armslee
01-25-2008, 07:21 AM
Hi to all the newbies and the regulators of the board :smile tee
For those of you who haven't seen me around in the last 5 months and anyone new who would like to listen I have some personal experiences to share:
I will try to sum up what has happened in my life in a quick paragraph; here goes.....
Last October 11, my step mom whom I have been very close to my whole life suffered a massive stroke leaving her very dibilitated. She was the heart and soul of my family and the mom &) primary caregiver to my 22 year old severely autistic brother. She spent 1 week in CCU and 4 weeks at a rehab center to learn to speak, walk, feed herself, etc. During her recovery, I spent 5 days a week assisting her and 1 day a week taking care of their home responsibilities. My father was able to obtain daytime care for my brother and the afternoons with my mom. She came home in mid-November and has continued to have incredible improvement through out-patient services. Unfortunately my health started to fail miserably during this time, my marriage was strained and my mental stability was starting to crumble.
On the brighter side, since the week after Christmas I have been only going to mom and dad's on the weekends to help out where needed. Once my daughter started back to school I was able to have time to rest and recouperate during the days and work on my relationship with my spouse.
Then we had 2 deaths in the family over the last week.
All of this emotional drama has really taken it's toll on my health. I feel like I have been in the flare of a lifetime. My doctors really cannot do anything to help me since I have all the meds I need. But when you reach the point that I am in, drugs are like bandaids on gunshot wounds.
I am trying to stay optimistic about the situation, knowing that things will eventually settle down again over time. But it is just soooooo hard to even get out of bed in the mornings.
I think it is just amazing how much our symptoms can exasperate during critical periods in our lives. My heart goes out to any of you who may be experiencing anything like I have. Please know that you are not alone. Many of us here have had difficult times.
God bless and thanks for letting me share.
For those of you who haven't seen me around in the last 5 months and anyone new who would like to listen I have some personal experiences to share:
I will try to sum up what has happened in my life in a quick paragraph; here goes.....
Last October 11, my step mom whom I have been very close to my whole life suffered a massive stroke leaving her very dibilitated. She was the heart and soul of my family and the mom &) primary caregiver to my 22 year old severely autistic brother. She spent 1 week in CCU and 4 weeks at a rehab center to learn to speak, walk, feed herself, etc. During her recovery, I spent 5 days a week assisting her and 1 day a week taking care of their home responsibilities. My father was able to obtain daytime care for my brother and the afternoons with my mom. She came home in mid-November and has continued to have incredible improvement through out-patient services. Unfortunately my health started to fail miserably during this time, my marriage was strained and my mental stability was starting to crumble.
On the brighter side, since the week after Christmas I have been only going to mom and dad's on the weekends to help out where needed. Once my daughter started back to school I was able to have time to rest and recouperate during the days and work on my relationship with my spouse.
Then we had 2 deaths in the family over the last week.
All of this emotional drama has really taken it's toll on my health. I feel like I have been in the flare of a lifetime. My doctors really cannot do anything to help me since I have all the meds I need. But when you reach the point that I am in, drugs are like bandaids on gunshot wounds.
I am trying to stay optimistic about the situation, knowing that things will eventually settle down again over time. But it is just soooooo hard to even get out of bed in the mornings.
I think it is just amazing how much our symptoms can exasperate during critical periods in our lives. My heart goes out to any of you who may be experiencing anything like I have. Please know that you are not alone. Many of us here have had difficult times.
God bless and thanks for letting me share.