Today I used ESRD to get out of............

[pagandialysis]

I used it to get out of going to see Conan with my friends. I loved the original and don't want to see the re-make. I used the time to go with my wife to another theater and see Fright Night!

 

[rsudock]

KareninWa started a post just like this   http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?topic=18172.msg314458#msg314458


just thought I share

xo,
R

[pitagory]

I use this one all the time to get out of leaving early I just say I'm on Pd and need to do my tretment so I get to leave early or if the party starts   to late I just say I cant go because I need to do this at such time.I aslo use  I only have 1/3 of the enery you do so I cant go I'm to tierd.

[Arcticat2000]

I have a disabled placard.......  I use it too.  I'm just waiting for someone to say something to me so I can pull up my sleeve and say  "LOOK I"m on lifesaving dialysis 3 times a week where all the blood is sucked out of me, cleaned, and shoved back in me"  So, I'll park there if I want to.  It is great during Christmas shopping.

           

+1
I only use my placard when the weather is lousy or my fluid levels are up.  It is nice to have.

[CebuShan]

You've kinda got the Golden ticket.....

       I think this only applies if you still urinate! Lol!   I have not actually used this myself but my husband has (with my permission and blessing). He's gotten out of things at work and even got our landlord to fix something he'd been putting off fixing by telling him that my neph was concerned about me living under such conditions!

[pklipe57]

I had never played the dialysis card, but last week my husband had surgery and was stuck in the recovery room waiting on a room for several hours.   I had to leave and go to dialysis.  I went to the desk to see if there was anything I could do.  As I was talking to them, the recovery room called and said that my husband told them I needed to go to dialysis and he needed to see me before I left.  I was invited to go to the recovery room to see him.  I was relieved to see him before I had to leave.  So actually my husband played the dialysis card.

[lou]

This is a great thread! I played the d card a few times but Ive only used the transplant card once and i felt really guilty!

It was a friends wedding last year on a Monday and i couldn't just book the day of work as im a teacher so i went away for the wedding and called in sick on the Monday. I just said i had some strange blood results, quoted a few numbers at them and said i had to go into hospital for more bloods.

The wedding was lovely but felt terrible the next day when my colleagues were all concerned and i had to say everything was fine again! Didn't feel bad doing it while on d but feel really guilty using my transplant...guess im scared i might just jinx something!

[Riki]

When I was in high school, grade 12, I had English first period in the morning, and there were just some mornings that I didn't feel like discussing the symbolism in A Separate Peace (God, I hated that book), so I'd just skip the class.  The teacher would usually see me later in the day, probably cuz her classroom was next to the cafeteria, and she'd ask me where I was.  I'd tell her that I had to go for bloodwork that morning and that the waiting room was full, so by the time I got out of there and to the school, the class was almost over anyway.  What she didn't know, was that as a transplant patient, I had priority, so I could jump the line. *L*

What I think is cool about this, the teacher went to my mother and told her what I was doing.  Mom told her to leave me alone, and flunk me if she had to.  The way she put it to me was that she told the teacher that I'd been so much crap in my life, and for the first time, I was actually having some fun.

[kitkatz]

I get out of grocery shopping regularly by telling hubby I do not feel well. 

[Deanne]

I live in Oregon, my family is in Minnesota. My mom wants me to go visit them every year. I think we should alternate visits as long as they remain healthy and able to travel, or even meet somewhere for a "real" vacation. I hate giving up all of my vacation time to small-town Minnesota where I spend the whole week sitting in their living room playing solitaire. It means I never get to go anywhere even remotely vacation-like. Mom started playing the age card several years ago as a way to insist I make the trek out there every year. She asked me a month ago when I was going to visit them again. I told her I'm not allowed to go anywhere since I'm on the transplant list. Suddenly, she's not too old to travel and they're thinking about coming out here.

[Riki]

I live in Oregon, my family is in Minnesota. My mom wants me to go visit them every year. I think we should alternate visits as long as they remain healthy and able to travel, or even meet somewhere for a "real" vacation. I hate giving up all of my vacation time to small-town Minnesota where I spend the whole week sitting in their living room playing solitaire. It means I never get to go anywhere even remotely vacation-like. Mom started playing the age card several years ago as a way to insist I make the trek out there every year. She asked me a month ago when I was going to visit them again. I told her I'm not allowed to go anywhere since I'm on the transplant list. Suddenly, she's not too old to travel and they're thinking about coming out here.

so, never tell her that isn't the case... or if you go on vacation, it'll have to be kept secret

[Iwannabean]

Can you get a handicap placard for your vehicle if your on dialysis?

Iwannabean

[Brightsky69]

Not in Virginia   

I don't know about this.... yesterday I had stopped to get some lunch and this guy parked in a handicapped space, plates and all. After he got his lunch he put the bag in his car and walked down to the video store at the other end of the shopping center. Walking that far and handicapped???
Of course he could have been borrowing someones car?? Who knows?

[Subeat]

One of the other patients at my center told me I would automatically be getting one.  Well, when I asked the neph about it, she looked at me as if I had sprouted a 3rd head.  I have no need for one on a daily basis, but we attend several events for my daughter that are held at some pretty large venues (convention centers, pro-football stadiums)...still a lot of necessary walking even once inside.  She really made me feel like an idiot/lazy slacker for asking, which I believe she could have done differently.

[CebuShan]

So far (thankfully!) I have not felt like I have needed a handicap placard. When Jim and I go shopping, we know which stores have the electric carts and are easier to get around if I need to.

[Brightsky69]

Come to think of it...even if he was borrowing someones car handicapped plates included, why was he parking in a handicapped space when he obviously had no problem walking.
Taking up a handicapped sapce from someone who may have really needed it.

[Riki]

I have one, but it's not because I'm on dialysis.  It's because I'm legally blind, and walking through parking lots, especially after dark, is incredibly dangerous for me. It really has nothing to do with how far I can walk, and more to do with how quickly I can get out of the parking lot and out of the way of cars that I may or may not see.

btw, I'm not the one driving.. *L*

I get a lot of weird looks sometimes when we park in a disabled spot.  I get looks when using elevators meant for those in wheelchairs.  It used to bother me, but it doesn't anymore.  If I didn't need to do it, I wouldn't

[pagandialysis]

Riki,I understand. I have a parking permit as well and people always give me dirty looks for using it, I have it because I have several herniated discs in my lower lumbar.

[cariad]

Come to think of it...even if he was borrowing someones car handicapped plates included, why was he parking in a handicapped space when he obviously had no problem walking.
Taking up a handicapped sapce from someone who may have really needed it.

Yeah, I think as Riki and pagandialysis have shown, it is unwise and unfair to judge people based on a few moments of information. You just do not know their whole story and unless you want to be judged and policed by strangers, I would not make assumptions about others. Instead, I would accept that there will always be people who will abuse the system, but you won't necessarily know which people they are.

Renal patients seem particularly sensitive to comments of "you don't look sick". Well, that goes both ways. We are not the only population that endures this problem of people assuming we are faking, or that our situation is not that bad, or whatever.

I believe the vast majority of people do not use the placard even when they have it, because there is this idea that at any moment in time, there may be someone else who needs it more. I would say trust yourself - that if it would help to use the placard, use it. You do not have to answer to anyone, and if someone challenges you, tell them where they can go, from me if not from yourself!

[Riki]

My ophthalmologist has recommended that I begin cane training, so they probably won't be giving me those dirty looks much longer

[pagandialysis]

You might like this. I get out of the car at a restaurant, a teen looks at me and says "What the p*ck makes you so handicapped?"  My reply? "None of your damn business kid." The wife thought it was funny.

[cariad]

You might like this. I get out of the car at a restaurant, a teen looks at me and says "What the p*ck makes you so handicapped?"  My reply? "None of your damn business kid." The wife thought it was funny.

Oh, yeah! This made my day all right!
ROCK ON, pagandialysis!

[Riki]

You might like this. I get out of the car at a restaurant, a teen looks at me and says "What the p*ck makes you so handicapped?"  My reply? "None of your damn business kid." The wife thought it was funny.

LOVE IT!!  take that, nosy a-hole kid...

[KarenInWA]

Here's another thought on the handicapped placard, although admittedly, this one does not apply in most places.

In a city near me, there is a park with one row of parking spaces.  It has 6 handicapped spaces, which is a lot considering there's maybe about 30 spaces total (that's a guess).  So, of course, the handicapped spaces are always available.  I remember going there and seeing a handicapped car parked in a regular spot.  It kind of bothered me, because that car was taking up a valuable regular spot!

KarenInWA

[cariad]

Here's another thought on the handicapped placard, although admittedly, this one does not apply in most places.

In a city near me, there is a park with one row of parking spaces.  It has 6 handicapped spaces, which is a lot considering there's maybe about 30 spaces total (that's a guess).  So, of course, the handicapped spaces are always available.  I remember going there and seeing a handicapped car parked in a regular spot.  It kind of bothered me, because that car was taking up a valuable regular spot!

KarenInWA

Karen, I think this completely relevant. Gwyn and I were talking about this the other day. Has anyone ever been to a lot and seen all of the handicapped spaces taken? The one place that I've seen run out of handicapped spaces is our local Walgreens lot. They are in a popular part of town, and I believe they only have 2, maybe 3, handicapped spaces. The irony is not lost on me that the pharmacy would be the ONE place in this city that does not have abundant handicapped spaces.

That is a fascinating perspective on a person with a placard taking a spot away from people who do not have both options. He or she undoubtedly thought they were doing the right thing. When Marc, Gwyn and I went to Red Rock, Marc had his placard. None of us was comfortable with the idea of parking in a handicapped spot and then trekking off on a 3-mile hike. So we took a regular space. Those lots tend to be packed, and that day was no exception, so perhaps we irritated someone without a placard. It does underscore that people with placards should not spend any energy trying to second guess the thoughts of the people around them.