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Making the Grade With RSD

Lisa K.

Going to College with RSD for me is extrememly difficult. I am in my first year at college. I have other health problems also so that makes it all the more difficult for me. I go to a community college that is only like a four minute drive away from my house which makes it a little easier but it is still VERY hard to do. I have to drag myself out of bed each morning to go, I don't sleep good at night so getting up for class is hard. I have missed A LOT of classes and they are very hard to make up. I am missing classes for treatments and also because I have been having horrible reactions to some of the medications I am on. Going to College is very difficult to begin with but when you have an illness like RSD it makes it even harder to do the work and just show up for class every day. But I am determined to go. Right now I am only a part time student and taking only two classes because my doctors advised me to do so because of my poor health. I was a full time student but lately I just can not do it and my doctors do not want me going full time anymore. My health has declined a lot since just this past December 1999. Since then I have had lots of problems. Also being on pain medications and trying to study for exams and is really hard and I have to put in a lot of extra time that I would usually not have to and I get just C's but for me right now that is as good as I can do and I have to accept that. Since 7th grade I have had health problems but since my junior year in High School I have been dealing with RSD and all the treatments and everything. So I only know what it is like going to college with RSD. Because that is the only way I have gone is with RSD. I find that explaining RSD to the teachers is the best way to go, explain it to them as soon as you can if not on the fist day, Just to let them know that you might be missing classes and that you will not be feeling good and stuff so that they don't get the wrong idea when and if you miss class. I find that that helps out a lot if you have a nice professor you find out then if they are understanding or not. I found that out by doing it that way!! It is something you need to know though. All in all going to College and having RSD is VERY difficult to do but if you are determined to go you can do it you can do anything you put your mind to. On a positive note going out to class gets you out and about for a bit and you get to meet some new people which is really good for all of us. Also you can never give up, never as hard as it might get never give up because things will always work out. I think that thats about it for now. Just keep your chin up and keep a positive attitude and it will get you though. Lisa K. :-)

Carrie

It was very interesting when I first started college. I was probably the only person in my class to start school with a catheter in my spine. Very few people realized that I did have it because I was still another face in the crowd. I feel that it has been pretty difficult living with RSD and going to college. There are many times were I feel totally overwhelmed with what has been going on in my life. There are other times when I realize that I was given RSD for a reason. It has changed my perspective on life to make me a better person on the inside.
The thing that has made college really difficult is the fact that I've had to miss a lot of classes because of doctor's appointments, procedures, and complications due to treatments. I've realized that making up classes is a lot more difficult in college compared to high school.
One thing that is that is also very difficult is for other students to understand what you are going through. There are some people who are like "wow, I can't believe how you deal with that." Others couldn't care less. Sometimes there are times when I wish some of them would show a little concern, but not pity me. The way that people treat me because of my illness seperates the more mature people from the rest. The mature ones are easy to spot, and those are the people that I tend to be associated with because they are more tolerant. ~Carrie

Jen

I have found that going to college with RSD is a pretty difficult task. I go to school over four hours away from my home, which also means that I'm that same amount of time away from my doctor. I was diagnosed after I started college so I don't know what it would have been like to go to college without RSD. I've missed many classes because of my treatments. Making up classes was extremely hard and it takes a lot of dedication. I am also on my college's swim team, that takes a huge amount of dedication. My dedication to acheiving my goals is what has pulled me through my first two years of college and keep me looking towards my next two. Another point that has sustained me is keeping myself busy. The less time I have to think about RSD the happier I am. I do many activities inside and out. You can catch me in a pool just about anytime of the year, but you will also find me out practicing archery...or inside playing the flute or piano. Every so often you can even catch me gliding across a lake behind a boat. Keeping busy has made my life a whole lot better and I'm glad that I'm still able to do many things that I enjoy without being hindered by the RSD. ~Jen

Kyla

Having RSD has caused quite a few drastic changes in my life. One of which is the impact it had on my schooling. All of my life I had wanted to become a doctor. Learning came very easy to me and school was a breeze. I spent most of my life relying on my intelligence to get me by. Having RSD quickly changed all of that.
All throughout school I was intellectually more advanced for my age. I had an incredible ability of remembering everything I learned. This ability helped me to start college after my tenth grade year of high school. I graduated high school only a few credits short of having an AA degree. I graduated in June of 1998 and that coming September I was going to start med school. However, in August of that year I was in a car accident and the injuries that I sustained caused my RSD.
At first I thought that the RSD wouldn't affect this aspect of my life that much, but I was totally wrong. IT wasn't long before that truth, which was totally unexpected, slapped reality in my face. The first big shock to me was the fact that after spending so much time in the hospital and the million doctors appointments I had after my accident made me loose all interest in becoming a doctor. I am glad that I found this out sooner rather than later. I don't look at this as a bad thing. I look at is as an opportunity to figure out what I really wanted to do with my life. I soon found out that I totally loved law. I always had but thought that I was more interested in medicine. Anyways I decided that I would finish out my degree than transfer to law school. Soon as I began my studies I automatically was aware of the effects. I have major memory and concentration problems. Instead of having a photographic memory I can't even remember what my address and phone number is. I can't pass a class if my life depended on it. This may really sound discouraging, but it really isn't. All my life I have depended on knowledge as opposed to skill. I have come to realize that both are of equal importance. My memory and concentration may be inadequate right now, but until they become adequate I have been given a chance to learn how to rely on skill. My doctor believes that my memory and concentration will improve when my pain level decreases. Until that time I will not give up. I will take the classes I need and do my best. I may fail or I may pass. Either way I will succeed in life. My dream is to study law and then use that information to help people. Ideally I would do that by becoming a lawyer. However, if that doesn't happen I can still use the things I learned to help people. I could still advise people on what to do. It may not be from a lawyers point of view but it will be coming from someone who had the same dream but may not have been able to reach that dream because of learning difficulties. I guess that my whole point is that school may be difficult with RSD but know what your dream is and what you need to do to reach it. Don't get discouraged if it takes you longer than you had planned or if you are faced with obstacles. You will learn along the way and things will work themselves out. True happiness is found in knowing what you want and knowing how to realistically get there. How long it takes you won't interfere with your happiness unless you let it.~Kyla