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submitted by evilsibe
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Dear Papabear, 

I am struggling... really struggling, I have a chronic disability known as EDS (Ehlers–Danlos syndrome). It’s starting to effect my everyday life as well as with my social and family life. I live with my parents and they know all about my problem (my mother being my primary caregiver).

I have been finding I have been getting chronic pain all they way up and down my spine and right shoulder.  It is getting harder and harder to walk and do my job (I take commissions and such for anthro art).  I tell my mother about my pain and she just shoos me off like it’s nothing; no sympathy no help. it is starting to highly frustrate me and my everyday life, resulting in me getting angry and frustrated more and more with my family. I don’t know if this is part of growing up (being in my mid teens) or it is because my parents are being complete douches (please excuse my French).

Can you please tell me how to explain what I am going through to them, the pain is terrible and is frustrating me. My mum just doesn’t listen when I tell her, she is constantly making me go around and get stuff for her (like food, the phone etc.). She just doesn’t understand the pain I am going though.

Thank you so much for your help, Papabear.

from
a struggling ferret

* * *

Dear Struggling,

First, a note to my readers for explanation. Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome is a serious condition affecting connective tissues because the body cannot produce stable collagen. The most common symptoms include joint pain, loose/unstable/hypermobile joints, hyperextensibility of the skin (resulting in skin that is more easily bruised or torn), pseudotumor formation around resulting scars, spinal and other skeletal pain. There are several types of EDS, most are not life threatening but Vascular Type EDS can shorten one’s lifespan by damaging valves such as those in the heart.

There really is no treatment currently for EDS. The main precaution doctors give is to avoid getting too much sun and limit physical activity because the most problematic problem with EDS patients is how easily their skin and joints are injured, which can lead to more serious problems such as infection, damaged joints, and early onset arthritis.

Assuming you are not overreacting about how your parents treat you and they really aren't being that dismissive of you or making you do too much, and if your parents are putting you at risk for injury, then, given your condition, Papabear would say this borders on, and perhaps IS, child abuse. Have you, thus far, been physically injured because of what your family has asked you to do in terms of chores and errands? Do you feel their actions might cause you serious injury? Then this is serious.

If, on the other paw, you don’t feel as if you are in any physical danger (whew!), you might be a victim of emotional abuse. The website www.ChildHelp.org defines emotional abuse, in part, as thus:  “Telling a child in a variety of ways that he or she is unwanted, having a lack of attachment, showing no interest, not initiating or returning affection, and/or not listening to the child.  Not validating feelings.  Breaking promises. Cutting the child off while he or she is speaking. Pretending to hear concerns, but then disregard them.” More definitions are outlined here: http://www.childhelp.org/page/-/pdfs/Child-Abuse-Definitions.pdf.

Depending on how badly you feel you are being treated, you can try a couple of things: 1) go back to your doctor and have him or her explain to your parents that you are suffering a serious chronic condition and that they need to understand that you can’t do the same things that other children might easily do for their parents; it could simply be that your parents are in denial about your illness and they need someone to give them a wake-up call; 2) if that is not feasible for some reason, you might try to find a mediator, someone you trust and who your parents also respect, such as a trusted uncle or grandmother. Tell him or her what is going on, how you feel, and see if they will talk to your parents about it. If this doesn’t help, you might consider 3) contacting a child abuse hotline and asking a professional for some guidance on the matter. Remember, Papabear is not a professional counselor and cannot give you authoritative advice on this matter, so it might be time to seek some help from someone really trained in recognizing child abuse and giving you some needed guidance.

You need to get your parents to listen to you and take you seriously. Papabear hopes that a mediator of some sort will do the trick and that your parents might better understand your special needs and be more sympathetic to you. EDS might not be as grim a disease as, say, cancer, but it is a very real and painful condition and they need to get that into their heads.

Hugs,

Papabear

Inspired from the art work of alectorfencer comes another Foxamoore & Colson music number. The art work can be see HERE and shows some fox (wolf?) being swept into the clouds full of stars. The picture is very inspiring when you look into it. The music number is once again very amazing, however I feel Colson needs to get into so more music pop numbers. To me and about half the world, we pick up main stream music and make it popular because of its beat and/or words in the song. Poems are nice to sing, however they lack repeated verses that make a catchy beat or memory for the song later. Much like “It’s Friday, Friday” song I really wish to hear Colson get something more catchy together. Foxamoore’s pieces are truly wow and mixing this with Colson always scores well on my chart. Anyways listen to the song, fav and comment all you wish, they are ALL talented and need your support.

submitted by Roogoyle
[link] [6 comments]

submitted by Allaun
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The July issue of Animation Magazine featured the 2012 Pitch Party, which has become an annual event.  The idea is simple: Entrants purchase a 1/16th-page ad in the magazine, and submit a one-panel “pitch” for a new animated TV series or feature. A panel of animation industry experts, the staff of Animation Magazine, and on-line readers each get a chance to pick their favorites.  Those industry folk this year included names from Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, PBS, and the Hub among others. And the top pick from both those bigwigs and the Animation staff was Jimmy Legs: The Down and Out Frog, created by Daniel Contois — the story of a cartoon frog living in America following a nuclear apocalypse. Oh what fun! And you can see the development of it at Dan’s web site.  But there were plenty of other entries of possible interest to furry fans, including Detective Cats (web site), Little Monsters (web site), Road Kill Heroes (web site), Swamp Stalkers (web site), Mad Cow (web site), Samurai Chinchilla (web site), and Bad Penguin (web site). And of course check out Animation’s web site to find out more about this year’s Pitch Party, and next year’s too.

image c. 2012 by Daniel Contois

 

submitted by toxicxrequiem
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submitted by evilsibe
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submitted by portalborn
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submitted by HappyWulf
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Author: E-Mail Hidden This week on KnotCast – Savrin, Shiva, and Fuzzwolf add to the Fifty Shades canon, talk about boring weeks, get a con report from Megaplex, and hear of someone sticking their dick in crazy. Fifty Shades generator Tails And Tactics Kickstarter – time limited Use our coupon code ‘knot’ at AdamEve.com for [...] KnotCast: Episode 188 – Serious Sht

Author: Fred Wired reports that Swiss scientists are trying to develop a sheep collar that will notify shepherds when wolves attack their sheep, and will release a chemical deterrent. read more Find the full article here: flayrah – furry food for thought Creative Commons: Full post may be available under a free license.

This week on KnotCast - Savrin, Shiva, and Fuzzwolf add to the Fifty Shades canon, talk about boring weeks, get a con report from Megaplex, and hear of someone sticking their dick in crazy. Fifty Shades generator http://www.fiftyshadesgenerator.com/ Tails And Tactics Kickstarter - time limited http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1943120232/tail-and-tactics-trading-card-game-print-first-100 Use our coupon code 'knot' at AdamEve.com for a great deal! http://www.adameve.com/ Episode 188 - Serious Sht

submitted by silverfennec
[link] [15 comments]

submitted by loki_the_sergal
[link] [2 comments]

submitted by kennyspace2
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So here is the situation: My boyfriend currently lives with my mother and I. I'm about to move out for schooling, which means he needs to as well. He had plenty of funds saved up to start life on his own, but he got into a gnarly motorcycle accident and hospital bills killed his bank account. Because of this, he cannot come with me and will have to stay here in town, quite a ways away. Now there is not much I can do to help, BUT, I can draw. I'm doing a little advertising to hopefully get some quick commissions. But there's another catch: This morning, as I was getting out my tablet, the pen literally shattered. Like, it basically combusted, so I cannot do anything digital. SO. I am offering sketchbook page commissions. This means you'll get a full sketchbook page of sketches featuring your OC's, video game characters, whatever you please. I'll also color it for a few bucks extra. I am willing to mail them to you for no charge. I'm thinking $10 for a regular, 8x11 page, pay via PayPal.

For examples of my work, check out my Deviantart or my FurAffinity.

TL;DR: My boyfriend needs some emergency funds and I'm holding $10 sketchbook page commissions to help him out, since drawing is about the only thing I can do.

Thank you in advance, guys.

submitted by Grayflower
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submitted by loki_the_sergal
[link] [1 comment]

submitted by Boadie_Bear
[link] [2 comments]

I, uh... kinda have a... major fursuit fetish. This has caused me a fair amount of stress for a number of reasons. Negative reception from other furries, concern I'm never going to be able to find someone else I can explore it with, feeling neverous about potentially spending $1k+ on something I might not even like, promoting stereotypes (which I hate doing), general embarrassment, and a few other things. Does anyone have any advice on any of those?

submitted by ColeYote
[link] [28 comments]