Hi Ronel,

That's such a wonderful story to post. I'm really glad you and your brother shared that with us. In addition to an indomitable positive attitude, I think an approach that he uses is "do what you can" - I have always felt that this is incredibly important.

I think there's a lot of wisdom in your brothers approach. Ever since I read Norman Cousins' _Anatomy of an Illness_ I had given more thought to the power of how our mental and emotional approach plays in the healing process.

In my own introspection, I learned that I am afraid of failure. And my negativity early on, was a reflection of me not wanting to fail at beating something that was "incurable". Fortunately, I got really lucky with some of my treatments, and as I improved, I made a fundamental change in my attitude as well. I no longer talk about "if" I can beat spondy, but now talk about "when" I'm going to beat it. Also, I now believe and approach my rehabilitation as to not preserving as much of my function, but figuring out how I could be healthier and stronger than I was prior to my illness. Crazy? Yes. But better than the alternative.

Thanks so much for sharing! It's a wonderful story!

Freddie

"But I also have to say, for the umpty-umpth time, that life isn't fair. It's just fairer than death, that's all." -- from William Goldman's _Princess Bride_