Shante, I can understand not wanting to apply for handicapped status because of the stigma.  I did not wish to, either.  Worse, my handicap is clinical depression, so it's invisible.  And there are a lot of people who feel that depression is something you can just "be a man" and get over it.  It isn't.

I do not like thinking of myself as handicapped.  Sometimes, I even forget that I am; it's invisible to me, too, sometimes.  And then I find myself unable to get out of bed or perform something routine and I get smacked in the face with it again.

Life became somewhat easier after I applied for Social Security disability and I satisfied their requirements.  But I'd really rather be self-sufficient again.  Given the choice.

I also wish more of you people with back pain could consult with my former roommate's doctor.  Jim was going to be in a wheelchair within six months to a year, the way he was degenerating.  Three years after surgery, he's a body builder.  He still can't do some things, and some of the nerves in his legs are still atrophied, but he's in no danger of being confined to a wheelchair any more.