[hurryinhoosier62]

Originally Posted by John V.

Steve, not everybody has the same tolerance to pain. What is debilitating to one may not be so much to another.

My wife and I were always amazed at my eldest son's pain tolerance. We came to understand that he was probably near death before he would complain. Nearing 30, he hasn't changed.

Since you apparently were diagnosed with BNFS fairly young, I assume something other than normal degeneration due to aging was in play.

Some can function with BNFS, others not so much.

I would no more challenge your claim to disability than I would challenge the subject of the OP.

I cringe when I see the TSA posters, See Something-Say Something. They'll wait a long time waiting for my input.

If I wanted to work for the gov't, I'd apply for a gov't job. I'm not about to do their job for them. I understand that others see it differently.

Absolutely, John. Congenital degenerative disc disease and juvenile onset arthritis. According to my orthopedist, I have the back of a 75 yr. old man (at 51). I'm currently fused at L4/L5 (disc failure) and will require another fusion procedure at L5/S1 (disc failing) some time in the near future. Just think......MORE TSA pat-downs because of all the metal I have already. They're goin' LOVE me..... A FACT that gets lost in all the rhetoric is I took a 60% CUT in pay. What person in their right mind would do that UNLESS they had to. A friend of mine had to medically retire at 50 due to advanced arthritis. Randy was a plumber making about $70K a year. He draws just slightly more than I do.