Don't count me out

 If you think about disability, I bet you would picture people in wheelchairs, or who are blind, or who have some other visible ailment. PCS certainly isn't what people imagine. Yet it is a reality for many of us.

I spent my first year fighting to recover and my second year coming to terms with my new reality. Once I accepted it, I had to learn to live with it. To be honest, I'm still working on that one. It's not easy given my landscape is still always changing.

Being a disabled person doesn't mean I have stopped living. I don't spend my days sitting on the couch doing nothing (anymore). I'm adapting and growing, learning to be a different version of me. I've gone through a lot of growing pains to get here.

I still can't spend the whole day outside, staying active and on the go. I know it is a thorn in my partner's paw but I've had to slow down. Quite often I have to stay behind and let everyone else go out without me. Honestly it's fine. I'd much rather go out less often and enjoy myself when I can.

For me, disability is watching television because I can't read for two hours or spend time on my hobbies anymore. It's wearing earplugs during a car trip while everyone else listens to music. It's letting everyone else do the talking at a social gathering because it's challenging to process everything and participate in the conversation. On really tough days, disability is having difficulty walking very far because my neurofatigue is high, or maybe even taking a long nap because I just can't stay awake.

Can you do what you love to do? Count yourself lucky. It can be taken away in a second. Every day people are forced to adapt to new realities. But we all share a common truth we want you to know.

I may be disabled, but I am not dis-abled. Don't count me out just yet.