Quote:
Originally Posted by kebsa
Knee's are notoriously dodgy blighters! i hope it is gradually improving/ As for the comments about the cane and peoples lack of understanding, you are right- but at least they don't amke an assumption about you being drunk etc. One of the others i met at the Ms society PT was having a tough time, she had previously been close to an olympic standard ice skater and now had MS. Unfortunately less than 4 yrs after dx, she had quite severe ataxia but she was trying to resist using a can or walker. She was really upset because she had fallen and people had just walked around her, commenting on how disgusting it was that she drink so much! she has now come to terms with using the walker and not only has it decreased her risk of falling but its like it has legitimised her unsteady gait- it not pleasant that people are so ill informed but it is the nature of human beings- very quick to make snap judgements
|
When I first got the optic neuritis, and I was waiting for it to go away, I hated to go shopping. Because I'd be walking down an aisle, minding my own business, and someone would walk past me on my blind side while I was trying to turn that direction to go somewhere. I'd usually get a snippy attitude from people, saying that I was rude and cutting them off or something. I'd explain that I was blind in one eye at the moment and did not see them.
Boy, could you see the disbelief in their eyes. I'd get a response like "yeah, right." and they'd storm off on their self-important and entitled way, cussing under their breath about how rude I was.
I got to the point where I just let them assume that I was a total bwitch and tried to ignore them. Altho, it's kind of hard when they ram into you with their shopping cart and dont offer so much as an "excuse me".
My dad had the same problem when he had cataracts in one of his eyes (he's actually had them in both eyes) Some woman in a WalMart that's kind of in a bad part of town went off on him because she thought he bumped into her because somehow that either made him a racist, or that he was trying to cop a feel or something (please, she was scary looking) He also got the "yeah right" response from the lady when he explained he was blind in one eye.
I guess, people are rude because they dont understand and dont know your situation, and apparently dont believe it when you tell them you've got some "invisible" symptom that only you can tell you have. They just assume you're drunk or stoned, or that you're a jerk. If you try to correct their assumption, they get all defensive and nasty about it.
I guess it's something we MSers (and people with similar problems from other diseases) will have to put up with occasionally. It'd be nice to get people to not make assumptions that we're all drunk and stumble bunny-ing our way down the sidewalk just to get in their way.
Oh yeah, edited to add: Got back from the doctor's office. Got an xray (it was normal) and a nice Rx for some physical therapy. (I cant afford an MRI right now) Hopefully the PT will help the knee and I wont have to go for an MRI. I hate MRI's anyways, so anything to keep out from under the big, scary, noisy magnet...