To Slice or Not to Slice

Greetings!

I hope all my crippled comrades had a lovely Monday. Mine went very well, mainly because today was my mom's birthday! Crippie successfully managed to surprise her mom several times today. For example, I told my mother that I had to go to work early today, while in reality I had to go pick up cupcakes (that was my mom's only request for the day). Crippie rushed out the door without properly saying goodbye, only to sneak back in the house 10 minutes later with cupcakes in hand. Crippie is sneaky like that.

Moving on, I actually have a cripple question for y'all today! Crippie has had 10 surgeries, most of those surgeries were elective. Crippie and Crippie alone decided to have certain things done. People have asked me "Why on Earth would you want to have surgery?" and "How did you decide that surgery was necessary?".

First off, most MHE related surgeries involve removing problematic tumors. If a tumor gets wrapped up or caught in a muscle or a nerve it hurts like a mofo. If it does not resolve itself on it's own, it needs assistance. Crippie chooses to have surgery when...
1) The pain of the surgery will probably be less than the pain I'm in now
2) Quality of life is affected
3) There is the potential for something to go realllyyyyy wrong
4) It's a super fun high risk tumor

Essentially Crippie chooses to have surgery when the pros outweigh the cons. The cons can be pretty serious sometimes. Any surgery has the potential to go very wrong. Complications happen. Crippie is well aware of the damage a surgery can do. So the problem has to be pretty serious.

Take Fanny for example, I'm choosing to remove her for several reasons
1) My hip freakin' hurts
2) the sciatica is causing mobility issues with my leg which could get worse (my leg could become permanently bent)
3) She's a super fun high risk tumor
4) Her size is become cumbersome, I can't lay on a hard surface

To help illustrate my point, I made a little checklist thingy for y'all. Maybe it'll be useful for someone...

Crippie's Tippie - Do not take surgeries lightly, they suck... so your problems have to suck more than they do.

Crippie's Bloggie Tips!

Ohai

ENTER MY CONTEST PEOPLES!!! You have till Friday!

Moving on, people have been asking me for blogging advice recently. So without further adieu I give you

CRIPPIE ANSWERS BLOGGING RELATED QUESTIONS!!!

1) Why did you start blogging?

I started blogging because it was a homework assignment. Crippie was taking a social media course and having a blog was actually a requirement. I rather enjoyed the whole blogging experience so I decided to keep the blog going even though I am no longer being graded for it (btw, I got an A for the blog).

2) Do you ever get any negative feedback, if so how do you deal with it?

Luckily I've never had any real negative feedback or comments on this blog. I get the occasional spam comment which I delete. Generally speaking negative commenters are trolls, and you never ever feed a troll. Just let the comment be. 

3) Do looks matter?

As a graphic designer of course I am going to say that having a pretty blog does make a difference. Seriously though, having a properly designed blog makes you look more legit and it sets you apart from other bloggers. 

4) Any tips to boost viewership?

I get a fair amount of traffic from social networking sites for bloggers like bloggers.com and 20sb.net. I also get traffic by participating in events like blog hops and NHBPM. I've also found that consistently labeling my posts makes it easier for people using google to find me. 

Crippie's Tippie- Remember, blogging "success" takes time and a fair amount of effort. 

On Bullies & Being Bullied

Hey Y'all

I figured I'd discuss a "hot button" issue tonight... bullying. Bullying has definitely been a hot topic issue for the past few months and rightfully so. It's become an issue because we allowed it to happen. Damn near all of us have been bullied at one point or another, so we are used to it and numb to it. We don't always see how bad bullying can get, especially with the onset of social media, and kids are paying the ultimate price of it. I figure I might as well share my experience with bullying.
When I was in Elementary School I was mainly teased for being slow in gym. It wasn't anything Earth shattering but it made me hate gym. Most of my experiences with teasing stem from Middle School. I was teased because I had "bad hair", "bad clothes", and the whole "cripple" thing. I got the occasional snarky comment and some genius tried to trip me once. Most of the people I knew opted to shun me for some reason or another, mainly because I was very sick in Middle School and the little normals couldn't deal with it. In hindsight most of what I went through wasn't terrible but it had a profound effect on my life regardless. When people stopped talking to me I stopped talking to them. I became socially awkward. This was the point when I started missing milestones. To this day I am what some might consider "socially retarded". I don't look people in the eye and I am insanely quiet. I pretty much useless in social situations with people I don't know, I just sit in the corner and keep to myself. So yeah, I have deep seeded feelings that being sick and stupid little normals ruined my childhood. I'm trying to "get over" all that stuff, it's a process but I feel I'm making improvements.
In High School I figured that bullies are just assholes and should be treated as such. Whenever someone would try to say something rude to me or to my friends I would critique their form and lack of originality. I recall one time when I was senior some little twerp was trying to say something rude to me (I think he was calling me a bitch, I don't remember) and I responded with a simple "You're a sophomore... why the hell are you even talking to me?". It shut him up.

So what can we do about this? Here's a special edition of Crippie's Tippie!

Crippie's Tippie for kids being bullied- 
-Remember that bullies are assholes, you cannot let them have any power over you
-Be a wise ass right back to them, SHOW NO FEAR
-What goes around comes around. I recently found some of my old tormentors on facebook, they now lead lonely miserable lives! 
-People tease others to feel better about themselves, chances are the bully has issues
-Remember that Middle School sucks for everyone. 
-The whole "it gets better" thing is true. What happens in Middle School and High School is so insignificant in the long run.
-Please do not harm yourself or anyone else. If your bullying situation is that bad that you feel you need to do one of those things, please tell an adult. There is someone out there who can help you.


Crippie's Tippie for kids who pick on other kids to make themselves feel better-
-Grow the hell up, seriously
-R-E-S-P-E-C-T find out what means in general


Crippie's Tippie for Parents
-Teach your children to respect everyone
-Your child is not perfect, if you find out your kid is bullying others... PUNISH THEM. Let them know that what they are doing is beyond horrible and cannot be tolerated. 
-If your child is being bullied remember that it might not seem like a huge issue, but to a pre-teen EVERYTHING IS A HUGE ISSUE
-Remember that its not "just" bullying, it can have very severe consequences.


What do you guys think about the bullying issue? What should we do about it? Feel free to post your opinion in the comment section.

Fellow Crippie's Unite!

Greetings,

One of the main reasons I blog is to give support for other people in my situation. So when I found a blog hop of blogs related to disabilities by Kat's Cafe I knew I had to join to. I urge my fellow crippies to check these blogs out, ya never know what kind of information you will find on 'em.

Crippie's Tippie: Check out my fellow crippie's blogs!

Dealing With Pain

Greetings Readers!

I'm having a bit of a flare up today, so I figured I'd give a big post of "Crippie's Tippies" on dealing with pain. Before I begin I should state that what works for me will not work for everyone, and that if you are in a considerable amount of pain, please consult a physician.

Crippie's Tippies For Dealing With Pain

-Find a pain medicine that works for you. If basic pain meds like Motrin don't work for you, see a pain management doctor. Pain management really helps me go through my day.

-Heat or ice. Either or directs more blood circulation to the area that is causing problems and relaxes the area. I prefer heat, but ice works wonders too.

-DISTRACTIONS!!! If the pain won't be going away any time soon (which is mainly my case), nothing works quite like a computer game where I can set things on fire.

-Mental Healing. I've tried things like breathing exercises and Reiki. They didn't necessarily work for me, but they have done wonders for some of my friends.

Again, everyone's situation is different. I live with chronic pain. Today a tumor behind my knee cap got tangled with some muscle or tendon. This is a general flare up for me, hopefully it will only last for a few days.

On a side note, I'll be posting some very good news soon. So keep checking in over the next few weeks! :D