Updates, and Such...

Been gone a while, family situation. Have been occasionally over at the Facebook clubbie group, lots going on there. One of the current discussions has focused on the occasional bad apple who is eventually ejected from the group. Every community has them, even clubbies. I am more surprised there aren't more in such a disparate group, I suppose. I mean, given our increased potential for mental health issues, with all the stressors we deal with, and all. And then there's that gal in the UK that wants to become an amputee even tho she has nothing wrong with her - Munchausen's syndrome, for sure, but still, quite upsetting for the difability community already struggling just to be taken seriously.

I've been thinking about the issue of chronic pain, and how it has shaped many of my perspectives over the years. I blame no one for what I have and what I deal with, tho I do blame the medical community for ignoring us clubbies, as they also do with many of what are known as "orphan" diseases and syndromes. If there is no potential for a profit, what's the point of wasting one's time, seems to be the unacknowledged rationale. But dealing with such pain daily can make one either very crazy, or deeply philosophical - tho I am not ruling out a variable melding of the two options into some mutant third way. I seem to have opted for the deeply philosophical - most of the time, at least - and try my damnedest to find solace therein. I am successful on occasion, and can perhaps claim that has kept me out of jail thus far. Pain can make one do "funny" things, as many of us know.

I have had occasion of late to seek resources for other clubbies - doctors, orthotists, footwear, etc. I have been mildly successful for the most part. I realize that for you gals, my entreaties that you seek sturdy, well-made shoes seems antithetical to your deepest footwear desires, but I cannot in good consciousness suggest the sexier alternatives, as they simply don't work on our type of feet. What makes such shoes sexy sadly makes them both ineffective and subsequently harmful. Maybe you'll thank me later, who knows?

I again ask all clubbies visiting here to complete the survey, and to do so as completely as possible. I am working toward forming a not-for-profit research foundation, to raise money for serious research into post-club feet syndrome, and this survey will assist in making the necessary pitches for funding - we need to show numbers and data if we are to be taken seriously. I am not (currently) asking you for money, just data, as your contribution to finding real solutions to our shared situations. Step up and be counted, my Clubby's!

Well, I will get back to the on-going series on compensation and clubby pathomechanics, but I am rather slow at the moment, sort of recovering, you might say. Patience, my friends, patience.......