(no subject)

The bad news: our camera also seems to be missing.

The good news: It was a four-year-old Kodak EasyShare 4-megapixel camera. I vaguely remember paying about $400 for the camera and accessories back in 2004. I note that Kodak now sells an 8-megapixel model for under $100. So it won't be anywhere near as expensive to replace as it was to buy. And we haven't lost any pictures - they'd all been downloaded.

The other good news: My laptop is here at work.

Disability and identity.

I think most people who read this journal know that I have orthopedic disabilities. The overwhelmingly dominant one for most of my life was my congenital hip dysplasia, which led to multiple childhood surgeries, a particularly unpleasant side effect called avascular necrosis of the femoral head, osteoarthritis by the age of 11, (literally) crippling pain and increasing disability in my late teens and early 20s, and then a miraculous hip replacement at age 23 that reversed the downward trend.

The residual effects of what used to be my primary disability are pretty subtle. I can't run at all or do any kind of high-impact exercise, and the flexibility and range of motion in my right leg are limited. My right leg is noticeably shorter than my left; I wear a lift in my right shoe and sometimes (often? usually? I confess that I don't really notice this) walk with a limp. On the other hand, when I'm in adequate shape I can easily hike five miles or so over rough terrain, and I no longer have chronic pain or routinely take pain medication.

That's kind of a strange feeling. I went through some complicated emotional work surrounding my self-identification as a person with a disability, and the social, emotional, interpersonal, behavioral, and medical consequences thereof. Then the major factors underlying that self-identification melted away. Believe me, I'm thrilled about that. There's absolutely nothing in the world like not being in tooth-grindingly awful pain every day of your life. I highly recommend it. But it's weird.

So it's easy for me to think of myself as nondisabled now, except, of course, that I'm not. I also have this right arm that is half as long as the left; small-handed; missing a finger; incapable of bending at the elbow; and fairly restricted in movement at the shoulder. Most people would, uh, probably think of that as a disability. ( Okay, I guess this is getting long enough that I should cut it. )