and the rainbows don't have a pot of gold at the end, either.

I don't want to be you, and you don't want to be me. Still, I think I'd take the health problems you have over the problems I have.

It's all trade-offs. From a sufficient distance, there are no advantages or disadvantages, just differences.

Lower back pain? (Maybe a different mattress or lumbar support in your chair would help.) How about getting rid of it by also drawing for ****?

Really, what would you be willing to give up to "get rid" of one of your problems?

Drawing for asterisks? How would that help?

I censored myself.

"drawing for food"?

Censored what?

So each of us has, on average, the same amount of problems to deal with, and we're all equally afflicted in the end? With a side order of fatalism?

No. It ain't so.

That's where personal perspective and individual values come in. Not everyone puts the same importance on a morning cup of coffee or having someone else do the driving. One person's inconvenience is another's problem and maybe a third's advantage. We each trade around to try and have only "problems" we don't mind having and believe we can cope with.

A person so distant and detached that they'd not see advantages or disadvantages would have no involvement in living.

I think we're going to have to amicably but fundamentally disagree. :)

Translation as the late Wilson Picket sung="DON'T LET THE GREEN GRASS FOOL YOU."

You're right about that and I feel for you.

I wish you didn't have those things.

Maybe would be worth a pic to show the advantages of being a furry over being a RL person.

Furry side, page one, panel one: Candi striking a pose.
Panel two: Candi being active, athletic and healthy!
Panel three: Candi dining at fancy restaurant with friends!

RL side, page two, panel one: RL-Candi sliumped over toilet, feeling sick
Panel two: Candi sitting at public-clinic doctor's office.
Panel three: Candi at home, alone, late at night/morning, trying to choke down non-allergenic gruel.



Furry world wins! Avoid RL at all costs.

Walking, lots of walking, might help with both the insomina and back pain, but, no, I'll keep my relatively superficial bugs for yours, as well as the general issues/risks of being a female. (really sorry to hear that you've such going on, I didn't know)

Over the years I've developed upper and lower back pain/probels, I'm a Celiac so no wheat,eye or barely (pizza, burgers, subs frozen dinners...), insomniatic since birth (currently in 40's)

Now on sensative skin and fainting you got me.

So from a basic stand point I can feel your pain. it may not get better but careful exploration can make it more tolerable. I have personally discovered many options to the gluten rich foods. Think of it that way, you're a tiger...stalk the prey, find the MSG safe options at the restaurant where your friends eat the Chinese. It takes work, believe me I know I've been at it for 7-8 years now even though I was sick with the disease since I was 14. I no longer feel cheated. I can't have it? OK someone else can enjoy it. If no pizza is the price for health then so be it.

-Tef

It's not a big loss unless someone else picks the restaurant.

well i cant offer much help on this but i do know about lower backpain suffering from it myself for years. actually the muscles in your lower back get tense and tight/knotted when your hamstrings and glut's aren't properly stretched each day. thus stretching your legs can help to ease your lower back pain because it will help loosen the tight spots up and then you can do back stretches after the leg stretching to further help get it loose and limber. takes a while to really start feeling relief but you have to stick with it and do it everyday to keep it from going back to how it was before you started. i do my stretches all the time. it does help quite a bit and now i dont get as many flare-ups of back pain as i used to and they aren't as strong as they used to be. less pain and less often.

Mine is definitely muscle tension.

so was mine. but now i almost never have any problems with it since i started doing these leg stretches. my dad (who works in healthcare) said it's all musculo-skeletal and the tension in your upper legs mainly in your hamstrings causes almost all of the lower back problems people tend to have.

High five, fainting buddy! My blood sugar likes to mess around with me at the worst times. I'm also a Megan but don't wish to take on the other Megan-traits you have, that really does sound like hell. :(

I want a portal!

I hear you on the back pain. I used to get it a bunch back before I started doing some core-strengthening exercises. The exercise made it hurt a lot worse, of course, for the first week or two, but after that it was all good.

On the bright side, you got an amazing vertical leap and eye beams that can repair inanimate objects, right?

FWIW I've been told I make an awesome non-MSG fried rice, so next time you're by I'll cook ya up a batch.

I will take you up on that. My eye beams will cook it.

I think this makes me appreciate what you've given us more.
You put so much life and expressiveness into your characters.
Also, for the lower back pain, I dragged a LaZ-Boy recliner into the computer room.
Actually, that was a team effort, stupid thing was ridiculously heavy.

Can I take your artistic skills but leave the rest?

No, it's a package.

Well phooey. I guess I just keep scratching at my tablet and hoping art happens then.

*offers a hug*

A standing desk has really helped my lower back... Found that it's also more fun to fidget standing up whilst you're pondering stuff, and it's easier to break out in dance. /o/

I still think you'd be an awesome friend/housemate. It's been my experience that creative types with health challenges are far more fun to be around than un-creative types in any condition. ^v^

It's true! Very much so

*hugs you bunches* Oh Dusty. <:(

It's not so bad, given all the possible outcomes.

Still. We love and care about you a lot. <:3 *hugs again*

re: fainting.

i've had this problem. it happened behind the wheel once ;_____________;

BE CAREFUL

(i'm sure you are, just reiterating!)

When it happens to me I can feel it coming on so pulled over last time and lay flat on the pavement. Some guy stared at me.

i've had it happen waiting in line for a ride at Universal. they thought i was on drugs ;_;

LOL you know it

Exactly the advice I got when I tended to faint a lot. Don't think that it's dirty. Ignore the funny looks. Just lie down.

Unfortunately, it wasn't an option in a tightly-packed train.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MI0a9hTh5AU

Gneh. Mentioning the ear ringing made me forget to ignore mine. Tinnitus is a grand thing. (not actually grand)

You can so keep the rest of the problems though. Especially the food allergies. I couldn't not enjoy food. D:

Diabetes, arthritis in my neck, hands, and in the back due to a herniated disk that is long gone. That insomnia thing. Allergy to dust, you know what the planet is made of.

Sure, lets trade.

I'm content being the evil twin so people will think your at other conventions when your not hahaha. :P
Actually I have same fainting problem due to low blood pressure and insomnia. :\

Oh man, we need to play that twin bit more.

This.

Be you? No. Course I've always wanted to meet you, because you sound interesting.

I am interesting to certain people. Some folks find me annoying.

I have enough trouble as it is being me… 7X=e

Hang in there!

One thing that K'sharra tried for her issues while here in Seattle was a standing desk. It *may* help for your back.

In any case, I kind of know where you're coming from. A friend of mine has a high metabolism, so she always has to eat - and she has a pretty good figure. People are envious of that, and she responds with saying that they can have it - with the grocery bill.

Yep. Everybody labors under the Human Curse. I can't suggest much to help, alas. Cyborging worked for me, but it's definitely NOT for everyone.

No, not really hon.

Aside from having my own unique medical issues, I really wouldn't fit into your clothes.

And that is a good thing...Because the alternative would induce nightmares and raging panic through the streets.



-Badger-

I don't even wanna be ME sometimes.

I know what you mean about the insomnia. I have had it all my life. I used to work ten and twelve hour shifts, try to get home and unwind and sleep. Yeah, sleep. Can't do it. Been on loads of meds over the years, none ever lasted. I can SO relate.

I broke my knees and parts of my back when I did wildland firefighting way back in the 80's. Fell out of a helicopter on a search and rescue mission about 12 to 15 feet off the ground. Had two climbing accidents during spelunking and training and fell, bouncing off rocks at 30 feet.

Oooooooh, can I relate. Dry eye disease, inherited! yay!

You are a neat lady, Meg. Knowing a little about what you struggle through helps me see you more completely, somehow. Not just as the smiling fun to talk to Lady I see at cons on occasion.

awww, thank you

All we can do is our best. I know it sucks sometimes, but it beats the alternative for now. We should sit around and complain sometime until we break down laughing....

Lower Back Pain, check.

Food Allergies, check (Shellfish cause rashes for me)

Insomnia, check.

Fainting...no.

3 out of 4 for me. You've got my sympathy.

That's quite a number of health issues. :( I pray you don't faint while driving!

For me, it's insomnia, so I know how you feel when you mentioned about it.

Well at least we both got to be children of the Eighties before middle age caught up with us.

Oh man, I kinda miss the military depriving me of sleep... Wait, no, that was the one thing I don't miss, it was all the other stuff I miss.

You don't normally get to yell on a recreational basis in civilian life.

Oh jeez, I had the low blood pressure issue for years. I learned to visually scout my surroundings BEFORE I stood up, so I could more or less keep walking even if my vision went.

I wouldn't mind being you... Maybe for a day. Then again, I wouldn't mind being a superhero or a rock star or a millionaire for a day... Maybe longer, in some cases. :)

I do hope you're looking after your health, especially regarding the fainting spells!

I don't faint or break out in splotches,but I'm familiar with pais and insomnia ... mostly caused by pain. And I've other problems I'm tired of talking about. Life sometimes seems like adding to an endless, growing list of such things, and then you run out of room at the bottom of the page.

Can I be Candi instead?

No, seriously. I know what you mean. People have a way of thinking that others have no problems just because they don't know about them, or they aren't obvious at first glance. But our bodies have so many ways to make us miserable. And all we can do is try to alleviate the pains and other symptoms that we can....and grit our teeth and live with the rest.

My problems are all different from yours, and not quite so numerous. Nearly constant stomach pain and inability to eat quite often (I actually had to have a second opening out of my stomach surgically made for this), and a somewhat deformed, very painful, weak wrist and hand caused by a motorcycle accident, that two surgeries have not helped in the slightest. The hand/wrist prevents me from doing a lot of normal everyday activities due to pain or just plain inability.

Sometimes life just sucks hard! But it's still better than the alternative.

I hope you feel better, and find relief from it all... For muscle tension, this book SO helped me that I gave copies to those I loved:

http://www.amazon.com/Stretching-An...../dp/0936070463

Golly... Sounds like I already AM YOU.

Lower back pain.... I have severe (this was the technical term used by my surgeons, by the way) scoliosis. 67-degree curvature at last measure back in 2005. And I've birthed 3 children, my youngest being 3.5, still requires carrying sometimes, but weighs 40lbs. I cleaned houses for a couple years... now just sweeping and mopping my own house puts me out of commission for the rest of the day.

Food allergies.... What are you allergic to? After "detoxing" from all the additive crap to curb my oldest son's "ADHD"... we removed all artificial and "natural" colors and flavors, all possible soy, all msg, nitrates and nitrites.... I've developed adverse reactions to msg and phosphates. If I eat even 2 slices of bbq brisket or other meat laden with phosphates (or a Smirnoff or Mike's Hard beverage), my gut expands to look like I'm halfway through a pregnancy. My son does not show symptoms of ADHD unless he's had artificial colors or flavors (especially red and yellow) or MSG. MSG makes him act like a JERK. If someone screws up and gives my daughter a dumdum pop, or...one day it was colored marshmallows... she turns from sweet, polite, intelligent, well-behaved normal self into screaming, whining, fit-throwing, grouchy growling monster ... in other words, your "typical" toddler? ...we also dont have television, which helps their behavior.

Low BP... I have that same problem. Blood test, you black out. Tattoo, you black out. Fat guy at club slam-dances into you and knocks you against a pole.... you black out. Got out of bed to fast... black out. Didnt get enough for breakfast... black out. Didnt eat lunch in time? hey lets just black out! I also have Macular Degeneration, which sometimes causes me to walk around all day with a black spot in the center of my vision. I'm walking around only able to see with my peripheral. I also have a squished heart, a murmer, and heart palpatations due to my Pectus Excavatum (another symptom of my scoliosis and Marfan's syndrome, sternum curves inward), which dosent help matters any.

Thankfully I dont suffer from insomnia... but Living with Kids is the next best thing. I dont go to bed until they are all asleep, and even then I'm not safe. "Mommy, cover me! Mommy I need a drink! I need to go potty! I need a hug! And a kiss! And a nosey! Cover me! I need fresh panties! I dont want these jammies! My blanket is the wrong way! I want [specific toy that hasnt been seen all day]!" And of course she waits until I've gotten back in bed between each request.
Then I keep having weird-ass dreams. Like my high school buddy/crush and I in some scooby-doo-like scenerio in an old abandoned ghost town building that is for some reason in the middle of an aztec temple ruins?

Girl, I see we are in the same boat :D Yep, life never hands you the Golden Ticket. I am glad to see I am not alone on this boat

Theres no earthly way of knowing
Which direction we are going
Theres no knowing where we're going
Or which way the wind is blowing...

Ick, I know the pain of insomnia and the back pain all too well >.< I was in a car wreck almost a decade ago, and every now and then after moving or laying certain ways, my lower back will spike with pain, like there's a knife twisting in there, and it can persist for days at a time >_<

Sorry to hear about the car wreck :(

yeah. I'm just lucky I only got the back problems and a broken collarbone out of it (though it was broken into four pieces). If I had left that stop a moment sooner, I'd probably be dead. :X

Whoo... Ahhh... My brother being in the medical trade learned a little chyropractry and has been keeping my vertibrae vertical. I can't help but sympathize with your first gripe as a little back pain can make even the simplest of tasks difficult. This was the first I ever read of your insomnia though. The low blood pressure issue seems disturbing as it could hit you at any time unexpectedly. Isn't there an old Native American saying that goes something like, "Never criticize someone else until you,ve walked a mile in their Moccasins?" Anyway, thanks for the insights, and now I understand things a bit better.

I hope I did not come across as whiney.

No. Not at all. I read your journal more like you were venting off steam to releive the pressures of pent up frustrations. We artists are a rather emotional lot, so it's good to let out one's feelings once in awhile.

I might trade places with you if I could have your artistic skills. I have 3 of those 4 already.

Did any of the health issues influence your artistic skills development? Like to get your mind off of it, or like the blues, or escapism; or is it like a compartmentalized thing?

Oh yes.

I can understand the fainting part. As I narrowly survived my heart attack. Two years out and I'm still having circulation issues.

That is far more serious! I hope u are OK now

I'm doing well, but you talking about the sudden blood pressure drops and fainting bring to mind some of my fainting episodes. Have you seen any cardiologists?
Have you ever had a case of walking pneumonia that lingered for months? Some of those respiratory diseases can damage the heart valves and affect the blood pressure.
Does anyone in your family every have any history of arrhythmia?

I suffered from insomnia before the heart attack, but with all the cardiac medicine listing drowsiness as a side effect; I fall asleep sooner than I used to.

Food allergies is something I personally would not be able to handle. I'm upset with the limitations of my cardiac healthy diet, but to have whole segments of food forbidden would really suck.

Doc says I am fine.

Then that is awesome news. Sorry, you have the food allergy - you can't cheat on those.