A great sadness flooded my heart as I looked at the face of President Ronald
Reagan in the many news reports across our nation. Always a "twinkle" in his
eyes and most often one finds him smiling, and even in the most tense of
situations, he got his point across without raising his voice or uttering a
derogatory word against another!

I recall this exact persona shining through during a presidential debate some years back in which he, as a
presidential candidate at the time, answered his question and made a point that was opposite of the other
    candidate, and when he was finished answering the question, he winked at his opponent and smiled! 

Who among men, be they agreed with him or not, could not like such a
person!

To me, President Reagan presented as a compassionate, kind, honest and
caring human being who flowed through a public life with grace and dignity,
and no matter what he faced in life he made it look easy and uncomplicated.

I, along with many others, experienced deep sadness when it was disclosed that he was a victim of
 “Alzheimer's” Ironically, the mind that gave him the ability to make a difference for the betterment of mankind, not only in our country, but countries throughout the world, would be the same mind, not unlike a thief in the night, would take it all back into it’s own keeping where it was to become locked and forever lost to himself, and if that wasn’t enough to inflict on him, “Alzheimer's” would also take for itself all that he would have undoubtedly contributed to others over the many years he continued to walk this earth!
 

  As with most things in life, even in the saddest of things, if one looks deep enough, they will find that blessings exist. I just got to say that in the case of President Reagan being afflicted with “Alzheimer's,” and all the 
indignities it brings to it’s victims, but what it could not take away was the person he was and the things he gave to others, as even in his loss of memories, those same memories remained with those who took his hand and walked with him through his last days!! The many things he did when he was President, continue to impact the world for the better, and will forever remain etched in the history of the world! 

 “Remembrance is a form of meeting”

“Forgetting is a form of freedom.”
                                    Kahlil Gibran
 

  Today we have heard for the first time, that this gentle man and his family were also victims of “Adhesion Related Disorder” and those of us who are afflicted with it can all of a sudden relate to this man! Though I do not know if he suffered pain and other symptoms, I suspect that he did as why else would he have presented for surgeries as stated in this news brief of today,
            “including surgeries to eliminate scar tissue caused by the 1985.”

I suspect he suffered as most of us suffer and I am saddened that even the President of the “United States of America” was kept ignorant of his medical condition and was the recipient of surgeries that
 would offer him little to no resolutions to his suffering with adhesions, but probably made it worse!

When I first heard of President Reagan having suffered ARD, my immediate thought was this,
  “Dam-it, why do we hear of it only after they are dead!” Immediate anger, shock and then sadness, almost ashamed for that thought, yet I find myself going back to being angry at him for not telling the world, for not telling about “our” LITTLE known affliction along with one that IS well known!

  If only he and his family had known about ARD, I believe that they would have made it public! If that would have been,  many of us would have been spared many of the humiliating medical appointments and interactions we had to endure, maybe we would not have had to fight so hard to be heard, maybe we would have been believed by others, maybe we would have believed in ourselves, maybe we would have been treated with respect, and maybe effectively! Always maybes, but then again, as with everything that surrounds the “secret” world of ARD, why would our President and his family be treated any differently then any one of us!
 

The facts speak for themselves…

How many of us went to the world-renowned, “ Mayo Clinics” only to find out that they were no more honest or educated about ARD, not or mention skilled enough to help the victims of it? 

How many of us had surgery time and again because we were either told it would resolve our pain and symptoms?

How many of us agreed to a surgery because we were looking for any semblance of relief in our suffering even though we knew it would eventually make us worse?

How many of us tried time again to hide our suffering from our friends and family simply because we really thought we were hypochondriacs when diagnostic tests showed nothing was causing our symptoms?

How many of us really were convinced that adhesion were not the cause of our pain and certain symptoms we presented with?

How many of us endured tremendous suffering because we had no one or no were to turn to for help because it was those who were supposed to help us telling us that we had no reasons for our complaints? How many of us did reach out for help, time and again, only to be accused of wanting attention, pain pills and an excuse for not working or doing things “ normal” people did?

This type of list could go on and on as we have all lived them at one time or another!
 

If we take a moment to reflect on those atrocities, we will find that the majority of insults and ineffective interventions came from medical care providers, and some who presented with“impressive” titles and /or positions at national levels, no less!

Is it a wonder then that even the President of our country and his family, as the victims of ARD, were treated no differently then you and I were?

Maybe there is a reason his surgeries for “scar” tissue not being dealt with in a more public way!
Unless someone could convince me that he felt any different then anyone of us feel at times when trying to deal with our symptoms of ARD, I am of the opinion, 100%, that President Ronald Reagan with-held a great deal of his suffering from his wife, children and of course, friends and associates in all walks of his life! I am also of the opinion that because of his status in our country, he and his family assumed that they were securing the highest quality medical intervention administered in this country! 

 I am also of the opinion that had he was NOT told of the ramifications of re-operations for adhesions, nor did he ever once have the opportunity to sit down at a computer and type in the words, “scar tissue” or “adhesions” such as we all have, thus because of who he was, it is highly probable that he was alone in his suffering with no where or no one to turn to for information, education, answers and as important, support!

I thought his affliction of “Alzheimer's” was terribly sad, but when I found out today that he suffered ARD, I was sickened at the thought that he might have had pain and no way to express it to anyone, and how his family would have tried to console him and get him help for symptoms based on his reaction to them…and all I can think to console my heartbreak, is that at the very least, was given pain medication so he could secure some semblance of peace within his suffering!

I am also thinking that his death was more merciful then anyone could imagine, anyone who doesn’t suffer ARD that is, as we all know that, “There are things worse then death!"

United States Presidents who suffered "Adhesion Related Disorder" James Garfield:  {It appears he may have also had Adhesions}:  http://www.doctorzebra.com/prez/g20.htm William Taft: http://www.doctorzebra.com/prez/g27.htm Dwight Eisenhower: http://www.doctorzebra.com/prez/g34.htm Ronald W. Reagan: http://www.doctorzebra.com/prez/g40.htm