I'm afraid I'm usually the one handing out guilt trips...
I have a brain disorder called Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension [IIH]. Basically it means that there's too much fluid in my skull and it's slowly squishing my brain and optic nerve [yes, it does hurt. all the time] I've had it since i was about 9 or 10 and, though there are treatments to help, it's incurable.

This makes the best guilt-trip material ever.

Evil Lecturer: "Where's your assigmnent?"
Me: "I'm so sorry, i've just gotten so confused and behind recently, y'see I was in hospital the other day having a seven inch needle pushed between my vertebrae in order to drain my brain fluid and they hit the spinal cord by mistake and i've been having trouble sitting upright for very long because of the nerve-twinges, i'm sure that if i work all night i could get it in for tomorrow though..."
Evil Lecturer: "No, it's okay, you just hand it in when you get it done"


Mum: "Why haven't you done any housework"
Me: "I'm sorry, I tried to do it but i kept having grey-outs [when your sight fades out and you're blind for about 30 seconds before it fades back in again, common symptom of IIH] and i fell over the hoover. I'll do it now-"
Mum: "No, no, you look after yourself, your dad'll do the housework today"

total prick of a man on my course: "You must be nice to me because i have dyslexia and dyspraxia" [he did actually, honestly say this]
me: "ok, but you have to be nice to me beacuse i've had a headache 24 hours a day, every day for about 10 years; every now and then i have seizures and i'm slowly going blind. The drugs I'm on to help it are making me lose my memory and make me shake, so i'm on beta-blockers which make me depressed, so i'm on anti-depressants which give me a headache. I have to have lumbar punctures every 6 weeks and I've just had neurosurgery. *bright smile*"

etc. etc. etc.

it's also got me a free computer with all the trimmings and disabled parking. though, to be honest, i'd rather not have had a headache for 10 years solid.
( Seventh is somewhat subdued, Sun 16 Oct 2005, 20:54, Reply)