#90 Give your diagnosis a cool name

Some things are simply tragic, and getting a life-long chronic diagnosis is a shock and nothing anybody says or does can take away that fact.

As I went through the stages of the grief-process (I was in denial for roughly 7 years, and no, it didn't help me much) I chose some new words to describe my situation. When I broke my back and had to wear a huge aluminum corset for almost a year and a half, I was frustrated, but took the nickname "The flying corset", because once I learnt to walk again I was always speeding around like a busy bee. Later when I'd had two spinal fusions and had steel implanted in my spine, I was the "woman of steel", which in Swedish would roughly translate to "superwoman"... and used to laugh at how my bolts would set off all security alarms in the airports.

If you don't like the label that the doctors give your diagnosis, make your own label! Being an R.A. survivor means you are a Really Awesome Survivor, and suffering CCD can mean that you are a Completely Competent Driver.

Humor always helps, and If someone asks what I do for a living I always quip that I'm a "professional patient", because it sounds more fun than being on disability - and it is the truth, taking care of my health is my job.