Originally Posted by robocar

It's not easy to move back home after you've been on your own as your parents still see you as their baby and because of your MG they want to protect you even more. Over 40 years ago I had just graduated from college, had a great job in a hospital and was on my own. After the MG hit I had to move back home with my parents until I got married. They drove me absolutely crazy - my Dad said I was lazy and my Mom said nothing but they kept riding me to do more. I had a thymectomy and 3 weeks later I called the hospital and begged them to come back to work - they were kind and let me come a couple of hours a week to do some charting - it was my salvation - I got away from my parents. I got married, got sicker after pregnancies and they still didn't understand - they didn't want to hear about MG and my limitations and need for a little help with the children or try to learn about what I had. It never stopped and I put up with it - I think it was their way of coping - if you don't know about it, it doesn't exist. My parents passed away a couple of years ago and I was cleaning drawers and came across an envelope - in it were all kinds of newspaper articles about MG - probably everything that was printed in the last 30 years(it was a small evnelope!!). They knew and they were just as frightened as I was. We all want the best for our children and we don't want to see them suffer - your Mom doesn't mean to be that way but she is going through her own grieving process and some people get stuck at a stage of grief and can't move on. I recommend you read Elizabeth Kubler-Ross's book on the stages of grieving and you'll know what I'm talking about. Things may change or may not change - remeber, your MOm loves you in her own way and it's killing her to see you hurt. Be well.

Originally Posted by Stellatum

Thanks, guys. It looks like my experience is pretty typical. I think the reason it surprised me so much that no one wants to talk about my MG is that I've spent so much time listening to the details of my friends' medical problems. So I thought it was normal for people to talk about their illnesses, and to listen to each other. Evidently it's not.

I still don't know if all humans feel like they're in a Star Trek episode, doing an away mission on an alien planet where the culture is weird and foreign and trying to extract generalized rules of behavior in order to fake it and pass for a native...or if that's just me. On the other hand, apparently I'm a good friend and an exceptionally good listener.

On the other hand, the next time a friend asks me if this illness still makes me feel tired in the evenings, I'm going to say, "The problem is not that I get tired, but that some of my muscles become temporarily paralyzed."

Abby

Originally Posted by Anacrusis

I have bouts of sudden coughing when spit goes down the wrong way.
My husband tells me I just need to get out of this bad habit and then I will be OK.

I have a friend who took all my notes and graph of symptoms and was supposed to look over them when I had no one else to turn to.
When she did not get back to me I started to feel very despondent. 3 weeks later she turned up on my doorstep with all my papers.
Not only had she studied all the details, she had also spent much time researching MG on the internet and ended up knowing more about it than me...

Sometimes the ones you expect support from let you down, and sometimes support comes from the people that you would least expect.

Originally Posted by BackwardPawn

Thats a real friend. Wish I had friends like that. I have a friend from high school who calls now and then to find out how I'm doing. Otherwise everyone seems to have moved on with their life. As soon as I feel better I'm gong to start socializing more (if I can still remember how at this point).