Approximately 15% of the world’s population have a disability

I just read this & I appreciate you for allowing me the opportunity to share my experience today of all days. My name's Beth & I am one of the 15%. I have a physical disability & although symptoms were present in infancy, I wasn't diagnosed until the age of 2. It took 2 years of being in and out of the hospital, being misdiagnosed by 3 doctors, & a nice size scar from a bone biopsy before dad knew what I actually had. (BTW..He passed away 14 years ago today & I see this today.) It's worth mentioning, that of the 3 doctors, the first one said he simply did not know what was causing my symptoms but as for the other two, seperately they determined I had birth defects & suggested that my dad amputate my left knee. One of them came from the Mayo clinic. That's where I had the bone biopsy procedure & dad was told to amputate my knee as well as my affected fingers. Fortunately he didn't have the heart to do that to his 2 year old daughter. A few days after we got back to KY it was suggested dad take me to see this new doctor in town. This doctor who was in a wheelchair himself, listens to everything dad says and asks did any of them check to see of she has JRA, Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis? That's exactly what I had and it was very painful until the age of 6. That's when they took me off the 36 baby asperins dad had to crush throughout the day & mix in my food cause I began seeing a rheumatologist at a clinic in a city nearby. He had never treated a child for this nor had any of the other doctors. With dad's consent, I began taking the same medication as his other patients but at a lower dose of course. Fast forward 44 years later & it's now in every major joint from my ankles to shoulders both sides. The last 2 years have been tough. I had bilateral knee replacements in 2008 & the left knee needs a revision. My left knee and left hip both need replaced basically but I can't do both simutaneiusly unlike my knees. So I will have a hip replacement next month. Fear is setting in. My ankle is bad enough but my knee cannot support my weight right now. I need my mobility again so I'm going for it. Thank god for Candy Crush. It keeps my brain focused and occupies a good amount of my time between the 4 games. I'll play until I can't even open my hands up anymore. It's worth it.