Hey Ya'll! Here's the scoop, I'm a full time student working towards an Associate's Degree in Physical Therapy. I graduated from Massage school a couple years ago but don't practice, hence the Arthritis settled in after school. Now, I've been on Embril since April '05 and although I've seen improvements, I still struggle from day to day. I'm afraid that in the long run I won't be physically able to perform @ either profession. & the thing that sucks most about this situation is the fact that I have felt a true "calling" toward each one (career)... Or so I thought. I feel stuck. I'm 22yrs young & never in a million years did I see this challenge coming. Any words of widom??? I'd appreciate it. Thanks.
I've not heard it put any better than that--never in a million years did you see this coming. I'm so sorry you have this in your 20's. If I could wave my magic wand and help any of us get over this, it would young adults. The hope I have for you, and those younger people like you, is that this age of frequent breakthroughs in new treatments will continue at a great pace and there will continue to be many more options, and many more effective ones, for you. I remember my 20's as years of great hope and optimism, even if I wouldn't have called it that at the time. I have hope and optimism for you too. You have a lifetime of options ahead of you, even though a lot of them aren't known today. Don't give up on your dream. You don't know that you Can't do it, so for now assume you'll find a way. I'm not suggesting you bury your head in the sand and not consider what your plan B might be, or whatever other dreams you might let evolve if you can't live your calling the way you expected. But don't give up either. That desperate feeling is natural. Oddly enough, it can coexist in a person who is also full of hope and determination. Lean on your strengths. You clearly have them. All that knowledge that you gained is still worth a lot. Massage might be harder to do, but you might talk to your doctor and with braces and your own PT exercises you might regain your strength. I've been through a lot of PT and the most important thing was the knowledge that they had. Mostly, they just showed me the exercises and then I had to do all the work. I think you could be a real inspiration. It's hard to do those painful exercises in front of someone that looks the epitamy of good health. Plus, there are a lot of different jobs depending on what they are trying to treat. I would at least try and see if you can do it. A lot positions are part time because so many are students still getting their degrees. Don't give it up until you absolutely have to. You might not have to and the drugs might work.
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