Mike,

It's easy to take things wrong when all the communication is over the internet. We can't see each other's face or body language and sometimes a tone of voice can be read into something when it's really not there so that soemthing that's genuinely intended as compassionate and constructive feedback is read as hostile or negative. It's also easier than real life to say something huffy or angry in return. I hang out to socialize in another online forum where that happens all the time it seems like (well, a lot more than here--and I've been hanging there for 8 years now).

As a social scientist, I'm actually amazed how *little* that sort of things happens here and I think it's because, in general, we are all survivors, or co-survivors of the same nasty disease and we tend to give each other the benefit of the doubt in terms of our perception of their intentions as well as our own responses.

So in short, I think what happened with you here could happen to anyone. I'm glad you've decided to stay and keep contributing.

Nelie