident and how he regained his joy and career, playing guitar music, again
ten years later.
As I sat there listening to
the Story of Esteban as he was selling guitars on a shopping channel it hit me,
why can’t I? The answer, well, why
not? I’ve wanted to play Flamenco guitar
since my youth. Okay, I wanted to play
guitars period. Are you satisfied? But I’ve also wanted to write. Well, I got up off the sofa and found a
guitar at the pawnshop, the only way I could afford to get one and I got a
high-end word processor for my computer to help me with my grammar and
punctuation skills and went to work on both.
Although I would like to turn the writing into a career here late in
life, it doesn’t matter if I don’t see a dime I’ll write and I’ll play the
guitar. Both are hobbies which have
brought beauty into my life.
The writing has led to
blogging, including this blog. So I’m
using it to hopefully help others afflicted with Cushing’s to learn about their
disease and make their lives better in some way while I fight for my cure. But the point is to find something like that
to enrich your life and do it.
I’m sure some are going to
cringe at my little missive. But one
thing I’ve learned after the why me phase is the best answer is to be proactive
and take the bull by the horns, and beat him until he whines like a whipped
puppy. Otherwise life gets mighty darn
miserable as the bull gores you to his delight. Don’t let that happen to you.
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