AvoidingRealWork
What? Me?? Never!
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2007
- Posts
- 2,134
I have discovered that I have a systemic, degenerative disease. The disease affects cellular regeneration cycles in organs across my body. More plainly, the rate at which my body is producing new cells is now declining, and this decline will accelerate with time. All systems of my body are affected: musculoskeletal, cardiorespiratory, nervous, endocrine, digestive, reproductive. As the rate of cellular regeneration declines, existing cells persist in the body longer, functioning more poorly due to normal wear-and-tear and the presence of toxins in the environment.
I'm already exhibiting some symptoms of the disease. Some of my hair follicles are losing their ability to produce pigment, resulting in some hairs taking on a grayish or white appearance. This will continue, depleting my head and facial hair of their natural color. Furthermore, the skin around my eyes and mouth has lost some of its elasticity, producing some noticeable "creases" that didn't exist ten years ago. I can expect this continue as well, ultimately transforming my skin into a loose, saggy, prune-like appearance.
Of course, these are simply the cosmetic consequences of my degenerative condition. More insidious and debilitating are the effects on the musculoskeletal and cardiovascular systems. So far, thank goodness, I haven't lost any noticeable strength, endurance, or agility - though my understanding is that athletes subjected with this condition will notice diminished capacities by my point in the disease's progress. What I have noticed, however, is an increase in trouble with my joints, particularly my knees. They don't recover quite so well from rigorous activity as they used to. As time goes on, my muscles will shrink and weaken, my bones will become less dense and more brittle, my physical endurance will decline and my ability to recover from strenuous activity will be greatly impaired. Ultimately, even walking any great distance will become a difficult task.
My doctor assures me that the marked decline in sexual vitality I've experienced since my teenage years isn't necessarily a sign of the disease's progress, but rather an end to the surge in androgenic hormones associated with puberty. No longer can I regularly engage in sexual activity multiple times per day (not that opportunities for intercourse ever presented themselves back then), and I'm not in a state of perpetual reproductive vigilance. This itself is not a result of my disease. But as my condition worsens, the frequency with which I am able to engage in sexual congress, and my desire for sexual activity in general, will gradually decline. The prune-like appearance of my skin, my shrunken, weakened muscles, and my decreased capacity of strenuous activity (yes, even sex will someday become "strenuous") will probably also take their toll on my sex life.
My understanding is that, horrible as this degenerative condition is, it usually is not fatal. Patients typically die of secondary complications resulting from the disease. As the heart muscle weakens it is more prone to failure. This is complicated by increased rigidity of arterial walls, making infarctions more likely, and also increasing the risk of stroke. Furthermore, as cells stop being replenished, carcinogenic substances can build up, and my risk of cancer will increase dramatically over time. I'll also be more likely to develop severe neurological impairments such as Alzheimer's Disease. Chances are very good that one of these scenarios will ultimately be my undoing.
The progression of this condition is very slow. I do have, on the outside, another sixty years to live. Sometimes, though, I wonder if it would be less cruel to be struck down quickly. Day after day, even year after year, the degeneration is too subtle to notice. It is only in comparison to oneself years or decades ago that the toll of the disease is really felt. Someday I'll be forced to face the realization that I am not the same man I was five, ten, or twenty years previous, and that that man, healthy and vital, is gone forever. I'll be furthermore faced with the horror of knowing that as much as I have deteriorated, even what I have at that point will continue to drained from me until, inevitably, death results.
I know that you have no power to lift this curse. Our best scientific minds are surely working on a cure. All I ask for is your pity.
I'm already exhibiting some symptoms of the disease. Some of my hair follicles are losing their ability to produce pigment, resulting in some hairs taking on a grayish or white appearance. This will continue, depleting my head and facial hair of their natural color. Furthermore, the skin around my eyes and mouth has lost some of its elasticity, producing some noticeable "creases" that didn't exist ten years ago. I can expect this continue as well, ultimately transforming my skin into a loose, saggy, prune-like appearance.
Of course, these are simply the cosmetic consequences of my degenerative condition. More insidious and debilitating are the effects on the musculoskeletal and cardiovascular systems. So far, thank goodness, I haven't lost any noticeable strength, endurance, or agility - though my understanding is that athletes subjected with this condition will notice diminished capacities by my point in the disease's progress. What I have noticed, however, is an increase in trouble with my joints, particularly my knees. They don't recover quite so well from rigorous activity as they used to. As time goes on, my muscles will shrink and weaken, my bones will become less dense and more brittle, my physical endurance will decline and my ability to recover from strenuous activity will be greatly impaired. Ultimately, even walking any great distance will become a difficult task.
My doctor assures me that the marked decline in sexual vitality I've experienced since my teenage years isn't necessarily a sign of the disease's progress, but rather an end to the surge in androgenic hormones associated with puberty. No longer can I regularly engage in sexual activity multiple times per day (not that opportunities for intercourse ever presented themselves back then), and I'm not in a state of perpetual reproductive vigilance. This itself is not a result of my disease. But as my condition worsens, the frequency with which I am able to engage in sexual congress, and my desire for sexual activity in general, will gradually decline. The prune-like appearance of my skin, my shrunken, weakened muscles, and my decreased capacity of strenuous activity (yes, even sex will someday become "strenuous") will probably also take their toll on my sex life.
My understanding is that, horrible as this degenerative condition is, it usually is not fatal. Patients typically die of secondary complications resulting from the disease. As the heart muscle weakens it is more prone to failure. This is complicated by increased rigidity of arterial walls, making infarctions more likely, and also increasing the risk of stroke. Furthermore, as cells stop being replenished, carcinogenic substances can build up, and my risk of cancer will increase dramatically over time. I'll also be more likely to develop severe neurological impairments such as Alzheimer's Disease. Chances are very good that one of these scenarios will ultimately be my undoing.
The progression of this condition is very slow. I do have, on the outside, another sixty years to live. Sometimes, though, I wonder if it would be less cruel to be struck down quickly. Day after day, even year after year, the degeneration is too subtle to notice. It is only in comparison to oneself years or decades ago that the toll of the disease is really felt. Someday I'll be forced to face the realization that I am not the same man I was five, ten, or twenty years previous, and that that man, healthy and vital, is gone forever. I'll be furthermore faced with the horror of knowing that as much as I have deteriorated, even what I have at that point will continue to drained from me until, inevitably, death results.
I know that you have no power to lift this curse. Our best scientific minds are surely working on a cure. All I ask for is your pity.
