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.