The Search

What if everyone chalked up how you felt into a million different reasons because they didn't actually know why you felt bad?  What if your doctor told you your symptoms didn't really exist and it was 'all in your head'?  What if no one was ever willing to help you because they weren't sure how their treatment would effect you?  This describes me.  I am a mystery. 

     I have a physical disability and am also legally blind.  My disability doesn't have a name; it has no rhyme or reason.  I have a list of symptoms that have not been tied together.  I am rare and I will probably always be rare because, you see, the search for a diagnosis has been far and wide and 16 years long.  No answers have been given; I have even been turned down from studies.  

     But the name, I do not care about.  The reason, I do not want.  What I want is for doctors to think outside of the box.  If there are symptoms to go off of then there are ways to help.   What I want is to change the way people with disabilities are perceived and thought about.  What I want is to be able to share my story.  

     It is time to stop searching and start living!

Curiosity Is Okay; Ask Away

Curiosity is okay.  Ask away!

     This past Thursday this guy who eats lunch with my friends and I asked generally, "If someone has a birth defect, is it their fault or their parents fault?"  This question made me upset at first but after thinking about it I realized that it's ok.  That the question he asked was not an insensitive question; it was just curiosity at work.  It might not have been worded in the perfect way but it was a question nonetheless.  I feel like I had no right to get upset because people have a right to ask questions and be curious. 

     In fact, I would rather people ask me questions  instead of staring at me and wondering how I do things.  It is always better to ask questions; better for you and me.  Once you ask I know you are no longer wondering and staring, and for you, you will have knowledge that you did not have before.  You will have a different perspective from the information given. 

     Curiosity makes the world go 'round.  If people didn't ask questions sciences wouldn't be advancing, technology wouldn't be where it is today and no one would know anything about anyone.  Curiosity is okay, so ask away.