Painful
disabilities run the spectrum from slow in onset and subtle, to sudden and
devastating. Regardless of the manner in which they begin, people who experience
these conditions find their lives radically altered. The most obvious changes
occur in shifting physical abilities, but it is the less obvious adjustment
in the fabric of life that can often take the greatest toll. Families, careers,
friendships, activities are all affected. The lack of healing triggers a sense
of loss that can easily slip into despair. The old life is lost and the new
seems forbidding.
