I Have Multiple Sclerosis
I was one class away from my degree in network administration. I was employed (they want me back and have arranged minimal work from home.) Then I went half numb while at work. Everything on the right was numb, right down the middle. I was even half-assed. It was weird. I was at work, doing alarm dispatch and had to call my boss to relieve me and a friend to take me into the hospital.
My first thought was a stroke. Theirs was too. After the MRI, the diagnosis came back. Mild demyelinating disease.
Over the next week I got worse and worse. I ended up in the hosp for 15 days, not swallowing, talking clearly or walking. I lost fifteen pounds on the incredibly disgusting hospital babyfood diet. I got better and went home after rehab.
I arrived home to a very poopy dog and had to stagger to the sink and put her in it and clean her up. It was awful. There was another horrible smell too. I called friends who came to help.
Did I mention that I care for my stepson who is a special needs child. He is about 12 yrs old at 28 yrs old. He had not noticed the dogs mess tho he petted her. We searched and searched and finally found the rest of the smell.
My stepson had tried to cook a brisket. Evidently he was sick of the nukable and just add water things friends brought him. He got creative. He DID unwrap it (thank god) and sprinkled the seasonings on the pan and laid the frozen hunk on it and then cooked it till it was black on the outside and raw on the inside still. He ate the outside off and then tossed it UNDER the garbage bag in the can. After a week or so of hot weather, he still didn't notice the smell. Once we removed that and opened all the windows and doors and Ousted the entire house. It got livable.
I was out of the hospital for a week staggering about taking care of the dog. I have always done animal rescue, usually exotics, but this was a dog from Old Dog Haven. She was on the way out and with walker and my stepson helping, she was in and out of the hospital. The idiot ate a ROCK. She didn't make it long after her surgery and almost as soon as she died, I was back in the slammer, oh, excuse me HOSPITAL again. Let's just say that I am too much of an anarchist to adopt well to an institutional lifestyle.
I finally got a permanent neurologist. She started me on Rebif and its been all uphill from there. I am staying out of the hospital since I started it, and at the six month MRI, they had greatly shrunk or vanished. I had over 20 very active in bad places ones when I started Rebif.
SSI Disability came thru on the first try. I spent a fun time doing the welfare thing when I couldn't talk or write. When I went back in the hosp again, they closed the case so I had to start all over again when I got out. I went down in a wheelchair and sat there for five hours till I could get seen. I had ALL the paperwork and it finally went thru.
I had GREAT supportive friends and my Mom who paid my bills and helped out till I could get things leveled out again. They came out of the woodwork. A friend brought me a memory foam pillow because my neck was a mess. She brought children's books with big print and light enough for my hands to hold. They were good ones too. Old Dog Haven got me groceries when I came home. Delivered. It was very nice of them.
My short term memory is not really there any more. They are giving me my degree, but I can't remember much I learned in school. I am in Phi Theta Kappa and on the National Deans List. I still have a years worth of tuition, good for five more years. (scholarship) But I putter thru the chores bit by bit. I can at least stand long enough to do the dishes most days. I just keep at things till they are done. Some days I feel like a fraud for being on disability and some days I realize that I really am disabled. Like waking up to find that this crazy dream is real. One day at a time. I am pretty happy. Its not can I or not. It is HOW can I. There are very few can'ts. Just creative solutions.
My first thought was a stroke. Theirs was too. After the MRI, the diagnosis came back. Mild demyelinating disease.
Over the next week I got worse and worse. I ended up in the hosp for 15 days, not swallowing, talking clearly or walking. I lost fifteen pounds on the incredibly disgusting hospital babyfood diet. I got better and went home after rehab.
I arrived home to a very poopy dog and had to stagger to the sink and put her in it and clean her up. It was awful. There was another horrible smell too. I called friends who came to help.
Did I mention that I care for my stepson who is a special needs child. He is about 12 yrs old at 28 yrs old. He had not noticed the dogs mess tho he petted her. We searched and searched and finally found the rest of the smell.
My stepson had tried to cook a brisket. Evidently he was sick of the nukable and just add water things friends brought him. He got creative. He DID unwrap it (thank god) and sprinkled the seasonings on the pan and laid the frozen hunk on it and then cooked it till it was black on the outside and raw on the inside still. He ate the outside off and then tossed it UNDER the garbage bag in the can. After a week or so of hot weather, he still didn't notice the smell. Once we removed that and opened all the windows and doors and Ousted the entire house. It got livable.
I was out of the hospital for a week staggering about taking care of the dog. I have always done animal rescue, usually exotics, but this was a dog from Old Dog Haven. She was on the way out and with walker and my stepson helping, she was in and out of the hospital. The idiot ate a ROCK. She didn't make it long after her surgery and almost as soon as she died, I was back in the slammer, oh, excuse me HOSPITAL again. Let's just say that I am too much of an anarchist to adopt well to an institutional lifestyle.
I finally got a permanent neurologist. She started me on Rebif and its been all uphill from there. I am staying out of the hospital since I started it, and at the six month MRI, they had greatly shrunk or vanished. I had over 20 very active in bad places ones when I started Rebif.
SSI Disability came thru on the first try. I spent a fun time doing the welfare thing when I couldn't talk or write. When I went back in the hosp again, they closed the case so I had to start all over again when I got out. I went down in a wheelchair and sat there for five hours till I could get seen. I had ALL the paperwork and it finally went thru.
I had GREAT supportive friends and my Mom who paid my bills and helped out till I could get things leveled out again. They came out of the woodwork. A friend brought me a memory foam pillow because my neck was a mess. She brought children's books with big print and light enough for my hands to hold. They were good ones too. Old Dog Haven got me groceries when I came home. Delivered. It was very nice of them.
My short term memory is not really there any more. They are giving me my degree, but I can't remember much I learned in school. I am in Phi Theta Kappa and on the National Deans List. I still have a years worth of tuition, good for five more years. (scholarship) But I putter thru the chores bit by bit. I can at least stand long enough to do the dishes most days. I just keep at things till they are done. Some days I feel like a fraud for being on disability and some days I realize that I really am disabled. Like waking up to find that this crazy dream is real. One day at a time. I am pretty happy. Its not can I or not. It is HOW can I. There are very few can'ts. Just creative solutions.
By:
triara
