48
8mon
72

Disabled Community Megathread from May 1, 2025 to May 11, 2025

Sorry for the (pretty late) mega y'all, getting back on track with this one catgirl-sorry

Not much else going on with me to be honest. Semester's coming to a close soon, which is nice, the classes weren't the best this time around. Hopefully I'll be able to wrap it up without too many issues.

Of course, I also hope you all do well this week! Well, this week and a half doggirl-sweat


As always, we ask that in order to participate in the weekly megathread, one self-identifies as some form of disabled, which is broadly defined in the community sidebar:

"Disability" is an umbrella term which encompasses physical disabilities, emotional/psychiatric disabilities, neurodivergence, intellectual/developmental disabilities, sensory disabilities, invisible disabilities, and more. You do not have to have an official diagnosis to consider yourself disabled.

Mask up, love one another, and stay alive for one more week.

WasteTime [none/use name] - 8mon

I had to politely make a doctor shut the fuck up after it said I was a drug addict and a liar, all in the first minute of the appointment, new record! Their little minds can't conceive that a person of my age has chronic pain and takes opioids.

As soon as I named the drug I'm on, it asked me "Do you inject it?". I, surprised by the question replied no, I'm prescribed pills, to which it says... "X drug doesn't come in pills, X pills don't exist!" with a perfect I gotcha smug on its face. smuglord

I calmly stated the commercial name and laboratory of X, and its shit eating smile started fading away.

For the rest of the meeting this crap was passive-aggressive against me, as if I had insulted it or something...

It finished telling me it could diagnose certain thyroid issues just by looking and listening at the patient's moves and speech patterns. When I asked how (in good faith, genuinely curious), it tried to change the subject, I guess it realized I could see through its bullshit. I had to hold my laughter.

I might be autistic but I am not stupid. It's scary how many doctors don't know ANYTHING about opioids, not even at a wikipedia level. If I told you all the things I've heard you wouldn't believe me.

This week I've been feeling dreadful. Being insulted, mocked by a piece of shit who happens to influence the course of my treatment reminds me how vulnerable my life is.

These clowns should face the wall (of text, I'm not implying violence at all!) wall-flipped

18
Belly_Beanis [he/him] - 8mon

The system is always a fuck. My primary care provider changed and the computer loaded up all of my previous prescriptions going back years. So I find out my vicodin script has been canceled until I can meet the doctor in person. I get a call a few days later with my new doc saying she got it sorted. She was like "How are you even alive right now?" because it said I was on vicodin, morphine, and all of the major synthetic painkillers all at the same time.

But I was thinking "Yeah you probably could have figured that out right away that people don't take 7 different opioids even at the smallest doses instead of letting me run out and refusing to do a refill."

11
WasteTime [none/use name] - 8mon

LOL It's incredible. At this point if someone asks me such a ridiculous question like that I could say "Yeah sure, I just mix the seven of them with the syringe and then BAM! straight to my eye balls! Sometimes I add a little street fentanyl laced heroin into the mix to make it spicier!"

And they would believe me and proceed to label me as a drug addict and lock me up at a prison rehab center for that joke. sicko-wistful

13
Moss [they/them] - 8mon

clutched up. locked in. submitted a GOOD essay FOUR AND HALF HOURS before it was due. im so good. yeah i know most people can do that easily but this was a big achievement for me. this was also my last ever essay for my undergrad so im feeling GOOD. it was a good essay, thank fuck, ive actually learned how to read a good essay. adhd who? (adhd me. very much adhd me.)

18
gingerbrat [she/her] - 7mon

Well done comrade Moss! Care-Comrade

6
Moss [they/them] - 7mon

Thank you! Care-Comrade it's so nice to have such a caring community. Also your pfp has one of my favorite voice actors in disco elysium, so relaxing

5
gingerbrat [she/her] - 7mon

You're welcome sweetie Care-Comrade

I love her so much too! Neha is such a beautiful character, and the VA performance is stellar. I always dreamt of having this kind of voice myself shy

4
mendiCAN [none/use name] - 7mon

nice! i was wondering how you were doing on that essay. GOOD JOB!

6
Moss [they/them] - 7mon

Thanks! jevil-bounce

7
TheSpectreOfGay [hy/hym, she/her] - 8mon

good job!

6
wheeldog [none/use name] - 7mon

62, living in public housing; non-binary, disabled, AuDhD... recently left my entire family behind because they have been abusive to me all my life. The damage is done; I have been in and out of therapy my entire adult life; went from girlfriend to girlfriend, job to job, state to state, city to city trying to fit in somewhere. That never happened. I am completely and utterly alone here in public housing; unable to afford any better place, unable to work, and if I did have to work who would hire me? I haven't worked in over a decade. All my contacts are lost to me, I can't keep records. I'm boned if I am forced to go back to work, it will probably have to be day labor. I'll wreck my body again, it was just starting to heal up from decades of labor work; one day my body just refused to work any more and I have been basically resting ever since. With some exercise to make sure I don't turn into jello but yeah I rest a lot.

I'm scared as hell right now but one day at a time right? Today I have everything I need. I sometimes fear I will go mad from the isolation though. I haven't met one single person in this city (deep south) that wants to hang out and talk about anything leftist other than theory; I want to talk about my work with the homeless in the area; I recycle things I find in the community by cleaning them and giving them to the homeless in the camp. It keeps me busy scavenging; yesterday I found 2 t-shirts both like new, brought them home and washed them immediately and already handed them back out to a couple of guys across the street at the smoke shop.

 Our hospital / police turn these people loose from the ER or from jail with the clothes they were admitted in, sometimes nothing more than underwear, if that. So they go into the hood looking for something to wear, anything. The smoke shop sells individual cheap t-shirts wrapped in plastic, used shoes, I don't know what else I haven't looked that closely yet-- 

I can't seem to meet anyone in this town that I'd hang out with or that wants to hang out with me, so I just walk around the 'hood every day greeting people, smiling at everyone I meet, scavenging the sidewalk for nuts and bolts and washers and other interesting things one finds on a walk in the city;

It's lonely and I feel like someone cut adrift in space - I feel I must get to some place where there is a resistance group forming or formed but where? And to give up my cheap housing would be hard for me. It's the first place I've lived where family can't stalk me! There's a security guard who never leaves the front door. And I have a great view of downtown; one mile from downtown so I can walk to events there. Or a coffee shop. Were I able to stomach going in a coffee shop these days. I'm afraid of what I might hear people talking about and want to slap them with a dead fish across the face to wake them up.

I feel all I can do right now is to be - as Gabor Mate put it- an 'Empathetic Witness'

16
gingerbrat [she/her] - 7mon

I know it means very little, but I wanted to let you know how impressed I am that, despite your personal situation, you still go out to help the people in your community. I can't begin to imagine how you feel and how hard you struggle, but I'm glad there is people like you who despite their personal problems still put this much effort into helping others. It doesn't make things better for you, but you're an inspiring, kind-hearted person and I'm glad you shared your story with us. Thank you, for being who you are and doing what you do. Stay strong, comrade cuddle

14
wheeldog [none/use name] - 7mon

Thank you comrade. It actually means a lot that you said that. I haven't anyone in my life who would say that to me so it's much appreciated.

7
gingerbrat [she/her] - 7mon

That's what we're here for. Never hesitate to lean on us in the mega or otherwise. We all listen to each other, this is a safe place and your struggles and feelings are recognized here. There'll always be someone to listen, and you will not be alone in the Disabled Mega. cuddle

7
dragongloss [she/her, comrade/them] - 7mon

I think it is ridiculous that whenever I get a cost of living increase for SSDI that my SNAP/food benefits decrease because I make "too much" money.

15
∞ 🏳️‍⚧️Edie [it/its, she/her, fae/faer, love/loves, ze/hir, des/pair, none/use name, undecided] - 7mon

8 days, 55 comments

Yup. Its the disabled megathread, we outta spoons.

14
AshenWolf [she/her] - 7mon

All my spoons... gone! all-my-apes-gone

9
DisabledAceSocialist [comrade/them] - 7mon

Being trapped indoors like a prisoner, for the first time in years I am feeling actual sadness. Normally I just feel anxiety, anger or frustration. But now I feel really, really sad. I've been trapped indoors for months now because of my foot surgeries, but that was tolerable because I knew there was an end date, it would heal up. But now with my inflamed tendon, there is no end date. And it's getting worse, not better. I feel like I've been sentenced to an indeterminate time in prison. In fact I never realised until now just what a hard sentence prison actually is. And the weather is beautiful outside and I live by the seaside, this is exactly the time I should be able to wander around outside. I feel so sad that all this beautiful scenery is out there and I can't enjoy it and I don't know if or when I will be able to again. It's not like I even have any friends left in real life (no-one wants to bother with a sick disabled person), I can't even invite a friend over for some companionship. Whenever one problem seems almost fixed, another worse one comes along. It feels like the universe is actively trying to drive me to despair.

And this is on top of all the usual shit. And this month I had even less response than usual to my food aid post. Someone did, thankfully come through with a food voucher for which I am immensely grateful but it looks like I might have to make another post before the month is up. I always try to wait a month so people don't get sick of me. But my food expenses are higher due to being trapped indoors, I have to order groceries for delivery which costs more.

And the hemiplegic migraine from hell that put me in hospital and has lasted over a week keeps flaring up, just a bit less each time. I've had more than enough, I want to join dignitas but I need to print off a form for that and we don't have a printer here, I need to go to the library but I can't walk there yet.

13
gingerbrat [she/her] - 7mon

cri cuddle

5
DisabledAceSocialist [comrade/them] - 7mon

meow-hug

5
roux [they/them, xe/xem] - 7mon

People are coming over for organizing stuff. A lot of people. I will not freak out. I will not freak out. I will not freak out...

Joking aside, they are all comrades but I'm gonna need decompression time like a mofo after.

12
roux [they/them, xe/xem] - 7mon

Decompression never came. I've now missed 2 days of work this week due to mental health issues. And it's only Monday.

8
AshenWolf [she/her] - 8mon

ralsei-wave

12
MayoPete [he/him, comrade/them] - 8mon

Not having a lot of executive function energy sucks. I'm working on getting a better sleep pattern, getting better about having a set schedule, but it's not easy. I appreciate having Hexbear around where I can shitpost with people that are comrades. It makes the tough days a little better catgirl-heart

12
TheSpectreOfGay [hy/hym, she/her] - 8mon

oh twinning, im planning on fixing my sleep schedule too.

it's kind of gonna suck because most of my friends stay up to ungodly hours but i think being on normie hours will help me overall

12
gingerbrat [she/her] - 7mon

::: spoiler I want to burn down the medical establishment I have an operation coming up in about a week and I really don't want to go through with it. Not doing it, however, is literally so much worse, so I'm very reluctantly going along with it. Don't want to be in even more pain than I am rn. Now, as it turns out, last night I realized I might have a yeast infection again. As that might interfere with me being able to go through with that operation, I decide to go to the gyn as soon as possible. So I set an alarm clock for very early, and go to my doctor's so they can't turn me away when I'm standing right in front of them, right? Wrong. "I'm sorry, we can't treat you today, we're completely booked," assistant says. "I'm in a lot of pain and have enough time to wait," I reply. "I'm sorry, but if you're in pain you need to go to the hospital because we can't treat you today. You could call early on Monday morning so we can squeeze you in if someone doesn't show up for their appointment," she replies, unfazed. So I go to the hospital, and oh wonder, what do they tell me: There's no gyn in the hospital. The assistant there was nice, however, she offered I could go to another hospital, one that is quite some distance away and can't be reached by bike or train. I'd need a car, which I don't have. I tell her as much and she gives me that tortured look, then says "Then you just have to wait until Monday." Anyway, I'll be suffering over here. :::

12
DisabledAceSocialist [comrade/them] - 7mon

I'll fetch the matches.

6
gingerbrat [she/her] - 7mon

Thank you match

6
Keld [he/him, any] - 8mon

Bothered, dry, languishing, sad, can't find my lane (sick, still have to read for school)

12
Keld [he/him, any] - 7mon

The fact that the guidance for psych patients include stuff like "If a patient is manic back away slowly without breaking eye contact" is worrying me about the quality of my education.

Also "Don't call the patients patients. Patients find it dehumanising to be called patients"

12
roux [they/them, xe/xem] - 7mon

The day is finally here. I'm doing literally fuckall today until I need to get my kids. My brain is fried and I need a fucking break. If you need me, I will be stuffing my face full of vegan cheese sauce and playing No Man's Sky.

Oh, also does anyone else have that thing where sometimes they read a thing like a comment/reply like 5 times in a row and cannot parse what it is saying but they come back 20 mins later or the next day and reread it and it suddenly makes sense? Is that an autism thing? Because I have that like a motherfucker.

11
TheSpectreOfGay [hy/hym, she/her] - 7mon

Is that an autism thing?

Probably. Could also be an ADHD thing since they're comorbid. I don't personally get that just having autism and not ADHD, but this happens to my friend with AuDHD very frequently. So I'm not sure which it is lol

9
TheSpectreOfGay [hy/hym, she/her] - 8mon

i think im gonna start gardening comfy-cool

11
Keld [he/him, any] - 7mon

Vegan banana ice cream with chocolate sauce, sprinkles and freeze dried raspberries.
I've prepared it.
It's in my freezer.
I can have it when I'm done with the reading and the cleaning.

11
TheSpectreOfGay [hy/hym, she/her] - 7mon

can i have some

6
Keld [he/him, any] - 7mon

Did you do the cleaning and reading?

8
TheSpectreOfGay [hy/hym, she/her] - 7mon

i cleaned my garden and read like at least 10 hexbear comments does that work

7
Keld [he/him, any] - 7mon

Okay but only a small piece, the rest is mine

6
TheSpectreOfGay [hy/hym, she/her] - 7mon

yipppeeee

4
Wmill [they/them, fae/faer] - 7mon

It is kinda fucked how when I signed up for medicaid I basically had to hand write a letter saying "pwease help me my teeth hurt" soviet-bottom bottom emoji included. Been taking advantage of it but I always fear with the cuts coming that I won't be able to anymore. Annoyed how no one told me to basically say my household size is 1 (just me) and 0 income like glad it covers some stuff but for years I'd been signing up with my family and we kept being denied despite being under the threshold for a family of 4.

Right now I'm real happy my sibling has been getting the help they needed, they got pretty sick and lost a lot of years and their mobility for like a decade all from not being able to get medication and a simple procedure. Got them on medicaid too since this really helpful nurse showed me how to do it and then I showed them. Trying to speedrun their treatment before shit gets cut and it seems to be working.

10
Wertheimer [any] - 7mon

I lost a lot of time and money to the incomprehensibility of the "household" question, too. There are all those studies about how much benefit money goes "unclaimed" even in states with better outreach campaigns, so I have to wonder what percentage of that is from people not realizing the "How many people do you live with?" question is not to be taken literally even though you're threatened with perjury penalties if someone's decided they don't like how you fill out that form.

6
Wmill [they/them, fae/faer] - 7mon

Right it's fucked, even when taking into account their thresholds you still get denied. All these loops we gotta jump through are awful. The onus feels on my part for not signing up earlier but also not understanding what they wanted idk just leads to more frustration and heartache 😭

6
TheSpectreOfGay [hy/hym, she/her] - 7mon

...it's not meant to be taken literally? ohnoes

can you explain that a bit more because i don't really get it lol

5
Wertheimer [any] - 7mon

Their definition of "household" is people who live together and also buy and prepare food together. If you and your roommate share utility expenses but don't have a shared food budget, they're in a different "household."

8
TheSpectreOfGay [hy/hym, she/her] - 7mon

thank you

5
0x2640 - 8mon

doggirl-happy

10
TheSpectreOfGay [hy/hym, she/her] - 8mon

doggirl-hi

9
Crucible [he/him, comrade/them] - 7mon

It got deleted but the askchapo thread looking for information about a banned user brought up a surprising amount of feelings from being an autistic kid in school. I appreciate the poster asking the question, 'cause I wanted to know but am too anxious to make posts, and it instantly turned into intentionally wrong answers, inside jokes, and debate about the user while never answering the original question which is context we need to understand any of the rest these posts kitty-cri-screm

Just let me understand you neurotypical fucks

9
TheSpectreOfGay [hy/hym, she/her] - 7mon

omg that thread drove me nuts too

5
DisabledAceSocialist [comrade/them] - 7mon

A moment of humour for once. I was struggling to get around the house, slowly, due to my foot and tendon issues, and getting frustrated. My landlady offered some words of wisdom, saying, "Whenever I am stuck in traffic and feel myself getting angry, I remind myself that it took Richard III 500 years just to get out of a car park."

9
restless [she/her] - 7mon

idk if this counts but I just ruined my sleep schedule, pulling an all nighter only to crash in the late afternoon on Saturday to design a fucking Minecraft redstone farm. I knew what I was doing but eventually the hours just started sloughing away and I realized I was going a bit delirious and the mental static was surreal. There were like 2 songs playing in my head simultaneously, and if I really let the thoughts "decohere", I could get it up to 3-4 overlaying each other in a sort of weird mashup. I could also mentally pull up the second monitor content I'd been listening to over the past 12 hours, haphazardly bouncing around. A cacophony of unprocessed thoughts and earworms laying in bed staying awake for another hour and trying to wind down.

Went to bed hungry, been on my phone for hours after waking up and I need to get up but there are roadbumps keeping me from doing that. My stomach has that dull ache, the kind that arises after one's body has just kind of resigned to deal with the signals that indicate hunger. Unfortunately, I need to do my morning routine first which I don't have my clothes picked out for so it's just a straight mess right now. Not much was planned so it's not the biggest deal, but I do feel like I wasted the better part of a weekend in one of those extended hyperfocus hazes and resulting fallout. Airing my thoughts out here feels like a bad idea but it's helping me process what the hell I just put myself through.

At least the redstone farm is done and works pretty well, considering I made it from scratch to conform with very specific constraints

8
angryhemorrhoid [any] - 7mon

Every. Single. BIT! of this was so very relatable to me. It helps me feel less alone and helps me maybe be more understanding and kind to myself about it. I can be ridiculously hard on myself, even with things due to neurodivergencies and disabilities and stuff I can't help. It helps me when I see/hear someone experience/do something similar and I catch myself feeling understanding towards them like they deserve when I don't do it for me in the same situation, and it helps me realize I'm being way too hard on myself and need to ease up. Thank you.

I hope you're trying to be kind and understanding to yourself about it! You deserve it. I know I have lots of trouble with that when it happens to me.

I'm sorry it came with so many negatives, but I'm glad you got your redstone farm done! I hope you've been able to recover and bounce back and things are going well for you!

Hopefully this wasn't too rambly, hard to understand, annoying/obnoxious/unwanted/etc. 😅 My genuine apologies if it is. I really struggle to communicate more than I used to because of worsening health issues/disabilities/AuDHD burnout/etc. and I'm sorry! 😓

2
DisabledAceSocialist [comrade/them] - 7mon

Well, I spoke too soon about my surgical wounds not being infected. The right foot feels infected now.

Anyway I'm so bored stuck inside for such a long time, I've had a few decks of tarot cards and books to go with them for a long time now, always meaning to start learning how to use them. It's just hard to summon up the strength and concentration to learn something new when you are struggling with health issues. But I want to start trying to learn them now.

8
TheSpectreOfGay [hy/hym, she/her] - 7mon

i keep realizing a lot of the things my ex did were abusive/backhanded and i just never noticed bc im autistic af lmaaaao

8
Keld [he/him, any] - 7mon

I think I'm coming down with something, and at this point i literally don't know where to get masks any more doggirl-cry

7
Bruja [she/her, love/loves] - 7mon

Any Mask Blocs in your area?

3
Keld [he/him, any] - 7mon

None. kitty-birthday-sad The pharmacy don't have them either. I stole some from school

4
TheSpectreOfGay [hy/hym, she/her] - 7mon

current mood:

screm-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

6
gingerbrat [she/her] - 7mon

Mood

4
Wmill [they/them, fae/faer] - 7mon

Been coaching my sibling as much as I can about making phone calls, it's draining for both of us but some times making a script or whatever helps. Made some right now and only have a slight headache.

6
TheSpectreOfGay [hy/hym, she/her] - 7mon

ugh i hate phone calls, good on you for helping them meow-hug. i had to make one phone call today and im so drained but i can't really tell people im drained because all i did was make 1 phone call

6
Wmill [they/them, fae/faer] - 7mon

I get you, minds wander and worry too much before it happens then once it's over it's such a relief

6
Keld [he/him, any] - 7mon

The mix of irreverence and reverence for human bodies at school drives me batty. On one hand there are all these rules about what you can and can't do with regards to the dignity of the cadavers, on the other hand I just saw someone brush aside a pile of bones to make room for his yoghurt Like your arm holding the spoon is almost leaning on a human scapula, and also if I took a photo of this I would literally go to jail.

I sort of approve of the practicality of it, but I also don't really know where the limits are.

5
BountifulEggnog [she/her] - 7mon

Not super related but I kinda wish when I die my bones could be in a collection or something. That'd be so morbid and cool. Maybe make my organs into wet specs.

5
Keld [he/him, any] - 7mon

I would be honored to poke around your nerves with a tweezer catgirl-salute

4
TheSpectreOfGay [hy/hym, she/her] - 7mon

was planning some self improvement stuff, but i increased my med dosage and now im super depressed catgirl-flop

4
Keld [he/him, any] - 7mon

I do not have the spoons for studying ligaments anymore. I'm gonna eat an apple and return refreshed

4
CupcakeOfSpice [she/her, fae/faer] - 7mon

In the weekend before my injection, so brain is scrembly egg. Also finished playing Dead Space (2023) which is an excellent choice when already psychotic. Love the games, though. Cool lore, neat monolith, fun critique of organized religion.

3
Keld [he/him, any] - 7mon

If I wake up a study partner by appointment, how long does it take for it to become rude for them to keep me waiting outside before coming down?

3
∞ 🏳️‍⚧️Edie [it/its, she/her, fae/faer, love/loves, ze/hir, des/pair, none/use name, undecided] - 7mon

I've been rewriting this comment a few times. And I had to remind myself that, while 10 min doesn't seem like all that long when you are writing it in a comment, in reality, it is. Especially in such a situation, where you are waiting and can't really do other stuff, having to be constantly semi-aware of whats going on so you can't loose track of time, it feels even longer.

It also depends on what is happening with the person. I'm not sure if they way you wrote your comment is saying that the person woke up on the appointment time, because if they did, taking 30min is a much worse thing than if they woke up before and something happened and they were really trying not to make it take so long.

2