Three weeks ago, I reviewed Strong at the Broken Places: Voices of Illness, a Chorus of Hope by Richard C...
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Richard Cohen Article
Michele S
Thursday, June 26, 2008 at 06:36 AMre: Richard Cohen Article
Lene Andersen
Friday, June 27, 2008 at 10:53 AMI highly recommend the book. I've had this disease for a long time and thought I knew almost everything, but alternating with the moments of saying "yes! that's how it is" was moments of my mind expanding.
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Two Battles
AmyAria
Thursday, June 26, 2008 at 03:27 PMI love the concept of fighting two battles; the disease and how others see you. My biggest peeve of late has been the abundance of people telling me how I should feel. "You should feel happy they caught it so early", or "You really must be devastated" or the worst which is "Oh, you're going to be just fine!" I don't want to be evil to the folks who are obviously trying to be helpful, but what I really need? What I really need are the ones who ask, "Wow! So.....how do you feel about all that?" The best help of all comes from those who are truly motivated to LISTEN! Damn! All the same, I'm quite sure prior to now I was guilty of all the same sins!
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Lene Andersen
Friday, June 27, 2008 at 11:15 AMOther people's statements about how you should feel tend to be more about their feelings about the diagnosis or discomfort with illness than what you're feeling. It's one of the reasons it's so important to find others with RA or another chronic illness to talk to - you don't have to jump through the conversational and emoitonal hoops, but can get right down to the nitty-gritty. And it can be a great support on the days where you've had a particularly challenging encounter with a healthy individual. It really is a battle and finding comrades in arms helps.
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Thought provoking. I like the way Richard thinks. This article gave enlightened me.
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