Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group My brother's success: AS in remission....

Brad, you are not alone ...

I guess I am not getting it..lol

Hi Freddie,
I share your attitude fully. I would have done the group (everyone of us) an injustice not to share this. We can get better by not lying down, but standing up, even with pain. I think that our brain power and the power of our thoughts are much stronger than what we can imagine. And I am willing to try this. There is nothing to lose, except the sympathy and attention of others, without which I can survive any time!
We have to think this is curable by the power of our thoughts alone...
Take care

Thanks Brad. You are welcome to see and experience this in any way you want. Maybe that is just where you are at the moment and that is okay. I do not judge. I have lots of compassion for all who are fighting so hard to survive this illness. I just prefer to look at it differently. It gives me the hope I so desperately want.
Take care

The topic of tapping the mind's full potential is fascinating and something I've been thinking through a lot over the last two months.

As I wrote in my post re _Anatomy of an Illness_, I feel that spondy is so insidious, it attacks us physically, emotionally, and mentally - the latter two dimensions being collateral damage from the physical aspect. Because of that we need the right combination of physical, emotional, and mental solutions. The last two are often either overlooked and controversial because they are so nebulous. As your brother suggests, addressing the emotional and mental aspects are a good attitude and the ability to use your mind to heal yourself. While both are theoretically critical to healing and are under-utilized, I don't know if you can rely solely on those two approaches.

The thing I struggle with is whether or not I lose objectivity/the ability to make rational decisions if I'm too optimistic. How do you balance the two? I'm not 100% certain that blind optimism is healthy. I dunno.

Also, I acknowledge that my attitude changed when I started seeing significant results in my treatment. Would I have been able to change my attitude if I had not observed it? I wish I could say yes, but I must confess that I doubt it. (I don't want to find out either!) To me the key is finding something to break the downward spiral, and using any positive event to begin building positive momentum. Whether it's slowly beginning to get more sleep, slowly feeling less stiffness and pain, all of those should be treated as the start of a real slow chain of dominoes that moves us to a better place.

A couple months ago my mentor at work lectured for me for using languge that suggested I couldn't "beat" this disease. I was surprised, because I didn't expect an incredibly sharp, objective, and rational executive giving me a pep talk on the importance of attitude. In all of my dealings with her, I've always been impressed with how she cooly and clearly focuses on the facts, breaks down the problem and proposes a rational solution. Yet here she is lecturing me on the intangible benefits of a positive attitude. This definitely struck a chord with me and watered the sapling to my attitude shift. (She recommended that I read Lance Armstrong's book on how he tackled cancer. Never got to it...)

The topic of how to use the mind for healing is polarizing, but I think that is a good thing. Aside from the threads providing much needed support to the community, one could argue that the topics that need the most discussion, aren't the ones we agree with, but the ones where there is more disagreement. Unfortunately, I don't check the forums during the week, so I will not get to see where this thread goes until Friday. I hope others will chime in on this, regardless of their opinion. I learn the most when I hear different and contrasting opinions because it forces me to look at something in a different perspective.

Thanks again for sharing. More importantly, I hope to hear more good progress from you in the future!

Freddie

Freddie,
I have read that book of Lance Armstrong, in fact I have two of them! I have also read "Why people don't heal and how they can" of Caroline Myss and "The spontaneous healing of belief - shattering the paradigm of false limits" of Gregg Braden. I am reading everything I can get in this regard. I have to agree with you - it is very difficult when one is still not seeing any progress to be optimistic. But I do believe that even a small victory can change the process. The moment we see even a small change, we can turn it around and believe in the unbelievable. And the stronger that belief gets, the more it will have an influence and the more we will see positive results.
I think what is important here is to just be open that it can work this way. If we are not open for miracles, it may not happen.
I also agree that we have to still do what we can for the physical side of the illness like taking medicine and exercise. Our power lies in where we can have control - our thoughts. I believe that our bodies follow where our brains go... Our brains can start giving the message, "This is now enough. I don't need this illness in any way anymore. I can heal from this. I can turn this around. Every day in every way I am getting better and better (not my quote)."
The sooner we do this the better before the illness creates too much damage.
This is definitely the way I want to go... Will keep you posted. It is all a matter of "when..." as you have said!
Enjoy your week!

I think the first time I happened upon KickAS there was a thread in which people were listing all the different things they had been diagnosed with that went along with the spondy monster. Some of them seemed longer than my weekly grocery list. I still had a number of tests to be done and it scared the bejeebers out of me, because it made me wonder if this is what my future held. I was struggling just with the 'inflammatory arthritis' bit. I lurked for probably half a year, checking in every now and again. So, I worry sometimes about newer people too...

I tend to be a smiley person. I've always been a glass half full, optimistic type and have always sought to find and focus on the positive things that I CAN do. I am strong.

One of my girl friends, nearly 3 decades ago pronounced to me, "Maybe if you just smile you will get better." as though it was a fact or as if she'd just given me the secret key to recovery. I didn't speak to her for a week! But she was right of course, smiling makes me feel better, even as the fusion marches on.

When my older brother was struck with AS, nearly a decade after me, he was pretty shocked by the fierceness of it, upset naturally, and quite crippled for about 3-4? yrs. or so. He was just starting to come to grips with it, resignedly, when it went away. He got better and is in what for all intents and purposes appears to be a permanent state of remission! He took up hand-gliding then got his pilot's license and if there is a blue sky in the morning, I'm pretty sure I know where he'll be! zoommmm

I've been fortunate too in that (and not to infringe on anyone else's idea of a miracle), I've found mine and it comes in vials labelled Remicade..!

I guess there are all sorts of stories that we can draw from. We are all a bit different and all a bit the same.
Cheers!

Do you mean that in general it is not so bad as what it sounds like here? I am not sure I understand you clearly. If I understand correctly, I am hopefully one of the overall AS population who do not have it very severely! No wonder I get scared....
Thanks Drizzit, for pointing that out --- so I do have a lot to be thankful for!
Take care