Motley Moose – Archive

(This is my Kosability Diary from the DK this evening)

The problem with C.O.P.D. in the form of severe asthma and chronic bronchitis is that it is well chronic. Chronic refers to something that continues or persists over an extended period of time. I have had a respiratory infection that started in August when I was up in Indiana cleaning my parent’s house. I am still running a fever off and on and am constantly congested. Not having any health care until the beginning on March has prevented me from seeing a doctor.

KosAbility is a community diary series posted at 5 PM ET every Sunday and Wednesday by volunteer diarists. This is a gathering place for people who are living with disabilities, who love someone with a disability, or who want to know more about the issues surrounding this topic. There are two parts to each diary. First, a volunteer diarist will offer their specific knowledge and insight about a topic they know intimately. Then, readers are invited to comment on what they’ve read and/or ask general questions about disabilities, share something they’ve learned, tell bad jokes, post photos, or rage about the unfairness of their situation. Our only rule is to be kind; trolls will be spayed or neutered.

One of the biggest problems with a chronic illness such as C.O.P.D. is the fact that it is always present. You never feel completely well. Some days will be better then others but even on good days your energy is at a lower level then when you were well. I have battled C.O.P.D. and the constant respiratory infections since 1997. That is a long time not to feel good.

The hardest part for me is adjusting to the fact that I don’t have the energy I once did. I ask my younger cat Pixie to lend me some of her energy but she won’t do it. I think back to the days when I could go all day. I use to ski and thought nothing of taking the chair lift over and over again all day long to the top of the mountain and skiing down. I use to run. Now I walk slowly.

I try and distract myself in order to forget the illness. I can lose myself in artwork for hours. I can sit down and write. I read voraciously. I watch movies since there is little on television that interests me or that I can get without expensive cable. I cook and develop new recipes. I’m on-line with friends.

I wish I could feel well again but am doing what I can to cope with the constant illness. I try to remind myself that a positive mental attitude is my best friend. In a month I’ll have Medicare and I can see a doctor and hopefully knock this current infection off. I know it will come back but a respite is okay. You learn to appreciate the days when you feel just okay.

Today’s KosAbility diary is written by the funny lady Clytemnestra. Here’s the link: http://www.dailykos.com/story/…

If you missed last week’s offering on post-polio syndrome, I regret to inform you that parts of the diary were plagiarized, a first for our group. The writer has been banned and the post removed.

Clytemnestra, on the other hand, is completely original – in more ways than one!

Many of you know that I moderate a blog for the disabled and their families/loved ones on another site. I can’t cross-post most of them here because most are written by guest writers, but if there is much interest I can provide a link each Sunday with a brief description of the topic. Today’s topic, for example, is post-polio syndrome.

Weigh in, Moosketeers! What say you?

Hi my moosey friends, I need some help.

It looks like I may have found a job, assuming everything goes through correctly. If it does, I will be an independent contract counselor working for a counseling agency. Sounds like something someone who just finished a counseling program should be able to handle, right?

Not exactly.

All of the time I’ve spent studying the field of psychology, I’ve planned to work with adults – ideally in a hospital setting. I have studied adults almost exclusively, and all of my internship experience was done in a clinic which took no one under the age of 19.

But the woman who hired me plans to place me primarily at an elementary school working as a counselor/behavior specialist with “problem” children for grades PK-5. I am passingly familiar with the school – and its reputation. A friend of mine tutors students there after classes, and he says it is very troubled – that a lot of the kids are difficult to teach and control. The families who send their children there are mostly low income, as evidenced by data I found on the school which indicated that over 90% of the students are eligible for free lunches. My boss says there is a total caseload at the school of 52. The school only has about 250 students, meaning that an unusually large percentage of the kids are considered problematic.  

We have all heard poignant stories about the many people across the country and around the world suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder. It can be a crippling condition, which can lead to a plethora of other problems, from generalized anxiety to depression to suicide. PTSD is a disorder affecting many Americans, and rates of PTSD have increased over the past several years due to US involvement in wars overseas. Many of our soldiers return home presenting with symptoms of this extraordinarily complicated and frequently debilitating disorder.