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Swimming in the
AcidStream

A Guidebook for People with Physical Disabilities
By Kerry Alan, M.S.  ·  AcidStream LLC
30
Chapters
444
Pages
45+
Yrs Experience

Swimming in the AcidStream goes on sale on Amazon in December 2026. Prepublication sales have closed.

Swimming in the AcidStream Book Cover

Coming December 2026

A Note About the Book

I was confronted with one decision after another today. The events washed over my body like a torrent of hurricane-pushed breakers. Having, you know, those awful recurring thoughts. The brutality of trying to keep my head above water day after day in the AcidStream makes even the simplest tasks difficult. My quadriplegia did not happen all at once. It crept up on me. A tingling in my left foot, a small loss here, another small loss there, like the proverbial death by a thousand paper cuts. This morning was a struggle.

I simply could not sleep last night because of ongoing muscle spasms. Living with chronic pain from the neck down is hard; there is not a square centimeter on my body from my neck to my toes that does not hurt. And from my neck up, I have seborrheic dermatitis, which means I’m itching like a crazy person most of the time.

I was not happy with God this morning. But God is not the culprit here. To survive this journey, we have to stay focused on reality. The reality of navigating governmental systems that are designed to help us, but often make things worse. The reality of looking at our bodies in the mirror and not being thrilled by what we see. It is not an easy road.

But this life is worth living. You bet it is. I am fully convinced God did not put us here to torture us. We are His kids, no matter how old we are. And I know He hurts worse than I do when I curse Him out because I believe He allowed this to happen to me. But the reality is, I do not really know. I am not a theologian, I am not a philosopher, I am just another person like you trying to make my way through life’s journey. Nobody gets out of here without a few scars, and each one of those scars tells a story.

So today I ask for His forgiveness, and I persevere. Each and every one of us in the AcidStream deserves to be treated with dignity and respect by other individuals who have not had to walk this journey. Additionally, we need to treat ourselves with dignity and respect! We have to advocate for ourselves and keep pushing no matter the obstacles in our way.

We have to forgive ourselves and others and move on. Above all, we grieve. I have decided to put “Swimming in the AcidStream: A Guidebook for People with Physical Disabilities” on Amazon and give it a little wider distribution. It is just a small (30-chapter) self-published book. But if I had a penny for every tear I have shed while writing it, I would make Warren Buffett look like a pauper.

I give it to you with hopes that it will encourage you and bring a powerful new perspective to your swim in the AcidStream.

PS: The book will be available on Amazon in December 2026.

— Kerry

About This Book

The guidebook nobody handed you when you needed it most

Written by a retired Licensed Rehabilitation Counselor with decades of personal experience navigating physical disability — Swimming in the AcidStream is the comprehensive, candid resource that most people with physical disabilities desperately need and rarely find.

From understanding your legal rights under the ADA to managing chronic pain, from fighting insurance denials to maintaining relationships — this book covers the full terrain of life with a physical disability, without platitudes and without sugarcoating.

Every chapter draws on published research and real-world practice. This is not theory. This is 45 years of knowledge, organized for you to use.

30 Chapters Covering:

  • Understanding Physical Disability
  • Emotional Coping Strategies
  • Navigating the Medical System
  • Insurance & Benefits
  • Your Rights Under the ADA
  • Employment with Disability
  • Housing & Accessibility
  • Relationships & Intimacy
  • Mental Health Support
  • Pain & Fatigue Management
  • Financial Planning
  • Assistive Technology
  • Independent Living
  • Parenting with Disability
  • Community Resources
  • Advocacy & Self-Advocacy
  • Disability Identity
  • Spirituality & Resilience
  • Planning for the Future
  • Building Your Support Team
Contact the Author

Questions? Write to Kerry Directly

Whether you have a question about the book, need help finding disability resources, or want to talk through an advocacy strategy, Kerry welcomes your message. He checks his inbox frequently and reads every email personally.

Email: kerry@acidstream.com

About the Author

Kerry Alan, founder of AcidStream LLC and author of Swimming in the AcidStream

Kerry Alan — Tulsa, Oklahoma

Kerry Alan is a retired rehabilitation counselor, educator, and disability advocate with over 35 years of lived experience navigating life with a spinal cord disability. His career began in television, working as a videographer shooting live sports in the late 1970s and into the 1980s. As his health declined and the physical demands of video work became impossible, he retrained in computer science — and later earned a Master of Science degree in Rehabilitation Counseling, Class of 2008, dedicating his professional career to helping individuals with disabilities access resources, build independence, and improve quality of life. He is the founder of AcidStream LLC, a disability systems and advocacy organization, and is establishing SherylsWay.org, a 501(c)(3) outreach ministry serving the homeless, named in honor of his late wife.

Kerry's medical journey has been one of perseverance. In 1990, he underwent a 12-hour surgery to resect an intramedullary ependymoma — a rare spinal cord tumor — performed by Dr. Detweiler and Dr. David Fell, to whom he credits his life. The tumor regrew, and a second resection followed in 1997. In 2021, Dr. Ryan Rahal performed cervical spinal fusion, removed bone spurs, and widened a spinal canal that had narrowed to 4 millimeters in diameter. Through it all, Kerry has continued to advocate, write, and persist.

His story begins far from Tulsa. Kerry spent his formative years in the Middle East — in Baghdad when the king was still on the throne, and in Kuwait, where he attended a two-room schoolhouse in the oil camp at Mina Abdullah. As a boy of nine, he stood at the helm of the George Champion, one of the largest tankers in the world, at the invitation of her first mate. He watched Red Adair extinguish a massive oil well blowout using a drum of nitroglycerin on a crane. He was a child raised without boundaries by people who knew none.

His father was a Missouri farm boy from McDonald County, raised on the rocky bluffs of the Ozarks, a World War II veteran who fought on Okinawa. After his platoon lieutenant was killed, his father took command — and when the Japanese soldiers were dug into the caves, he never asked his men to do what he would not do himself. He picked up the flamethrower. Kerry's father also taught him something equally important: that enemies are only enemies for a while. A German merchant marine captain who had served in World War II became one of his family's dearest friends. Mutual respect has no borders.

His mother was a Palestinian city girl — pragmatic, educated, and fluent in Arabic, English, French, and enough Italian and German to survive a war that came close. She worked as a secretary to the British Port Authority director in Haifa when Palestine was still a British protectorate. She was a working woman before that was common.

Kerry Alan and Sheryl, in whose memory AcidStream LLC was founded

Kerry and Sheryl

Kerry carries all of them with him — his father's courage, his mother's pragmatism, Sheryl's faith. His late wife often quoted Scripture: iron sharpens iron. She believed it. So does he.

"Swimming in the AcidStream" is written by a survivor, a fighter, and a man sharpened by adversity. It is also written by someone who relishes being the least knowledgeable person in the room — because that means there is something left to learn. Kerry is already at work on what comes next: apps and tools for people with disabilities, available at AcidStream.com — designed to be accessible and fairly priced, with no predatory subscriptions and no fine print.

Together, he writes, we will turn the flamethrower on the broken systems.

Kerry Alan lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with his garden and his memories.

"Persevere in truth and love." — Sheryl