i've been realizing lately just how much POTS disables me and it makes me sad that i spent over half my life thinking it was all my fault. my symptoms started when i was 10.
i'd spend hours or even the entire day in the nurses office, unable to do anything but lay down. when i went out of the classrooms, i'd often need someone with me to make sure i didn't fall or faint. i couldn't participate in gym class most times.
but at home, and in middle school and beyond, i was forced to do things - to the point of pain, exhaustion, injury, hyperventilation, and likely hypertensive crisis. my symptoms only worsened, and the list of things i could do narrowed and narrowed.
people just blamed me and pushed me. i didnt get diagnosed until like a year ago. at 21 years old. if my parents had actually fought for me, i might have been diagnosed earlier, and maybe gotten some of accomodations and mobility aids i needed. it's not fair. i wish disabled children - and disabled people in general - were treated better.
