Needles, Shots, and IVs... OH MY

Oh hai,
This blog hop is going swimmingly, I've already met a bunch of awesome people. Keep the posts coming guys!

So as mentioned in a prior post I have a tattoo. I've had it for about two years.

Here's my tattoo, it's a bird designed by Charley Harper! 

One question people ask me is "did it hurt?". Well, yeah, it's a tattoo, someone is drawing on your skin with a needle, of course it hurts. The real question was "how much did it hurt". Due to years of surgeries I have a very high pain threshold. So getting a tattoo didn't really hurt that much. Granted, I got my tattoo on my shoulder blade which is a relatively pain free area. If I got a tattoo on my ribcage this would be a very different story. Actually I've been able to compare the pain of a tattoo to various other needle procedures I've had done. So without further adieu I give you...

CRIPPIE'S LIST-IE OF WHICH NEEDLE RELATED PROCEDURES HURT MOST

1) Putting in an IV- when this is not done by someone who knows what they are doing it hurts like a mofo and it continues to hurt for about an hour. Although this is relatively painless when a "professional" does it.
2) Getting a tattoo- This gets second place because while it is mainly an uncomfortable feeling, it'll be uncomfortable until the tattoo is done.
3) Giving blood- It takes a bigger needle, but the pain goes away super fast.
4) Having blood drawn- It really doesn't hurt and whatever pain you might feel goes away within a few seconds.
5) Getting a shot- It literally takes two seconds, you should be able to suck up the stinging feeling for two seconds.

Crippie's Tippie- Make sure that person shoving an IV needle into your arm knows what they are doing.

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!

IT'S GON' RAIN!

Hello!

As my fellow New Yorkers might have noticed... this past week's weather has been interesting to say the least. We had a few good torrential downpours by me. When normal people hear the words "IT'S GON' RAIN" from any weather person apart from Ollie Williams they generally think time to get out the umbrella ella ella ella eh eh... DAMN RIHANNA. When I hear "IT'S GON' RAIN" I think "IT'S GON' HURT". As mentioned here, one of the reasons I am a crippie is that I have arthritis. My arthritis is on the minor side compared to, let's say an elderly person, but I have it none the less. Changes in barometric pressure and humidity have a profound effect on people with arthritis. Said changes cause our joints to further swell, and thus more pain. Several of this weeks storms literally rendered me useless. I was going to blog about something but I could barely move my hands. Again, keep in mind my arthritis isn't terrible, I can only imagine what people with severe arthritis go though. So what does a crippie do in times of massive weather changes? I recommend the following things...
1) Pain medications
2) Moist heat
3) Rest

On to more pressing issues. Whilst rendered useless I went to www.urbandictionary.com and typed in the word "crippie". Much to my dismay the definition had NOTHING to do with cripples at all, it meant "very good pot". I tried to add my own definition for the word, but alas it was rejected. Loyal readers, join me in revamping Urban Dictionary's definition of the word crippie by submitting your own definition. If possible, try not to make it about drugs or some perverted sex act... it's been done enough.

Crippie's Tippie- Arthritis can be a bitch if not properly treated and managed. If you have arthritis, take care of yourself. Do your exercises, take your medicines, take your vitamins, etc. I recommend Omega 3 fish oils, glucosamine, and chondroitin. 

Book 'Em

Hi Everybody!

In my post about distractions I mentioned that I am not a huge reader. Blogger doesn't like to read... ironic ain't it. Anyways I figured I would actually do a count of books that I have willingly purchased for non-school reasons that have no pictures in them. Ready for the grand total *drum roll* TWO. I purchased two books with no pictures in them! I'm actually surprised by that number, I thought it was lower. Like zero.

Now that I think about it, I do use books for distractions, just in a different way. While some of these books I bought for inspiration for work, some I bought because I thought the stuff inside was pretty. I like looking at pretty things because it helps distract me from the ugly things that might be happening in my life. I like art books because you can cram a lot of pretty into one book. I could spend the money on a painting or a print and get one pretty thing OR I could get a book and get over a 100 pretty things that I can look at whenever my little heart desires.

Off Topic- I'm watching "The Daily Show". Cameron Diaz is removing Jon Stewart's stitches. While I can hear some audience members cringing I am not grossed out by this at all. I'm actually  impressed by her ability to do that. I now feel morally obliged to see her movie.

Crippie's Tippie- Like the idea of pretty books, check out this blog. It has oodles of pretty books. I look at the pretty books there all the time. It's honestly one of the top hits on my safari browser. 

Awesome TV Show- The Little Couple

Hola!

First off... HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!!!

When I'm not watching cartoons I watch medical shows and documentaries. One of my favorite medical related tv shows is "The Little Couple" on TLC. "The Little Couple" is a reality show that follows Bill Klein and Jen Arnold as they go about their lives as newlyweds. Both Bill and Jen have dwarfism, thus the title of the show. It's one of my favorite shows for several reasons.
1) It shows the daily challenges of someone with a disability.
2) Bill Klein and Jen Arnold are insanely successful people, even without the reality show. The show proves that disabled people can lead very fulfilling lives.
3) As time progresses the viewer sees them less and less as "dwarves" but rather as people.
4) They have a very positive attitude about their disabilities. They acknowledge the challenges that being a dwarf can bring, but they rise to the occasion and continue on with their lives.

And while it was on television the show "Little People, Big World" was also quite inspiring. At first people thought of it as a show about a family of dwarves, eventually people thought of it as a show about the Roloff family.

Shows like this help the able bodied community become less "afraid" if you will of people with visible disabilities. I cannot count how many times I've seen a stranger look at me with a weird look because I walk with a crutch, I wish people would stop being so sensitive and look beyond the crutch. I really hope shows like "The Little Couple", "Little People, Big World" and countless other medical documentaries help people do that.

Crippie's Tippie- Just because a disability might be the first thing you see, that doesn't mean it's the first thing you should remember.

I'll Bust A Capsaicin In Yo....

Sup

Last weekend I went on a super quick vacation to Tennessee. Whilst in Cracker Barrel, one of the greatest restaurants of all time I came across this...

This has to be the shnazziest pain relieving liniment I've ever seen. Maybe it's just the graphic designer in me, but I wouldn't be ashamed to have this in my medicine drawer. Alas I did not obtain this product. I chose not to because the main ingredient is capsaicin. It's not the capsaicin doesn't work. Quite the contrary actually. I use it when I have really bad nerve flare ups. The problem I have with capsaicin is that it burns like a mofo after coming into contact with water. I used it once on my leg and took a shower several HOURS later. There was a burning sensation on my leg as soon as it hit the water. It took several hours and lots of ice for it to go away. Thinking it was just a happy coincidence I still used capsaicin after that. One day I washed my hands hours after putting capsaicin on my fingers, naturally my fingers start burning. It took a fair amount of menthol to get them to stop. So now I use capsaicin veeerrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyy gingerly and I make sure not to come into contact with water for at least a day. Also, you do NOT want this stuff anywhere near your eyes, bad things happen. But ultimately I chose not to buy it because I am a broke ass college grad.

Crippie's Tippie- If you need it, capsaicin works. But be prepared to FEEL THE BURN.

Pills, Pills, Pills

Greetings!

WOW, over 1,000 views! I really want to thank everyone who reads this. To thank you guys I'll cover yet another controversial topic... DRUGS!

Prescription pain medications are perfectly fine when put in the right hands. I have to use some pretty strong medications in to sleep at night, otherwise I would be in too much pain to fall asleep. The first night I was able to take pain meds and fall asleep without tossing and turning for 5 hours was the without a doubt the best night of my life. What people need to understand is that taking pain medicine is not just getting loopy off vicodin. There are downsides to taking serious pain meds, even when prescribed them. First off, I can't drink alcohol. When I do drink it is very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very small amounts. Next, there are the side effects. The medications I take cause some tummy problems, and I take have to take a secondary medication to keep those side effects at bay. Regardless, it still causes tummy issues even with the other meds. There is also a chance of dependency and building up a tolerance. Since I'm 22 and will probably be taking pain pills for the rest of my life this is naturally an issue. I have to go to my pain management doctor every other month to make sure that all is well in the department. Ultimately, it's a sacrifice. If I didn't need pain medications, I wouldn't take them. Simple as that.

As for the people who do not need pain medicine but take it anyway. I hate people who abuse "my medications". Abusers of pain pills are doing an insane amount of damage to their bodies. They make it harder for people who need pain medications to obtain them. So yeah, moral of the story...
IF YOU DON'T NEED PAIN MEDICATIONS, DON'T TAKE 'EM.

Crippie's Tippie- NEVER take pains pills for recreational reasons, it is a stupid idea.

Distractions, Wonderful Distractions

Ohai,

I'm having a bit of a flare up tonight. It feels like there is a giant weight in my hip. Arthritis is a bitch sometimes. Essentially I'm blogging right now to distract myself. I'd figured I'd make a list of my favorite current distractions.

1) The Sims- Gotta love the Sims, focus on some virtual person's problems and not yours. Plus they just released a new expansion pack which occupied most (what am I kidding... ALL) of my day. Also you get to set things on fire, as I've said before setting virtual things on fire always makes me feel better.

2) Failblog.org- Schadenfreude (happiness at the misfortune of others) is alive and well and I'm loving every minute of it. What can I say, looking at idiots makes me feel better about my own life.

3) Netflix.com- Currently I've been into watching "The Twilight Zone" (the original series FTW), so whenever I'm not exactly comfortable I can go either on my computer, phone, or TV and watch the episode where the guy breaks his reading glasses.

4) 99designs.com- Sometimes just focusing on work is the best distraction. I distract myself by trying to get freelance work.

5) collegehumor.com- Yes, I find this stuff freakin' hilarious, shut up.

And if you're wondering why I'm not mentioning "BOOKS" in this, I have no attention span for reading. The pain would be too distracting. One of these days I'm gonna make a tally of how many books I have... and how many of them have no pictures.

Crippie's Tippie- As far as finding good distractions, whatever you can totally immerse yourself in... do it

Reproducing & Producing Problems

Hello,

YAY I've reached over 800 views! As you might have noticed, I'm sprucing up the blog a little. What can I say, I'm a graphic designer... I'll never be happy with how it looks.

Anyway, as a reward for having over 800 page views I figured I would answer the most controversial question I've been asked. "Can you have kids, and if you can, should you?". This question is very sensitive and has flamed many an internet forum. First off, technically I can have children. Now on to the science. My genetic disorder is caused by a dominant gene. This means that only one parent needs to carry the gene for the child to get the disorder. Assuming my at the moment imaginary husband does not carry the gene there is a 50% chance of me passing on the gene to my child. So, just how like my kid could be a boy or a girl, my kid could be normal or a cripple.
Let's move on to ethics. Should I have a kid or try to have a kid willingly knowing that said kid could be a cripple. Here's my take on the situation... while my disability sucks, it's manageable and not terminal.
-But you're willingly making your kid's life difficult
Life is always gonna be difficult, plus I have knowledge and experience as a cripple to make the kid's life less suck-y.
-But your kid is going to be in pain.
Valid point here. I'm not a parent but I can assume that this would be the hardest part of have a cripple as a child, and knowing that it is my fault would be insanely hard. Again, pain sucks, but it's not the end of the world. Pain can be treated and in my opinion dealing with it has made me a stronger person in the end.
-But your kid is gonna be teased!
Weakest.argument.ever. Everyone is teased.
-But you're passing a disability through your bloodline, it could continue for generations
Yeeeeeaaaaahhhhhhhh, I'll admit, I don't want to be the reason my great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandkids are cripples. But again, it's not like I'm passing on some life ruining disease that turns you into a potato, it is manageable.

So what is my overall take on the situation? As long as you are not passing along a terminal illness (and by terminal illness I mean guaranteed to die) go for it. Having a disability is not the end of the world. People with disabilities can lead very productive lives, so why be ashamed!

Crippie's Tippie- Genetic testing is also becoming more of an option, so those who totally disagree with me can spend the money to have IVF selecting only non-cripple eggs.