Living with a disability

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TehCookie

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Sep 16, 2008
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Saregon said:
TehCookie said:
Not to mention psychologist get paid more for diagnosing, they'll diagnose people with things that aren't serious problems.
Incorrect. Psychiatrists, like doctors, sometimes take kickbacks from pharmaseutical companies for prescribing their specific brand of drug which is illegal. Psychologists cannot prescribe medication, as they are not do not have medical degrees, and as such, a diagnosis from a psychologist, while it can be used for different things, isn't 'valuable' per se, so I don't see them getting paid extra for it. Maybe in the form of getting more billable hours with the patient. The only other thing I can see would be parents bribing them for an ADD diagnosis for their child for easier grades or something, which I don't think is common (or maybe doesn't happen at all).
That's what my psychology teacher told me, who works in the field. Also it's not because of meds it's how insurance works, but he didn't go into details. I should also specify that I'm talking about America, it works different in other countries so that may not be true.
 

BloatedGuppy

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Feb 3, 2010
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StBishop said:
Can I ask what may come across as a very callous and horrific question?

So, if you have a disability which is genetic, or just have a laundry list of bad luck as far as disabilities is concerned, would/will you reproduce?

For example, I plan on being screened when it comes time for me to procreate because there's some things which won't present in either parent but can potentially make a childs life harder.

While I really, really, really like the idea of having children that are biologically my own, I don't think I'd want to bring someone into this life if I know they're likely to have a shitty time of it.

I'm not suggesting that having a disability ruins your life, but it can add certain barriers for you; and I think it would upset me to think of placing my child in that position. That said, if you've managed ok, who's to say your child can't too, right?

I just think that when there's so many children who need a home, it seems somewhat cruel to bring a child who will be disadvantaged from the get go, when you can give a loving family to an existing child.

I'm also well aware of the whole "Well why not just adopt anyway?" point. As I said, I really like the idea of a "little me", and I don't think I'd want to make any decisions about the number of children I care for until I see how I do with one.
It's a concern. This stuff isn't always passed down with reliable regularity, but it certainly does give one pause.

Sadly, two completely healthy parents is absolutely no guarantee your child won't be born with a disability, or acquire one as an adult. Neither one of my parents, or any of my grandparents, have the problem I do. Feels rather random, really.

I got screwed by the RNG!
 

StBishop

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Sep 22, 2009
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BloatedGuppy said:
StBishop said:
Can I ask what may come across as a very callous and horrific question?

So, if you have a disability which is genetic, or just have a laundry list of bad luck as far as disabilities is concerned, would/will you reproduce?

For example, I plan on being screened when it comes time for me to procreate because there's some things which won't present in either parent but can potentially make a childs life harder.

While I really, really, really like the idea of having children that are biologically my own, I don't think I'd want to bring someone into this life if I know they're likely to have a shitty time of it.

I'm not suggesting that having a disability ruins your life, but it can add certain barriers for you; and I think it would upset me to think of placing my child in that position. That said, if you've managed ok, who's to say your child can't too, right?

I just think that when there's so many children who need a home, it seems somewhat cruel to bring a child who will be disadvantaged from the get go, when you can give a loving family to an existing child.

I'm also well aware of the whole "Well why not just adopt anyway?" point. As I said, I really like the idea of a "little me", and I don't think I'd want to make any decisions about the number of children I care for until I see how I do with one.
It's a concern. This stuff isn't always passed down with reliable regularity, but it certainly does give one pause.

Sadly, two completely healthy parents is absolutely no guarantee your child won't be born with a disability, or acquire one as an adult. Neither one of my parents, or any of my grandparents, have the problem I do. Feels rather random, really.

I got screwed by the RNG!
For sure, there's always a risk. I tend to be a little blunt and pragmatic in the way I view issues which are often quite more complex than I give them credit for. People's genetics being an area I often cause offence.

People don't like the implication they are inferior on a cellular level. Thing is, I don't think it impacts a person's worth as a human, good genes don't make you a nice person.

Anyway, the way I tend to look at it is my mum's side of the family has a huge incidence of mental health problems and/or substance abuse and a worrying level of heart disease. It can't all be learned behaviour due to the introduction of other influences (people marrying in to the family). I tend to believe her side of the family gave me shitty genetics.

I'd like to minimize risk of adding to that by avoiding having children with someone who's family have similar problems. (Cardiovascular disease is the sort of thing you just have to live with really, it's so common that I don't think I know anyone who hasn't had a family member affected by it).
 

kyuzo3567

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Jan 31, 2011
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TehCookie said:
Saregon said:
TehCookie said:
Not to mention psychologist get paid more for diagnosing, they'll diagnose people with things that aren't serious problems.
Incorrect. Psychiatrists, like doctors, sometimes take kickbacks from pharmaseutical companies for prescribing their specific brand of drug which is illegal. Psychologists cannot prescribe medication, as they are not do not have medical degrees, and as such, a diagnosis from a psychologist, while it can be used for different things, isn't 'valuable' per se, so I don't see them getting paid extra for it. Maybe in the form of getting more billable hours with the patient. The only other thing I can see would be parents bribing them for an ADD diagnosis for their child for easier grades or something, which I don't think is common (or maybe doesn't happen at all).
That's what my psychology teacher told me, who works in the field. Also it's not because of meds it's how insurance works, but he didn't go into details. I should also specify that I'm talking about America, it works different in other countries so that may not be true.
You're correct, the faster Psychologists make a diagnosis (as in, by the end of the first session instead of following procedure which would usually take multiple sessions) the faster they get paid by the insurance companies... there's also the fact that the majority of Psychologists are overworked and don't have the time to be thorough and carefully diagnose everyone like they should.

OT: I have Severe Crohn's disease, this limits my diet and physical activity and has also caused me to be Anemic and have Chronic Arthritis in my joints... especially my knees, when they flare up I need to use a cane or I can't walk at all. Also because of Crohn's I tend to stay inside and as close to a bathroom as possible.... I haven't gone farther than a 3 hour drive from my house in almost 4 years
 

BloatedGuppy

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StBishop said:
People don't like the implication they are inferior on a cellular level. Thing is, I don't think it impacts a person's worth as a human, good genes don't make you a nice person.
No offense taken. I rail against my rubbish genetics on an almost daily basis. But, as you say, there are more important factors when it comes to a person's character than whether or not they came from good breeding stock.
 

StBishop

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Sep 22, 2009
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BloatedGuppy said:
No offense taken. I rail against my rubbish genetics on an almost daily basis. But, as you say, there are more important factors when it comes to a person's character than whether or not they came from good breeding stock.
Totally, people just really don't appreciate it. I've really gotten pretty judgemental about genetics and peoples life choices recently (squandering their good fortune mostly), it's a horrible trait. I look at people who don't appreciate their body or treat it poorly and just feel sad.

The more I learn about health and general well being, the more I just want to shake people.

I want to go back in time and slap my teen age self for being such a douche about inane shit when I was so lucky. I suppose that's the role of teenagers though, ignore their opportunities and complain about shit.
 

Ashadowpie

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Feb 3, 2012
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i have a totally normal life of course but i do have ADD and Dyscalculia, its a really annoying and bad math learning disability where i can barely do simple math. so school is a huge epic fail for everything because i another learning problem, i just dont know what it is.

no College or Uni for me * grumbles about how good paying jobs need schooling *

i had a professional IQ test from my doctor and my math skill is grade 3 at most, and im 24 years old and i somehow graduated high school....yah, it doesnt make sense to me neither.
 

BloatedGuppy

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StBishop said:
Totally, people just really don't appreciate it. I've really gotten pretty judgemental about genetics and peoples life choices recently (squandering their good fortune mostly), it's a horrible trait. I look at people who don't appreciate their body or treat it poorly and just feel sad.

The more I learn about health and general well being, the more I just want to shake people.

I want to go back in time and slap my teen age self for being such a douche about inane shit when I was so lucky. I suppose that's the role of teenagers though, ignore their opportunities and complain about shit.
It is the prerogative of youth to take their good health, energy and free time for granted while railing at the lack of opportunity and privilege they are given.

It is the prerogative of adults to take their opportunities and privileges for granted while railing at their lack of good health, energy and free time.

It is the prerogative of the elderly to rail about everything.

To quote Chris Rock...ain't no happiness nowhere!
 

taciturnCandid

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Dec 1, 2010
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Schizoaffective disorder.

It is a pain to deal with. Luckly the Schizophrenia is mostly under control. My cognition is fairly consistant, I no longer have delusions or hallucinations.

Right now it is the bipolar part that is the pain in the ass. Depression but can't take anti-depressants. Whee.

Combine that with ADD and I have severe problems taking notes and paying attention. I find it hard to sometimes focus in on what people are saying, making their words muddled. Leaving me confused. I get instructions mixed up and can mess up doing things because of that.

I still can't handle stress well enough and I'm not consistant enough to hold a job. I need to better learn to cope with stress to take more classes and to be able to work.

Slow recovery, but I am recovering and handling more than I used to. Still have days where I shut down and I can't do anything
 

Palademon

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Mar 20, 2010
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Uhh...I have ADHD and Asperger's

...can't concentrate on things I have no interest in, and it's often hard to think of ideas. I either have one immediately or it never comes to me. As a result I was never good in English when writing because the assignments were always too vague for me to get a good idea in my head.
I often don't hold eye contact since I'm unsure of how much is too much.
I try to avoid conversations I find meaningless, am against getting help since I think that gives me an advantage, and feel awkward interacting with people at cashiers.
I have very few interests, that make my life very monotonous and solitary since most of them I prefer enjoying alone. Having few interests makes it all the more sad when a more well rounded person is better than you at it. Makes it feel like everything's pointless.
I negatively judge highly emotional people since I mostly understand cold logic.
I pick up terminology easy and like applying what I learn, so throughout my school life have had a higher vocabulary than most people, and was proud thta I could spell everything I said. I can't now, and it has kind of slowed down, but people often think I'm needlessly showing off when my initial thought of something is filled with more complex words. This mostly comes out in typing when I have time to think rather than real time on the fly. I guess my mind is just pretentious. People would mock me, saying I must read dictionaries, which I always found weird because surely a thesaurus would be better suited to increase vocabulary.
I'm smart, but my mind is not suited to academia, so I was always smart enough to be mocked, but never enough to be rewarded.
Exams are just tests of how much you can remember in an hour or so. In real life you're allowed to look things up.
I'm bad at representing my ideas. I can get a good train of thought, but if I try to write or voice it down afterwards or as I go, it just slows the speed I write or speak, and I forget words I require and it just fails.
This is especially annoying in the case of art, since I can have wonderful visions in my head, and am unable to replicate them due to lack of abiltiy to picture how to do it. Ending with horribly sketched 2D drawings. That combined with my logical inclination makes me feel uncreative since I can't express it, and even though I'm taking a dual course on design and programming, makes me think I'll always be a programmer, when I'd rather be able to do everything. It makes me feel like I have no talent beyond simple human reasoning.
I also apparently don't get jokes sometimes, but that's mostly exaggerated from me telling people that, then they think it's my disability whenver I just didn't notice. Which is funny, because apparently whenever I make a joke when speaking, it's so subtle that I should probably consider being an actor, since people seem to take me seriously when I say it.
I'm good at reading, but can't enjoy fiction, because I lack the required imagiantion to apply an image to someone else's design without significant description. The only book I've bought and read by choice was a light novel prequel to a franchise 'm already infested in, and even then I only managed to complete it since I was caught up in the puzzles, and there were very few characters and location descriptions weren't required, so it made it easy to focus.
I find it annoying to bring up sometimes, but it's one of the few interesting things about me. But people then attribute anything slightly off to the disabiltiy and then I think they think less of me as a functioning person. I also dislike bringing it up to people because I seem to be rather tame in comparison to other people I know. They seem to be at a stage I was in primary school, which implies over-diagnosis by professionals, that I may not have it, but there's enoguh weird about it that I can comfirm it for myself. One way I can always tell when someone has Asperger's is because they don't seem to understand comedic context, and so through somekind of nervousness, will parrot things they find funny when they feel like making a joke.

I also have glasses, but that's unimportant.

I think I have a partially dislocated shoulder, which may cause pain if I had some sort of sports accident. Good thing I'm not sporty. Whenever I rotate it, it clicks.
 

Palademon

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James Joseph Emerald said:
Well according to the DSM, in order to class something as a disorder, it must severely disrupt at least one of four major aspects of a person's life: interpersonal, occupational, social or physical well-being. If you're able to cope on all counts, you can hardly call it a disability.

I mean, I'll admit I'm not a medical professional. But I've got about as much authority on the subject as the people who self-diagnose with this disorder just to be fashionable or rationalise their unsharpened social skills.
Amputees seem to be able to run in the olympics. Better get rid of those parking places.
 

WarHamster40K

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Dec 2, 2009
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I've lived with vision loss for a good chunk of my life (declared legally blind in my early 20s), and it has definitely affected me. One of the major factors is that, since my vision loss isn't total, people often ask me how bad the vision loss is. I have no periphery vision, most things past a few feet are a blur, most text is unreadable (case and point: Look at this page. Now hit Ctrl-+ 5 times, take out most of the color, only look at one quarter of the screen at a time, and make mouse navigation 50/50 when those bottom-edge ads come up), and my eyes have difficulty (read: pain) adapting to light changes.

Has it affected my life? Oh yeah. I've never had a driver' license, so all of my jobs have had to be in walking distance. I've had people tell me I'm faking my vision loss for a variety of reasons (I don't have a guide dog, I don't have superhuman hearing, I'm an attention hog, I only do it for handicapped parking(!?), and the "ever-popular" over-masturbation jokes). Most of my jobs have been in an office environment , since they can be easier to adapt, but I've been accused of being a token "diversity hire" more than once. On the other hand, with proper networking and medical coverage, I've been able to compensate for some of my difficulties. I have access to people who can help with transport to medical appointments or going grocery shopping; however, by this point I've gotten used to navigating a lot of various bureaucracies. Local/state/fed/private medical organizations, Social Security, DHHS, etc.

As to the earlier question about heredity, I have no idea personally. For me, it's believed my disability came from an in utero injury (umbilical cord around the neck cutting off oxygen), so I have no idea if my vision loss will pass on, or if it'll just be written off as "user error". It has scared off at least one girlfriend, but in hindsight, there were other things going on. That was just the reason she gave. Yeah, it messed with my head for a while, which was probably what she was going for.

Anyhoo, I have other unpleasantness in this corpse-in-waiting of mine, but that's the major one. Sidenote: Ocelot, sounds a bit like what I have, but distance is gone. Haven't been able to get the optimistic benefits of bumping into people since most times they get out of the way for me. Hearing them sometimes almost dive out of the way instead of dealing with the awkwardness is awkward in itself. At least the more laidback people are willing to ask me the questions outright, which I appreciate.
 

scorptatious

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May 14, 2009
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Well I have a mild form of autism. When I was little it did affect how I spoke and it sort of made me have these little rituals like lining up dinosaur toys in a neat little row. Plus it did affect my social skills through elementary school to high school.

Now? I think I'm doing better than I did before. Granted, I still have a bit of social anxiety that keeps me from talking to some people, not to mention I'm still a bit unsure of myself when it comes to certain things, but for the most part I feel that I'm slowly but surely overcoming my faults.
FalloutJack said:
Doclector said:
Heh, kinda funny how we all have a disability that happens to be on the same spectrum AND we all have Fallout avatars. :)
 

Nubrain

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Sep 17, 2010
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I was born with a genetic joint condition that has a name that I can't even spell but is abbreviated PSAC. It effects the building blocks that are used to make my joints, teeth and nails. the latter two don't cause me much trouble except for the fact that both have lots of tiny ridges on them that makes it harder for me to get my teeth really clean. The joints have always given me trouble though.

I've basically had arthritis since preschool I didn't learn how to walk normally and all through Jr. High I had to go to therapy 3 times a week for gate training. I live with a constant back ground noise of pain and have bad days when I just hurt too bad to want to get out of bed but i usually do anyways. I am slow, have low endurance and have struggled with weight all my life because of this. There are many things I'm physically incapable of doing and some things that hurt a great deal to do like kneeling or standing in one spot for too long.

That being said I've been able to lead a fairly normal life. I have normal intelligence and life expectancy even though I may be looking at a joint replacement in my 40s or 50s. it did make me grow up faster and I never really was a typical teenager. it also lost me a job once (oh that's not why they said they didn't hire me but they had been talking about when I could expect a raise and when benefits kick in and looking at when the next training class started. I mention my condition and then suddenly she realizes that I only have 3 of the 6 months of retail experience needed to work there even though the add says that 0-6 months was all that was needed and i knew they hired people straight out of high school. so it wasn't hard to read between the lines.)

as for if I would have a kid with this it's something I've talked about a lot. because of how the genetics of my condition works I have a 50/50 chance of passing it on. It's something that I wouldn't want to pass on but i wouldn't decide not to have a child on the chance that I might just because I've lived a pretty full live even with it.
 

The Funslinger

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Sep 12, 2010
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krazykidd said:
I have only one testicle does that count? It serverly hinders my self confidence , especially with women i want to sleep with .
Was that down to testicular tortion, or something?

I have a red mark on the shaft of my dick from an injury ages ago. Not pinkish red, but proper red red. Shaped a bit like a tongue of flame. It doesn't hurt or hinder me in any way, I suppose it's just a visual anomaly. I'm always slightly apprehensive of the pants coming off with dates and shit, but more often than not, they either don't care or find it cool.

OT: I had an incident with depression, after two years of literal psychological torture, so... that was fun.

I got through it, for the most part. Without the aid of drugs, too, so I'm kind of proud of that. But it never does really go away, so sometimes personal issues or social occurrences bother me and I feel very trapped. I'm not claustrophobic, but that's the best comparison to how I feel.
 

LittleThestral

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May 29, 2012
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I have fibromyalgia that seems to enjoy linking itself to my depressive episodes (so I'm curled up in a ball AND I'm in pain while doing it). I also apparently have hypothyroidism, and I have a hard time remembering to take my medication consistently, so that's fucked up. I'm moderately hard-of-hearing and have 20/300 vision (not bad, but not great), have nigh-constant headaches and migraines, and my nether regions...er...suffice it to say I've had to deal with anemia due to them.

ETA: I also have some form of depression (dysthymia? major depressive disorder? they have no idea) and some form of anxiety disorder. Unfortunately, until I can afford to have psychological testing (it can cost $200-$800) I have no idea what, exactly, my issues are.

None of these would be considered disabilities on their own, unless my fibromyalgia, hearing, and/or vision gets worse, but put them together and I tend to be fucking miserable.
Tallim said:
I have Trigeminal Neuralgia and it is all sorts of fun. Just try and ignore it if I can but bleh. I also have constant leg pains which may or may not be related, doctors have no idea what is causing those.
Oh Christ. My dad has trigeminal neuralgia with atypical facial pain (which, as I understand it to be translated from the medicalese, means "you ALL fucked up, son"); he tried to ignore it at first, but it got to the place that he couldn't work anymore. Now they keep him so doped up that he forgets everything and he's still in constant pain. I really, really hope it doesn't get to that point for you. :<
 

Tallim

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LittleThestral said:
I have fibromyalgia that seems to enjoy linking itself to my depressive episodes (so I'm curled up in a ball AND I'm in pain while doing it). I also apparently have hypothyroidism, and I have a hard time remembering to take my medication consistently, so that's fucked up. I'm moderately hard-of-hearing and have 20/300 vision (not bad, but not great), have nigh-constant headaches and migraines, and my nether regions...er...suffice it to say I've had to deal with anemia due to them.

None of these would be considered disabilities on their own, unless my fibromyalgia, hearing, and/or vision gets worse, but put them together and I tend to be fucking miserable.
Tallim said:
I have Trigeminal Neuralgia and it is all sorts of fun. Just try and ignore it if I can but bleh. I also have constant leg pains which may or may not be related, doctors have no idea what is causing those.
Oh Christ. My dad has trigeminal neuralgia with atypical facial pain (which, as I understand it to be translated from the medicalese, means "you ALL fucked up, son"); he tried to ignore it at first, but it got to the place that he couldn't work anymore. Now they keep him so doped up that he forgets everything and he's still in constant pain. I really, really hope it doesn't get to that point for you. :<
Yeah I try not to think about it, it tends to get worse as you get older and I got it rather young statistically speaking. Meds they used to give me stopped working so I'm off them. Luckily I get rather large gaps between attacks at the moment but I always know they will come eventually :/
 

Monkfish Acc.

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May 7, 2008
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myalgic encephalomyelitis
more commonly known as chronic fatigue syndrome, but that's the misnomer of the fucking century

it's a multi-systemic condition generally defined, obviously, by consistent fatigue not alleviated by rest and accompanied by several other specific symptoms such as post-exertional malaise, widespread joint and muscle pain, constant severe headaches, mental and physical fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, and much more.
the way it hits you is like a fingerprint, the laundry list of symptoms switches ever so slightly from person to person with varying degrees of severity. some people have headaches that render them half blind and others just deal with a persistent dull ache. some sufferers might complain of night sweats or a chronic cough or something and others wouldn't. there's no specific test for it so to be diagnosed you pretty much just go through a process of elimination and hope your doc actually believes the shit exists
oh yeah by the way some doctors don't believe it properly exists, particularly in the uk. it's considered to be a psychiatric condition, like it's all in the head. so there's that

it's this giant fucking dildo, basically

i personally vary wildly between getting by and being decimated by this bullshit but i deal with it mostly by pretending like it doesn't exist like any emotionally healthy person would
when i wake up physically unable to even twitch a fucking ass cheek i blame laziness and that dodgy cheap beer i had last night
 

krazykidd

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Mar 22, 2008
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Binnsyboy said:
krazykidd said:
I have only one testicle does that count? It serverly hinders my self confidence , especially with women i want to sleep with .
Was that down to testicular tortion, or something?

I have a red mark on the shaft of my dick from an injury ages ago. Not pinkish red, but proper red red. Shaped a bit like a tongue of flame. It doesn't hurt or hinder me in any way, I suppose it's just a visual anomaly. I'm always slightly apprehensive of the pants coming off with dates and shit, but more often than not, they either don't care or find it cool.
It was that . It was soon after my 13th birthday ( december 6th ) . Man that shit hurt so bad . I had to go to the hospital twice , the idiot doctor the first time had no idea what it could have been , and sent me home and told me to wait if off . Three days later i went back , saw another doctor , who had me take x-rays , found out my testicle twisted on itself and i had to have surgery . I couldn't walk straight for a whole month . Worst xmas vacation ( from school ever) . My dad bought me a dreamcast that x-mas , and i spent the entire time playing Fur fighters and slave zero .