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chipmunk1 - great point. This is where it gets tricky. I will never talk to a doctor about acceptance, as that insinuates a somatoform component to my illness. I have fought too long and hard to be taken seriously.
However, while overall abhorring psychobabble, I have found Kubler-Ross's model of grief to be quite descriptive of my personal process of accepting ME/CFS. It was a long road to acceptance, and the kind of acceptance I needed was radical. How else does one accept this purgatorial life?
The more I can stay in acceptance, the better off I am. Denial had me pushing my limits and crashing severely and often to the point of being bedridden; Anger took a lot of energy and left me miserable; Bargaining cleaned out my bank account as I searched in vain for that one magic pill; Depression left me with no will to live like this any longer.
That said, I do often wish I had a different disease. I walked a dear friend thru liver cancer (liver cancer!) several years ago. She was treated with respect by everyone from doctors to insurers (insurance even approved massages to deal with the stress) and family to community. She's alive, well, and thriving. I, however, still languish with no real hope in sight. Would I trade places? Absolutely.
And if I dwell on that too long, I'll be right back in the anger phase!