Sun light woke me about 5AM. As usual the bladder would not let me lay in my trusty rusty recliner any longer, so I had to get my pug, Susie, to let me get up so I could get my large frame out of the rickety recliner which is in itself quite a feat and should be considered exercise this early in the morning. Having neuropathy in both feet makes this an even more thrilling adventure first thing in the morning as my feet don't like the pressure of my body. Oh well, most mornings start off just like this. Recap: Sun light, full bladder, sleepy dog, hurting feet prolonged agony until the day must begin and I must put feet to carpet and begin the day by making my trip to the bathroom. Return to trusty rusty recliner, move Susie slightly, sit, recline, grab phone, scan facebook, begin first game of the day. Take my first pill. Ah, this is the life. NOT
I want a meaningful life. I want to go to work like most 55 year old people. I went to college to be able to work until I choose to retire. These strokes and other illnesses have really pulled a number on me. All of you out there that criticize those of us that are on social security and medicare at an early age need to stop and at least wonder what put us here. For most of us it is not by choice. For me it was an undiagnosed blood disorder. This neuropathy has me where some days I cannot walk without excruciating pain in my feet and legs , in fact all days I walk like the penguin on Batman. WTF. I did not sign up to play that role.
I signed up to be a behavior analyst, and by most I was considered to be quite good at my job. However at the age of 50 my first stroke hit. It was blamed on smoking. I quit. The second stroke hit at 52. This one had no reason, so tests were run and it was discovered that I have APS, antiphospolipid syndrome. According to the Mayo Clinic, Antiphospholipid syndrome is a disorder in which your immune system
mistakenly produces antibodies against certain normal proteins in your
blood. Antiphospholipid syndrome can cause blood clots to form within
your arteries or veins as well as pregnancy complications, such as
miscarriages and stillbirths. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health Another symptom of this disorder is migraines.
I had migraines from the time I was seven. In fact they were so bad that I was on disability for the first time at the age of 40. My doctors finally got me on medications where I could return to work. Had they only done a simple blood test the strokes I have suffered which have turned my life upside down could have been prevented.
The side effect since both strokes are short term memory deficits, balance issues, spelling problems, math problems, mild aphasia, can't control appetite, anger issues, over emotional, and double vision. Given these issues I am unable to continue my work with the developmentally delayed population. However, I am in therapy to work towards fixing the aforementioned issues and I continue to maintain my credentials with the hopes of one day being able to work with this population again.
There is no greater joy that helping an autistic child learn to communicate his or her needs or teaching a developmentally delayed adult that there is a better way to ask for something than banging his or her head. I long for the day that I can be of service once again.
Stroke has robbed me of my life and livelihood. Stroke has robbed my community of a great behavior analyst. Everyone that has unexplained migraine should have this test for this syndrome. It should also be noted that different labs give different results. Depending on where you live you can be tested positive or negative. On the east coast I am negative, on the west coast I am positive. I'm trusting the west coast labs. When I had to go off my blood thinner for a recent surgery, it took three days for my blood to go below a normal humans level and over a month, on blood thinners, to get it up to a normal humans level, and I have to be at least two times that to prevent stroke. So, I know I have thick blood, and so do my doctors. There are other disorders that cause thick blood as well, have them all ruled out!
Ah, now it's time to take that second set of pills, life is good. NOT
Monday, May 27, 2013
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Jody Arias Brings out the Worst in Most of Us: In my humble opinion
Wow, with so much publicity circling around the Jody Arias trial, I figured I should add my two cents: as if anybody really cares. As an ordinary citizen with no connection to this trial I did not know it existed until my sister innocently asked me if I had been watching.
I still have not returned to work since my second stroke. ( I have since had a GI bleed, spent time in ICU, had a complete repair of my rotator cuff due to the fall from fainting from the GI bleed, ah life is so good to me, and I can now cut my lawn again with the assist of a self propelled mower. YEAH.) Since my second stroke I have such ADD symptoms that I usually have about 15 projects going on at one time and I accomplish one, maybe. So with nothing better to do, I turned to HLN (head line news) and watched the trial. I was totally lost. Did not have a clue what was going on. Jody, from here on out with be referred to as, it, was on the stand and I could not follow her. I could not figure out if it was her or me (hello stroke) so I figured maybe I could understand better if I watched the trial from the beginning.
Over the next several weeks I watched each and every day of the trial on YouTube until I was caught up to the current day which by now had some doctor attempting to claim it was suffering from PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), a syndrome I happen to have due to several life threatening events concerning my children. (Her symptoms were certainly not like mine. Oh how I would like to forget. Oh how I would like to get a good night sleeps. Hello ADD, Hello Stroke, Hello PTSD, wait, I digress.) I am now caught up with the rest of society and feel vindicated.
What actually brings me to this write this little diddy is what I see in social media concerning the trial and social media in general. What happened to Travis Alexander was Horrific. As far as I am concerned, and I realize my opinion means absolutely nothing, he was totally innocent, he did none of the things accused of him in the trial. And the things he did were justified. What I do not understand about the majority of today's society is the need to use profanity to express themselves.
I think the use of words that were once considered taboo have gone viral and it sickens me. To me, it shows the true state of the nation, or at least social media. When a man or woman can't make a statement without the use of such sickening vicious words, there is something wrong with how we have raised this society. My father would have blushed with bemusement. My mother would, to this day, scold me on this very social media, on which I write. Whether you support it or not, whether you want it to be put to death or not, I think that most of us can be a little more articulate with our choice of words. While you need not think that I am a prude, I have been accused of having a trash mouth, and I am ashamed that I taught my children some choice words I would rather they had learned from someone else. I am only stating that we should learn to self edit when and where we use these words.
Even after two strokes and having my speech taken twice, I have enough respect for myself and others to choose not to enter into a diatribe of curse words that may offend my readers. While we await yet another verdict that will not heal the family of Travis Alexander, I hope a blanket of peace will cover them and shield them from the inarticulate yet well meaning world of social media.
I still have not returned to work since my second stroke. ( I have since had a GI bleed, spent time in ICU, had a complete repair of my rotator cuff due to the fall from fainting from the GI bleed, ah life is so good to me, and I can now cut my lawn again with the assist of a self propelled mower. YEAH.) Since my second stroke I have such ADD symptoms that I usually have about 15 projects going on at one time and I accomplish one, maybe. So with nothing better to do, I turned to HLN (head line news) and watched the trial. I was totally lost. Did not have a clue what was going on. Jody, from here on out with be referred to as, it, was on the stand and I could not follow her. I could not figure out if it was her or me (hello stroke) so I figured maybe I could understand better if I watched the trial from the beginning.
Over the next several weeks I watched each and every day of the trial on YouTube until I was caught up to the current day which by now had some doctor attempting to claim it was suffering from PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), a syndrome I happen to have due to several life threatening events concerning my children. (Her symptoms were certainly not like mine. Oh how I would like to forget. Oh how I would like to get a good night sleeps. Hello ADD, Hello Stroke, Hello PTSD, wait, I digress.) I am now caught up with the rest of society and feel vindicated.
What actually brings me to this write this little diddy is what I see in social media concerning the trial and social media in general. What happened to Travis Alexander was Horrific. As far as I am concerned, and I realize my opinion means absolutely nothing, he was totally innocent, he did none of the things accused of him in the trial. And the things he did were justified. What I do not understand about the majority of today's society is the need to use profanity to express themselves.
I think the use of words that were once considered taboo have gone viral and it sickens me. To me, it shows the true state of the nation, or at least social media. When a man or woman can't make a statement without the use of such sickening vicious words, there is something wrong with how we have raised this society. My father would have blushed with bemusement. My mother would, to this day, scold me on this very social media, on which I write. Whether you support it or not, whether you want it to be put to death or not, I think that most of us can be a little more articulate with our choice of words. While you need not think that I am a prude, I have been accused of having a trash mouth, and I am ashamed that I taught my children some choice words I would rather they had learned from someone else. I am only stating that we should learn to self edit when and where we use these words.
Even after two strokes and having my speech taken twice, I have enough respect for myself and others to choose not to enter into a diatribe of curse words that may offend my readers. While we await yet another verdict that will not heal the family of Travis Alexander, I hope a blanket of peace will cover them and shield them from the inarticulate yet well meaning world of social media.
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