Appreciation for Reserved Parking Permit
There are just tons of kudos I want to give to my handicap reserved parking decal. When you are suffering from psoriatic arthritis, this can be a lifesaver. Psoriatic arthritis is a very painful disease. There have been numerous days where I couldn't walk one block. My body would ache just walking getting out of the car. I couldn’t imagine walking more than one block.
Before I got the handicap decal, there were no parking spaces close by. I parked my car, and I had to walk a long distance. It was before I got my proper diagnosis for my disease. It only took twenty-five years. I literally felt like I would collapse before I made it back to my car. My legs were hurting really bad; the pain was unbearable. I remember saying to myself, "Never again. I can’t park this far away."
The day my world changed
Getting a handicapped parking sticker changed my world. You would have thought I would have used it as soon as I got it. I didn’t. I did feel liberated. If you don’t realize what’s it’s like to have psoriatic arthritis, please let me share. I tell people all the time. There are days when you have to drive out whether you feel like it or not. You may have to pick up your medicine or go to the doctor. No matter what it is, when you don't have a close parking spot, it will wreak havoc on your joints, muscles, and entire body.
Walking in my shoes
You will not understand what I am going through unless you walk a mile in my shoes. Before I was brave enough to use my sticker, I felt people would judge me. I was too scared to see people looking or staring at me. I would be scared to walk back to my car fearing I would have a note on my car. The one thing I don’t do is judge. Just because you don’t look sick, doesn’t mean you aren’t. I just want to scream I have an invisible illness. It is a very debilitating and crippling disease.
It's more than an ache. Your body can be so deformed, out of whack with psoriatic arthritis. Your knees, legs, feet, hands, shoulders, arms are affected. Sometimes we have flares and it's not a pretty sight. I know that I'm glad for the handicap stickers. There are so many of us in wheelchairs, walking with walkers or walking sticks. Psoriatic arthritis is more than an ache, it is a life-altering autoimmune disease that shows up in every area of our body.
I got a cold and have been laid up for three weeks. I actually felt like I was having a heart attack one day and went to the doctor. When we get the cold or flu, it really messes us up. We have to be careful with infections. We do not get ordinary aches. Ours comes with swelling, headaches, pain, and loss of mobility.
SO grateful for my parking sticker
I’m grateful for a reserved parking sticker. I can’t imagine my life without it right now. Do people realize we would give anything to be healthy and run across the parking lot? You can keep your sticker!!
Why do people give us so much abuse? You humiliate us with your stares, leaving us notes, putting us on social media and sometimes T.V. After all, we are parking in a space that was approved by both medical and government. I got my sticker fair and square and don’t feel I have to justify my illness to anyone. What it truly comes down to is whether or not you believe disabled people have a right to exist in this world if you can’t see our disability.
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