That Went Better Than Expected

Ohai!

The Mama Pig Update - She seems to be stable again. She probably had a very minor UTI that we were able to treat by flushing her out. It's become pretty apparent that Mama, Frida, and Nellie are genetically prone to UTIs and bladder issues. Knowing this Crippie has to make a special effort to keep their tushies clean. This involves changing their bedding more frequently, occasionally wiping their butts with a pet wipe, and maybe trimming the fur by their bums. Sure, it's a little more effort, but it's soooooo much easier than taking care of a pig with a massive UTI.

I hope all my crippled comrades are having a lovely week. Crippie's week is going oddly well. First off, Crippie managed to redesign the blog (one of my new year's resolution)! It's not completely done yet, but I figured out how to make a custom navigation bar and remove some parts of the HTML/CSS coding that I didn't like in the original theme! YAY ME! If anyone is wondering how I did this, Crippie has a very basic knowledge of HTML and CSS, and what I didn't know I looked up and occasionally just googled "how do I make a custom navigation bar on blogger" or "How do I get rid of the white panels in my blogger theme". Crippie used Adobe Illustrator to make her new header and menu, I lurv me some Adobe Illustrator. Overall the whole process was much less daunting than I thought it would be. Crippie thought she was gonna crash the blog or something, soooooo happy I didn't break this thing.

On Thursday I went to my bi-monthly pain management appointment. It went very well and we bowed down to my doctor for guessing the whole sciatica thing before anyone else. She recommended that I do exercises to keep my sciatica at bay for the time being. My doctor also told me how much full blown sciatica sucks, so that reaffirmed my decision to remove Fanny.

Speaking of Fanny, today I decided to tell my boss that I will need 2-3 weeks off of work to have surgery. Crippie's opted to be very upfront with her. I told her that I have a genetic disorder that causes bone tumors to grow on my bones, that I have a tumor the size of a grapefruit on the back of my hip, and that I need to have it removed. My boss was super nice and supportive about the whole thing. I did stress that the surgery doesn't have to be done immediately so I can wait for a slow period in work. She said that if that doesn't work, she can just hire a temp for 2 weeks, no big deal. Soooooooooo relieved. I was nervous as to how my boss would react to me telling her what was wrong with me, her only question for me was "Are you in pain?". It was kinda adorable actually. It's good to know that my boss actually cares. Now Crippie has to try to schedule her surgery, that'll be interesting to say the least.

Crippie's Tippie - If your boss/doctor/superior/whatever doesn't care about your general well being... they suck

Pain Wars!

Sup Everybody!



I hope all of my readers had a terrific Tuesday. Crippie's day went rather well, I had work and I took care of the pets... nothin' special. Let's move on to Crippie's Jew song of the day shall we. Today's song has absolutely nothing to do with Passover, but it's one of Crippie's favorite Jew songs. I love "Tzena, Tzena, Tzena" because a) the chorus is super easy to memorize b) Pete Seeger... nuff said.

Continuing on to actual cripple related stuff, Crippie had a very interesting conversation with her co-workers a few days ago. I'm not sure how it happened but somehow or another we got into a "Pain War" where everyone described the most pain that they've ever been in and we then decided who's was worst. Crippie's coworkers where telling tales of scratching their corneas and sinus surgery. Generally speaking I love winning competitions like this. It might seem weird, but if I'm gonna suffer I better win a damn contest for it. Crippie could've easily won this competition by saying "NERVE DAMAGE IN MY LEG. A YEAR'S WORTH OF PAIN. I WIN" but I didn't. Crippie lied and said that getting a tattoo on my ribcage was the most painful thing I've ever experienced. Why? Well, no one at work knows why I'm a cripple, and if I said that I'd kinda have to tell them why. Also my coworker's pains were very much temporary, and thus there is no real pity there. If Crippie said "oh yeah, I had nerve damage when I was ten. It was the worst pain I'll ever experience in my life and it lasted for about a year, although it still hurts from time to time" I'd probably depress the living hell out of my coworkers. Regardless of how I sugarcoat that story, my coworkers would feel sorry for me, and that simply will no do. The main reason Crippie lied was because my manager was competing in this competition... and you ALWAYS let your superiors win!

So what do you guys think? Was Crippie over-analyzing the situation? Was I right in thinking it's probably not a good idea to bring up traumatic childhood situations at work? If you were having a Pain Off at your office what would you say?

Crippie's Tippie - LET YOUR BOSS WIN EVERYTHING 

Working With Pain

Hey Y'all!

I took my pain medication an hour later than I should've and boy am I feeling the consequences. Lesson learned, and I hope you all have learned from my fail.

While I'm on the subject of pain, people have been asking me how pain effects me at the office. I'm not gonna lie, there have been times whilst at work where I've been temporarily rendered useless by pain. I could hardly type a few days ago. My arthritis was so bad that it literally hurt me to press the shift key with my pinky finger. Regardless of how much pain I might be in at any given time I refuse to let my coworkers know it. The moment I put the "pain card" on the table people are gonna start treating me differently. So here is what Crippie does for pain management at work...
1) Take pain medication regularly- I take pain medication every morning before work, usually that helps take away the worst pain. If I am in more pain during the day I just take another pill.
2) Hot Water- When I couldn't type I took a quick bathroom break and ran my hands under hot water for a few minutes. It loosened my hands up enough so I could continue work.
3) Take a super quick break- If my pain is so bad that I literally can't do anything I just sit at my desk for a minute or two until it passes.

While these work relatively well, at the moment my biggest life saver is SQUISHY!

I Shall Call You Squishy, & You Shall Be Mine, & You Shall Be My Squishy

Squishy is technically a "sensory stimulator gel pad" and is used to calm down "agitated, diminished capacity, elderly people". Squishy looks like something you would buy to keep your hands in a good position while working on a keyboard, so no one at work seems to notice the giant blue squishy thing on my desk. Not only does Squishy keep my wrists comfy but it also me message my fingers when they stiff, distracts me when I am in too much pain to focus, and it helps me focus when I get tired. 

Fidget toys in general have kept my functioning for years, but Squishy is probably the more "grown-up" fidget toys I own. One of these days I do a post devoted to the rest of my collection.

Crippie's Tippie- Don't stray from your medication schedule. Bad things happen when you forget your pills.

Working With A Disability- Day Nine

Howdy Y'all

Crippie had a very good day today. I got my very first pay check today. It's little normal moments like that that make me feel... well... normal. Work is going pretty well if I do say so myself. Listening to music and nomming on smarties and gum definitely help me stay focused. The one downside of the smartie noshing is that my boss literally thinks I am addicted to them. I need to find more nosh items. I'm looking for portable, not messy food that is sold in giant quanities. Any suggestions readers?

Moving on to a question that I have been asked recently, "how do your co-workers treat you?" So far all of my coworkers have been wonderful to the little newbie. No one has asked why I walk with a cane. I get the feeling that people are curious but they are afraid to ask. Me thinks people are afraid of offending me and causing a big discrimination issue in the office. The only time my disability was brought up was when I mentioned that the only ramp to the building is blocked off, and how that is really not a good idea. I was taken into a back room to be told that the ramp is only "sorta" blocked and that it is still usable. It's kinda weird how people feel the need to be "hush hush" about the whole "I'm a cripple" thing. Oh well, as long as my coworkers are nice to me that's all that matters.

Off-topic, I took a very cute picture of my guinea pig Aggie. Aggie is my chunky monkey.

Crippie's Question- To my fellow crippies in the workforce, do you tell your bosses what's wrong with you? Did they ask?