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← Return to PN? What's good about it?
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To Ray and Debbie I say, "Amen!!!" I consider you some of my best friends even though we've never met and I wouldn't be able to pick you out in a crowd of 10. At 76, living alone since my husband passed 10 years ago, I really need to be able to hear/exchange experiences and ideas with those who share similar medical journeys. My children, all married - some with married children of their own - are unbelievably attentive and kind, and I have a solid base of supportive friends. But I'm the only one with PN, so no one can really understand what my day-to-day life can be like. You and other contributors and especially the mentors, help me immensely. To you ALL, I offer a huge and sincere Thank You!!!
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Good morning, bjk3 (@bjk3)
Thank you for all that you said! Your words were wonderful to find on waking up this morning.
I know what you mean about the quiet frustration we sometimes feel when, on the one hand, we have a group of genuinely supportive friends who acknowledge our condition but then, on the other hand, still occasionally ask us to do things we're unable or uncomfortable doing. It seems almost every day, at least once, I'll find myself saying, "Oh, but you forget, I can't do that."
However, what I must watch out for is saying to myself: "Be careful, Ray. You can't do that" – when I really can, IF I go slowly, carefully, watching for the littlest hazards that, to someone without our condition, wouldn't be hazards at all. Life on a balance beam, that's what it can feel like, between too much caution on one side and too much boldness on the other.
When I'm feeling self-focused (something I try to avoid feeling), I catch myself wishing: If only my supportive friends could more fully understand the balance beam I'm walking every waking hour of every day.
Again, bjk3, thank you for your kind words!
Cheers!
Ray (@ray666)