I had my pain management appointment today. My doctor quickly shut down the anti-depressant idea for me for several reasons...
1- I'm not depressed, and anti-depressants can have some pretty unfortunate side effects
2- I'm young and she doesn't want me to start on an anti-depressant regime for the next few decades
3- While anti-depressants can be used for pain relief it is meant for older people with a different kind of pain. It's more for fibromyalgia related pain, not there is a tumor pressing against your hip socket pain.
Now, on to today's NHBPM post. Today's topic is...
5 things that changed my life. For better? For worse? List 5 things that changed your life as a patient, caregiver, or Health Activist and how.
1) My first birthday- The day I was diagnosed with MHE. Pretty self explanatory of why that changed my life.
2) My first surgery- I was ten years old. My first surgery was supposed to be a fairly easy with a quick recovery. It ended up causing massive complications and the worst pain I'll probably ever experience. I was forced to grow up very quickly in order to deal with everyhing. Before my surgery I was a child with a minor disability. After the surgery I was a young adult with a severe disability.
3) Crippie Meets Fellow Crippies- When I was younger I thought I was all alone with my disability, but after my first surgery my family started reaching out to other families with MHE. Within the next two years I was in contact with several Crippies my age and we became friends (I'm still in touch with most of 'em btw). From that point on I stopped feeling alone and pitying myself.
4) Physical Therapy- I've had PT on and off for the past 12 years. When I started PT it was incredibly painful. The therapists were crying watching me struggle. One of my therapists told me that if I wanted to get better I would have to deal with the pain and work through it. This was a huge epitome moment for me. I worked really hard at my therapy, struggled through the pain, and saw results. I have applied this philosophy to everything else I have ever done. If ever I feel like I can't do something, I push myself and try to make it happen.
5) CRIPPLEFEST- Every year we have a gathering of cripples at my house. It really is one of the biggest highlights of my year. Apart from it being a blast, it has always been a day of support and activism for us. I became a mentor for some of the younger cripples and I am trying to see to it that my little "buddies" don't suffer in the way that I did.
So those are the main things that transformed Crippie into the cripple she is. Most of them sprung out of the first surgery one, the more I think about it the more realize how much that bastard screwed me up.
Crippie's Tippie- Even though something royally sucks and has probably changed your life in a negative way that doesn't mean something good can't come out of it. Without that first surgery I never would have met my cripples!
This post was written as part of NHBPM – 30 health posts in 30 days: http://bit.ly/vU0g9J
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