Depression Truths

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I shared this because someone triggered me this morning, and all I feel is anger towards their neglect of me as a human-being. Let me rephrase that. They do not have the decency to treat me like a human-being, and I will be gaslighted for saying so.

I was triggered via a threat. Growing up in an abusive home and experiencing threats non-stop (that was my life for over fifteen years), this person SHOULD know better than to say something in an “attack” manner, but they don’t care enough to say something kind and helpful because they want me to feel threatened. They want to diminish who and what I am.

My entire worth is summed up by what I do for them, and then I am told I am worthless when I can’t do it all. Let’s set aside the fact that I am waiting to see my doctor and have him order x-rays after I fell over the weekend. I’m struggling to move around, especially because my right leg took the brunt of the hit. It felt like my leg had disappeared, and down I went. I am lucky there was no damage to my hands or head, though my right wrist was tweaked quite a bit. My knee, ankle, and foot feel like someone beat me with a baseball bat. I have a deep bone bruise in my knee. I can feel it. My ankle pain is maddening, and I’ve been treating the swelling. Being injured gives me time to think and I am overwhelmed with emotion at the moment.

I was born with the genetic predisposition for suicidal depression. My paternal Grandmother’s side of the family was rife with mental health issues, and I’m angry and annoyed that it skipped two generations and landed on me. My father’s niece and nephews are too stupid to grasp the concept of mental health, and they’re much older than my brother and I. There was a huge age difference between my father and his brother. My Grandmother thought she was going through menopause before a doctor told her that, no, she was actually pregnant with my father. “He wasn’t supposed to be here.”, that’s what she told my mother! Alas, I digress.

If you’re going to treat me like some imperfect, disgusting creature and never take the time to sit down with me and make a plan for how to best achieve something, I am always going to be triggered by the behavior. In turn, I am going to confront this head-on. I cannot spend hours feeling like this any more. It’s my time to rise and to shine, and I am not permitting myself to be brought down.

You can achieve a lot more with honey than you can with vinegar.

 

 

 

Dosvedanya Yanvar (Goodbye January)

I mostly rank this month with a gigantic middle finger. January did me dirty in more ways than one. I don’t really know how, when, or if I’ll recover from the deeper damage caused. 

I saw the spine specialist this week. He gave me three options as a potential diagnosis and then tried to send me to physical therapy and aqua therapy. I was disgusted by the “It’ll probably heal in a few more weeks because you’re VERY pain sensitive.” attitude, and said, “I really need to know if there’s internal damage. Can we do x-rays so I know for certain if there’s more wrong?” I love when a doctor tells me, “I’m not opposed to ordering x-rays.” Yeah, the look on my face wasn’t pretty, but his back was turned and I wouldn’t have cared, regardless. I’m having the x-rays done Saturday. I could have attempted to do them when I was there, but the place was jam-packed with sick people, tissues, masks, the whole nine yards, and a lot of people were there for sonograms and ultrasounds, so I did the math and said I’d come back. Quite frankly, I was grossed out and wanted to Lysol the entire building. I have had a bit of a cold for about a month or so, and the last thing I want to do is be exposed to people who have the flu and apparently, every other person has it at the moment. 😦 Flu shots aren’t helping everyone, please keep this in mind. 

If the outcome is what I suspect, I’m hoping to avoid surgery. It’s my spine and that’s dangerous territory since I know the procedure and it’s failure rate. My Mom had it done and it left her partially paralyzed. I’m not ever going to trust a surgeon again. If it’s permanent, I’m worried about pain management and how my body will cope moving forward. It’s all shits and giggles until it’s permanent and you need to have quality of life for the rest of your life. Certain types of internal damage will not show up on an x-ray or an MRI. That makes it worse. You can have something and not even be able to prove it, except for the fact that I now limp around like I’m 104 and I am really struggling with sitting and turning. I love being able to walk and get toxic energy out of my system in a healthy manner, so not being able to get in 3-4 miles once or twice a week is messing with my head. I feel trapped and I hate it. 

He prescribed (PLEASE LAUGH, because I nearly did. My exact words were, “Is it 1985?”) 2000 mgs of Tylenol and prescription strength Aleve, along with weaker muscle relaxers than the ones I currently take. Once again, he did not believe my pain. He’s the second doctor this month to not take my pain seriously. I called his office Wednesday afternoon and let him know that this combination immediately caused stomach pains and I’m not moving forward with it. Did he get back to me? No. Am I disgusted? Hell yes.

I loved being told that if I’m not better in two or three weeks, he’ll order an MRI. Really? We’re negotiating tests regarding my health? What kind of shit is this?! I trust him to wash a car, but I don’t trust him to treat me properly or take my pain seriously, so I will definitely be getting a second opinion, regardless of the outcome of the tests. I’m obviously upset, but mostly, I want to be able to move on with my life in some way. There’s no amount of money that can be thrown at me that will alleviate the suffering I have endured and will continue to endure. When you’re throwing up from pain for nearly two weeks, it’s not good. For a doctor to not empathize or understand that is mind-blowing to me. I am hoping to start CBD taffy as soon as possible. I can’t really afford to blow the $50, but I can’t afford to be in pain, either. I pray it works.

I have to thank my incredibly supportive friends who have helped me tremendously this past month, and always. I am blessed with amazing friends and one pointed out that I’m blessed with these friendships because I am an amazing friend in kind. Sometimes, you need to hear that and feel it.

I hope and pray that February is kinder and gentler to me, and to us all. Thank you for reading, for leaving me messages, and for being my place to go and share my life in a deeply personal way, at times. I will be back with something new soon.

lisa1

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Very cool t-shirt I received in this morning’s mail. Thank you, Stef! I can’t wait to wear it!! 

copyright 2019 by Lisa Marino & Blackbird Serenity, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. All written work may not be re-posted anywhere without express written consent from the author. This authors’ work and personal photos are protected under United States and International copyright laws. Additional protection is covered under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.        

Falling Apart

I apologize for not writing yesterday. I fully intended to do so, I’ve had a few things partially fleshed out, but by 8:00 a.m., I was not in a position to do anything. I couldn’t even bend down!

Something in my lower back popped yesterday morning while I was scrolling through messages on my cell phone. For most people, that wouldn’t mean an awful lot. It might mean popping a few OTC pain meds and resting for a few days, no real damage done, but for someone with lower lumbar spinal issues, this meant shooting pain in more directions than I could fathom at the time. As the day progressed, it became pain in my entire body. I have no idea the what/why/how of any of it, just that I am having immense difficulty struggling through so much pain because there’s no end in sight.

As of this moment, the pain has settled into my head as a migraine with maddening sinus pain and pressure. It’s past the point of my normal pain threshold, so if you hear screaming in the distance, it’s me.

All written posts will be suspended until I figure out what the hell this is and how long it’s going to affect me. I’m no good to anyone if I cannot see past the pain and cannot sit long enough to type anything worth reading.

I hope everyone has a good Sunday. Life is short, make it count.

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migraine is godzilla