Posted by Margi (161.184.81.207) on January 21, 2002 at 17:35:51:
For those clusterheads who don't think supporters understand their pain, consider this: we have a supporter amongst us (who is too humble to let me say her name) who feels every ounce of pain her husband goes through, and THEN some.
This gal sits with her husband while he's getting attacked (at his request, mind you), cries when he cries (yet probably doesn't let him see that), rubs his shoulders when he needs it, brings him ice when...scratch that...BEFORE he asks for it, keeps the kids quiet, etc., etc. She probably hasn't had a full night sleep in as long as he's been clustering, even though he tries hard not to wake her. She, herself, is facing some major health crises at the moment, but all else is put on the back burner when cluster attacks hit their household, including the physical devastation she is going through with her own disease at the moment.
This gal spends countless hours researching her husband's disease, emailing other sufferers and supporters to compare notes, calling different doctors and nurses to "interview" them to ensure they are, indeed, cluster friendly, before she will recommend her husband see them. She has even gone to her local black market, risking her own neck legally, to see if she can procure some illegal vegetables on his behalf.
This supporter, like many of us out here, may not have ever actually felt the physical pain of clusters, but she damn sure is intimately in touch with the emotional pain that goes along with it.
Now, some clusterheads amongst us apparently feel that supporters don't understand what cluster pain is. I find that to be a totally insulting and selfish train of thought. My stock answer to that is that clusterheads who feel this way obviously don't feel the pain supporters do. Maybe the word should be 'can't' instead of 'don't'.
Stepping down off my soapbox now, really NO need to respond to this post. Just had to stick up for us supporters and remind everyone that we DO have a place in Clusteropolis. Receiving vicious emails about this subject and then keeping up the good samaritan act on the message board is NOT going to make us go away.