Coping with Disabilities
A Coping Blurb from Art
By Arthur Soissons-Segal, Ph.D. ~ Therapist and Brain Tumor Survivor
Serious illness or disability is a family affair. It reaches out and like a
powerful magnet it pulls the emotional strings of all who live within its
reach. My disabilities affect my wife's daily life as it does mine. We no
longer are able to take long walks due to my poor balance, a symptom of
neuropathy and of spinal stinosis. I fatigue easily and may show
exhaustion by 10 p.m. This limits our participation in nighttime activities
and is a source of disappointment for my wife and for myself. I retired from
my job earlier than I planned thus limiting our income. Initially, the
consequences of my disabilities disappointed my wife. She had not
anticipated this changed life style. Her attitude was grumpy. She felt
deprived.
Several weeks after my brain tumor surgery, we sat down and spoke of my
disabilities. This was difficult for me. I had to look at my inabilities: the
abilities I lost, the abilities, which would never return, the abilities I missed.
She too was able to share her frustrations at my changed lifestyle.
Our sharing resulted in a greater understanding of my inabilities and of my
fears as well as my understanding of her reactions. Since our talk, we have
been able to find ways to maintain our activities subject to keeping within the
limits of my current abilities.
Sharing one's fears and one's abilities with loved ones is an important
foundation to the establishment of your rehabilitation team.
Arthur Soissons-Segal's is the creator and instructor of
The Joy of Coping: Coming to Terms with Cancer, MS, Stroke, Anxiety or Another Debilitating Illness.
Learn more about Art and his course
here.
Copyright © 2004 Arthur Soissons-Segal. All rights reserved. If you are interested in
publishing this blurb, please email
.
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