Being Happy- Danni Style

Wednesday 4th January, 2012 — Danni
Happy Danni

Happy Danni

I am happy. Considering there was a 12 year period where being happy was exceptionally difficult, being able to say that on a near daily basis is awesome. There are lots of things that make me happy.

I like penguins. Seeing penguins makes me smile- it’s very difficult for me to be sad or upset for long when I am around and aware of penguins. When I was depressed I wasn’t able to be properly aware of penguins, so they couldn’t make me as happy as they do now. My living room is covered in penguins, and everytime I spot one I get a rush of happiness in my brain.

I like the colour purple. Purple is nice and calming and reassuring. I also have quite a lot of purple, as it’s my favourite colour. I covered my wheelchair in purple fabric. When we move house my bedroom is going to be purple (and possibly the living room as well).

I have some amazing friends. Most of them are online- I talk to them on Twitter, Facebook and AYME. These are people who make me feel good about myself, which in turn makes me feel happy. I have reduced my contact with people who get me down, which has also helped. Funnily enough, a lot of my friends have depression or other mental health problems, but because they are so nice and kind even with their illnesses they are a positive part of my life rather than a negative.

Reading blogs and being in touch with people on Facebook and Twitter helped me recover from my depression. Being able to read about other people’s experiences and seeing that I wasn’t alone made it so much easier to get out of the hell I was in. Blogging myself (on my old blog) also helped a lot, as it let me get some of my thoughts and feelings into a way that I could understand them. Being on the right medication also helped, as did having doctors (GP and psychiatrist) who listened to me, accepted me as I was, and stopped trying to force me into boxes that I don’t fit into.

Being diagnosed with autism was also a major step in the right direction for me. I had an explanation for why I was different to other people. I came across autistic adults on the internet who were able to teach me mostly through example that being autistic is okay. Accepting my autism made my life so much easier. I’d especially like to thank Kassiane S., Amanda B., Laura T., Laura R. and those who used to go to the Autistic Liberation Front meetings in Second Life for chatting to me and helping me through the period before and during diagnosis, and while my life was turned upside down.

My old social worker Balamory was also a massive help in my quest to recover from depression. She noticed my autistic traits and badgered lots of people on my behalf, helped me find acceptable housing when I needed it, and also found and helped me attend Interface, the autism unit I used to go to. I wish I had a way of letting you know how far I’ve come since I first met you.

Interface was a massive help. It was my first experience of specialist education, and it allowed me to be successful at college for the first time. There were lots of skills I learnt there that I needed to know to help my independence, both taught on the curriculum and learnt just by being there and with the help of the staff, especially my keyworker Louise. Being able to attend such a brilliant facility just after receiving my diagnosis and having a safe space to just be myself made college doable, even while I was still very mentally ill. Without Louise I don’t think I’d be where I am now.

Learning to be myself again was probably the biggest thing that has made me happy. I spent many years trying to fit in with everyone else, and not quite succeeding. Learning that I was autistic, that being autistic is okay, that being different is okay was one of the best lessons I could have learnt. Once I stopped surpressing my need to move (rocking, flapping, pacing, bouncing) in safe places (at home and in Interface) and then gradually becoming less concerned about doing some of the less extreme movements when out in public meant that I could control my anxiety and actually manage with stuff without it becoming overwhelming. Listening to music, wearing ear defenders, wearing tinted glasses, carrying a pen, my stones and a penguin of some kind with me everywhere are all things that don’t affect anyone but help me to deal with things. Rocking and flapping may look a bit odd, but they don’t hurt anyone and are much better than biting myself or melting down (which sometimes results in head banging).

At home I’m free to not do anything to try and fit in. I play with language- making up words, messing with grammar, talk about random things when they pop into my head. Colin, Vicky and Johan know this very well :) I also do some of the stuff that people are less understanding about, such as having something in my mouth a lot of the time (sucking on things reduces my anxiety and helps me concentrate), humming and random singing, making noises with hands and fingers, wrapping myself tightly in my quilt, piling pillows on top of myself. I also ignore “age appropriateness” when at home, so can go from discussing politics or science or other “grown up” topics to talking in very simplified language about wanting penguins or jelly within seconds. I also play with my wooden blocks, and can spend hours just looking at my colour changing lights or sparkly things. One of the things I want is a sensory room or area with soft flooring and nice lighting and reflective sparkly things where I can spend time just to be myself and not have to worry about things like bills or food shopping or anything else that is difficult for my brain. I was originally going to use the space behind the top of the stairs in our flat (maisonette), but since I can’t walk or manage stairs now and we’ll be moving, it’s been put on hold until we move so I can figure it out when there.

Sammie also makes me happy. As much as I wish I could have her living with me and that I could look after her myself, accepting that I wasn’t in the right place for that (before with my mental health problems, now with my M.E.) and that she is doing so well with her grandparents and is happy herself is enough to make me very happy. I have been terrible at keeping in contact with her, but I’m trying to fix that as I love her more than anyone else in the world.

Johan is just amazing. I am so lucky to have found someone who accepts me for who I am, who has similar interests, and who I love being with and spending time with. That he voluntarily took on the role of carer, both with my mental health problems and now with my physical health problems, while he was struggling himself makes him my hero. I does help that he seems to love me as much as I love him, and I would quite happily spend the rest of my life with him.

Colin and Vicky also took on the carer role for me, going way beyond what was needed as a friend. Both of them helped me to become more independent, and that also meant it was easier to learn to be happy. I will be eternally grateful to both of them for this.

All of this- learning who I was and accepting me for me, learning I wasn’t alone and that there were other people who had similar experiences or similar ways of thinking to me, making some amazing friends who help me feel good about myself, some great support from some brilliant people, having a happy daughter, being in a loving relationship, feeling safe and secure and able to be me, means I was able to recover from depression and be happy. And I like it.

Posted in College, Danni, Important Stuff, Interface, M.E., Mental Health, Penguins!, Physical Disability, Real Life. 2 Comments »

Okay Body, You Win

Saturday 8th October, 2011 — Danni

Since Monday, I have finally realised that yes, I am actually ill. This may seem silly, but even though I’d accepted that I had M.E. and that it was affecting me, I wasn’t accepting just how ill I was, so still trying to do things I really shouldn’t be doing. I’ve learnt my lesson.

On Monday, I went to college. I vomited on the bus on the way there, as sitting up for more than 10 minutes = bad idea, and motion on top = even worse idea. Turns out other bus passengers are either disgusted or concerned when someone is throwing up in front of them. When I got to college, I lay on cushions on the floor of the chill out room as I couldn’t do anything else, and did not make it to my lesson. It was the first time anyone at college had seen me that ill, though it’s been my normal level for the past month. I went home in a taxi about 2 hours later, and was vomiting in there, too.

Tuesday I had an appointment at hospital about my teeth. Got there on time, went for an x ray then had to wait nearly 2 hours to see someone. If I’d known I’d be waiting that long I would have cancelled the appointment. When going through the list of medical issues, I finally realised just how bad I’ve got. Had any blackouts? Yes (once just after using the commode while having a bad day, the other time after trying to sit up in bed, also on a bad day). Any seizures? No, but I get jerks in my limbs that can throw me off the bed, as well as muscle spasms and milder jerks in my limbs that last for hours (and can jerk me out of my wheelchair, with the seatbelt on). Dizziness? I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t dizzy, but it can get really bad if I sit up, even on normal days.

I managed to contain the vomiting on Tuesday by swallowing it. Not nice, but I didn’t want to upset any other bus passengers. I’d also lost 4lbs that week, as I found out at Slimming World on the Tuesday morning (too ill to go really, but I was still being stubborn). That was in the week I wasn’t really following the plan.

So what’s come out of this? I checked where I am on the AYME functioning scale again. Answer: around 10-15% normally, lower on a bad day. No denying I’m severely affected any more, though it’s still hard to accept. When I was going out, yes I could do it, but I was trying to ignore how ill it was making me. I’ve asked how to join the SAMs (severely affected members) list at AYME,

I’ve told my tutor that even distance learning isn’t going to be possible, as I’m just too ill. I can’t even concentrate on a TV show all the way through without it making me more ill, so trying to study would be far too much (not to mention I’ve already fallen behind and not heard from my lecturer about what I’ve missed). So I’m going to be withdrawn from the course. I’ve also let the Interface students know via the Facebook page. I’m really going to miss college, as it was the last bit of normality in my life, but I need to keep what functioning I still have.

I’m also putting Slimming World on hold, at least for now. The meetings are making me more ill (as much as I didn’t want to admit it) and trying to follow a diet while spending so much time nauseous is probably not the best idea. Also, since coming off the quetiapine my appetite has reduced drastically, so I’ll be able to lose weight just be being sensible with what I eat. I’m also not going to pressure myself to lose weight- I just don’t want to gain any. I’ll be weighing myself at home every Tuesday morning on the Wii Fit to monitor it, and will change what I’m eating if I start gaining, or losing weight too quickly. I shall be emailing my Slimming World consultant after I’ve finished this blog post.

I’m also not going to be having any more baths, at least until the bath lift is fitted. I’ve been stuck once, been close a few more times, and it’s not worth making myself ill over. We tried washing my hair in the sink, but I’m too tall to make that work, so I’ve bought an inflatable hair washing thing for use on my bed. Bed baths are also a lot less tiring than washing in the bathroom, so it will be better overall (I still get exhausted when trying to do it myself, though).

No more going out unless it’s necessary. I’ve a doctors appointment on Tuesday, so will be going to that. I will also be going to the hairdressers next week. This may not seem necessary, but it’s been over a year since I last got my hair trimmed, and getting it done will make it easier to brush. It will also allow me to get my hair washed outside of bed :p Today nice Icelandic carer put my hair into a French plait, which keeps it pretty tidy even spending 22+ hours a day in bed.

I’m also slowly compiling a list of all my current symptoms, that I’ll be giving to my GP and consultant. Hopefully they’ll have ideas on how to deal with some of them, but if not, at least it will mean they’re aware of them. I’m also trying to figure out the baseline for activities, but this is hard as it’s in direct competition with my problems with transitions (if I try and stop an activity before I’m ready, then I get incredibly anxious and may panic, which uses more energy than just continuing the activity for a bit longer). I have made it so I’m only sitting at my computer for an hour at a time, maximum, and reminding myself after half an hour and 45 minutes that I’ve only so much time remaining. That worked well today- came off after 45 minutes because I’d reminded myself after half an hour, and I was at a good stopping place in levelling on my mage in World of Warcraft :)

I’m not doing so well on the getting to sleep at the same time every night, but I’m less worried about that. I managed 12 hours yesterday (from 1am to 1.30pm, with a half hour dozy resting period when the carer arrived at 10am) so it looks like I can sleep naturally. It does mean that it’s 2.08am now though, and I’ll probably not be going to sleep before 3am. Oh well- one thing at a time.

Posted in Autism, College, Computing, Danni, Interface, M.E., Physical Disability, Real Life. 1 Comment »

Bad Weekend

Sunday 2nd October, 2011 — Danni

So Thursday. CFS clinic then colposcopy then flu jab. In the CFS clinic, we agreed I’d try and find a baseline for all my activities. This is going to be hard, as on good days I can do most for quite a while, then on bad days I can’t do most of them at all. I will give it try though. The physiotherapist also wants me to split up my high activity stuff with more low activity (as resting isn’t restful for me at all) which is also going to be difficult, depending on the activity. I am working on it.

The colposcopy was very painful, but it turns out everything is fine. My cervix is perfectly normal for a woman of reproductive age. I also got to see it on the screen, which was pretty cool :) I now have to make an appointment to get my coil changed, which I’m really not looking forward to.

The flu jab hurt. I also had to be very brave and not make a big deal of it, because Johan was petrified, even after taking diazepam. It took him 15 minutes to get his, but he did it, and I’m very proud of him. My left arm has been very sore since.

I was out in my wheelchair for about 7 hours on Thursday. I can manage sitting in it for about 10 minutes before getting worsening symptoms on a good day. It is too upright, and even with the headrest I struggle to remain sitting up. I also ran out of nefopam completely on Thursday, so had to swap to tramadol (and I couldn’t take any more quetiapine). It was a very long day.
Friday I was really ill. Even with the antisickness tablets, I was vomiting everything I took, then vomiting bile. I was intolerant to light and noise, so spent a lot of hours lying with my eye mask and ear defenders on, hoping to die. Oh, and my review with my social worker and the care agency was that afternoon. Trying to explain what was going wrong while trying not to vomit or appear too ill was exhausting, and it didn’t really work that well. I will have to email my social worker to tell him everything I forgot to on Friday. Also on Friday was my friend Kate’s fundraiser for a new wheelchair. I really wanted to go, but was no way well enough, so Johan went by himself. He enjoyed himself, it was fun, she raised lots of money towards her new wheelchair, and Johan won a Segway experience in the raffle :)

Saturday I was a little better, but not much. I stopped vomiting, and ate a few things. Still had to nap, and spend a lot of hours with eye mask and ear defenders on. I was on Twitter when I could be, but I was too hot (the weather has been rather summery here) and felt just rotten. The karaoke in the pub next door didn’t help either. On the plus side, I was well enough to watch Doctor Who, which I really enjoyed.

Today I have been a bit better. Even managed a bit of time on my computer (my computer chair is more supportive than my wheelchair, and it reclines, so I can manage longer before feeling ill). Also managed a bath, and got dressed. All of this with Johan, as wasn’t well enough at 10am when the carer came. We also cancelled the bath call for tonight as I’d already had one and it was making me very anxious. I did get a bit emotional, but that calmed down after I’d remembered to take painkillers. Johan made me roast chicken for my tea, which was lovely. Tomorrow I go back to my normal food, as I’ve just been eating what I want the last couple of days. I am worried about Johan though, as the sertraline is making him exhausted, and he’s too tired to even do things he enjoys. It’s also making it harder for him to care for me.

The distance learning has been sorted out. I am to go in one a fortnight, then keep up to date by talking to my lecturer in between, probably using Skype. This is good, as I should technically be able to manage it, if I get back to the same level of functioning as I was last month. The only problem is I’m meant to be going in tomorrow, and that means sitting in my wheelchair for 6 hours. I’m not sure I’m well enough, and the only other option is withdrawal. I’ve also not done any work the last couple of weeks, which also isn’t helping much. I will see how I am in the morning.

Posted in College, Computing, Danni, M.E., Physical Disability, Real Life. 1 Comment »

Video Update

Saturday 24th September, 2011 — Danni

Posted in College, Computing, Danni. 1 Comment »

Am I Well Enough For College?

Saturday 17th September, 2011 — Danni

So, this last week I have been at college.

Correction: I was at college on Monday, too ill to go in on Tuesday (and lost the ability to speak for much of the day), in on Thursday, then my limbs stopped working just before I got into my flat, which required Johan to lift me up the stairs then drag me into the flat, lift me onto my wheelchair then get me into bed, while I couldn’t move my arms or legs.

Luckily it was only an hour or two before I could move my arms again, and a few more hours before I could move my legs, but it made life very difficult while I couldn’t move them. For the first time, Johan had to wipe my bottom after I’d been to the toilet, which was something I was hoping he’d never have to do.

Since then, I’ve stayed pretty ill, though I did get my bath on Friday, and was able to sit up for a couple of hours on my computer. I know this is more functioning than a lot of people with severe ME, but still, this is worrying if I want to be able to continue at college, as my body is really protesting it.

I can’t rest at college as I can’t lie down.

Sitting up is now classified as high energy. It makes me feel really ill, and get a lot of unpleasant symptoms, really quickly. To do college, I have to manage it for 2 hours travelling each way, on top of my time at college. It’s often more than 6 hours in a day.

It’s too much.

So, what to do.

I could continue being stubborn, and keep going into college. Either I’ll stay as I am at the moment, or I’ll get worse. Worse means not being able to get out of bed at all, more instances of not being able to move limbs, more losing speech, and maybe new things that I’ve not experienced yet. That’s on top of the tiredness and pain getting a lot worse. I’m already struggling to cope with it, though I’m able to try and deal with it using positivity and plenty of painkillers.

I could give up college. That would mean never being able to finish A Level Computing, as South Tyneside College has discontinued it, and no other college in the area does it. I’m good at it.

Of course, getting the A Level isn’t necessary to go to uni or get a job. I can get there through other methods. It helps a lot though, and it fits my style of learning.

I’m not going to decide now. I’m going to give it another week, talk to my Computing lecturer, and see how things go. I’ll report back next Friday.

Posted in College, Computing, Danni, M.E., Physical Disability, Real Life. 1 Comment »

Project 365: Day 62: 18th August 2011 – Results

Thursday 18th August, 2011 — Danni

Results

I think I’m allowed to be happy with them :)

Long day. Picked up results at about 8.40am, which meant I left at silly o’clock. My appointment at the CFS clinic was at 11.30am, so we decided to go into Gateshead. On the way to the Metro station one of my footrests fell off. I was able to hold it in place with my foot until we bought some duct tape in Gateshead, where we bodged it back together.

Went around the shops until my appointment. Didn’t buy much, just shampoo, conditioner, duct tape and chicken Bovril (it’s for a recipe).

Went to my appointment, and it went well. They agreed that my mental health problems/autism are not my main issue (though they’re contributing), and there was a definite onset of new symptoms following the bout of Swine flu I had in August 2009. They have offered me Graded Activity Therapy, which looks good. Combines pacing and activity with the aim of gradual improvements. They’re also going to contact my social worker over me getting a walking frame, as I need something more steady if I’m going to be starting to walk again. I also have colour charts and activity diaries to fill in.

Went to the MetroCentre after the appointment, which was okay, but stayed out too long. Spent all day since then in or on my bed, alternating between resting and messing around on the laptop. Johan has also spent the time feeding me and taking me to the toilet.

Posted in College, Computing, Danni, M.E., Physical Disability, Project 365. Comments Off »

Project 365: Day 7: 24th June 2011 – The Sad Onion

Friday 24th June, 2011 — Danni

The Sad Onion

It was the last day of college today, so I forced myself in. To start with, the Metro I needed to get was off because of cable theft, so I had to get the bus in. Luckily we didn’t arrive too late.

In Interface there was a talent show, which was awesome, though it was very loud at times. I sang with the band (I think they called themselves “In Your Face”).

After leaving college, we decided to go into South Shields to get lunch, and we fancied some cocktails, so had some :) It was fun, though we both had too much food :P

We then had a bit of a look around the shops. While in Poundland I spotted a bottle of PVA glue with a Sad Onion on, that is 0-5 instead of 0-3. It has 2 more years of sadness! I also found the whiteboard markers that I like (and bought a packet for my Computing teacher, as she wanted to steal mine), and some coconut hair stuff and batteries.

I also bought a new MP3 player from Argos, to use as a backup when my phone battery dies. I put the pink cover on it :)

I was getting rather tired by this point, so we decided to go home, so I could nap before the carer came to give me my bath. That didn’t go to plan, as someone decided to slash another person’s face with a knife on the Metro we were on. That meant the Metro and the station were crawling with police, and I panicked :( I don’t think the injuries were too serious, though the guy retaliated by beating the other one up.

We finally got home about 5.20pm, but it was too late for a nap. I had my bath when the carer came, and after a rest have been on the computer since then.

Posted in College, Danni, Interface, Project 365. Comments Off »

Project 365: Day 5: 22nd June 2011 – Prom

Thursday 23rd June, 2011 — Danni

Prom

Woke up very late today, gone midday (I can’t remember exactly when). Was totally exhausted, and felt pretty rough. Was unsure whether to go to the prom today, but after much dithering decided to go. Got ready, then we left.

The Prom was brilliant :D There were most of the Interface students, both current and past. It was nice seeing some of the old students again :) It was quite loud, but alcohol works brilliantly for pain, anxiety and copingness, so I managed okay. Even danced a small bit in my wheelchair :)

I had a great time, and I think other people did too. Got home just before midnight, and have been looking at motability cars since :P

Posted in Autism, College, Danni, Interface, Project 365. 1 Comment »

Level 25

Monday 20th June, 2011 — Danni

Saturday was my 25th birthday. It went well.

In January I reported my change in circumstances to the DLA people, as by that point I was unable to walk outside at all. They decided to ignore everything I said in the letter, and kept my original award of higher care, lower mobility. While I was waiting to hear from them, I went from being able to take a few steps to not being able to walk at all, so I felt that I should be entitled to higher mobility (for those who are unable, or virtually unable, to walk). I put in an appeal, and they contacted my GP, consultant, then sent out an evil ATOS doctor last week to do a medical. It must have convinced them, as on Friday I received a letter saying my appeal has been stopped as they’d changed their decision and awarded me higher care, higher mobility :D My reasons for having higher care have also been changed from mental health (which is much improved, if not completely fixed) to physical care needs, which is more accurate now.

The back payment came in on Saturday, so I sent Johan out to buy my new television. It does iPlayer and YouTube and stuff, as well as being a million times better than my old one, which is nearly dead. It was less than £300, which for a 32″ LCD with internet is extremely good :) It’s also nice being able to operate it from bed :)

What else has happened? I’ve still been really ill. I now spend most of the day in bed (about 20+ hours, sometimes nearly 24) at least four days a week. My sleep is a bit all over the place- little things stop me getting to sleep for hours after my meds would normally knock me out, then I struggle to wake up in the mornings (though to be fair, that’s not unusual).

I had my Computing exam. It went better than expected, so I’m hoping for at least a B, despite not being able to remember anything I’d been taught since Easter. I did the exam in the first aid room, but the bed was too high for me to use it. I took some beanbags but ended up not using them either, as by the time I needed to lie down I only had 3 short questions left, so I answered them, checked my answers, printed it off and went and lay on the recliner in Interface for an hour, napping for quite a bit of it. We stayed in a hotel near the college the night before so I didn’t have to worry about the journey in (we got a taxi from the hotel) and it was nice, though I couldn’t get my wheelchair into the bathroom, despite it supposedly being a disabled room. I crawled instead, and let them know when we were checking out.

Apart from that, I’ve not been in college as much as I wanted to. It’s the last week next week, and there’s the leavers ceremony, prom and things. I want to go but will have to see how my health is.

I did manage to make it to Flamingo Land with the college on Friday though :) First of all everything that could go wrong, did. I struggled to get up after not being able to sleep until 1am because there were people talking very loudly outside. We were slightly late leaving because we forgot something, so we missed the first bus by about 30 seconds. The second bus wasn’t accessible, and we got on the third but I reacted badly to a woman’s perfume so had to get off at Blaydon. We got on the forth bus, but were running really late by then. We missed the metro by less than a minute, so ended up emailing the college to let them know we would be late. One of the support staff picked us up from the metro station, which was good :) Then the lift on the coach wasn’t working properly because the road and path are uneven there. It took 25 minutes until I was lifted onto the lift so I could actually get on the coach :P

After that though everything went well. I got a disabled band and Johan got a carer band, so we didn’t have to queue for the rides. I went on the first roller coaster to see how I’d manage with it, and it turned out that because they had good back support and I don’t get scared I could manage them fine, so I went on a few :) I also got to see the penguins, which was awesome. I’ve been tired since, but overall I’ve not been much worse than I was anyway, so it was more the long day that did it than being at the theme park itself. Luckily it was pretty quiet there.

I went to little Martin’s birthday party on Monday. He’s getting so big :)

I am having problems communicating beyond just Twitter and Facebook at the moment. Instant messenger is exceptionally difficult, even with friends, and emails and letters are pretty much impossible to write. I keep losing speech, which makes communicating with the carers difficult when it happens. I am currently creating an Android app that should help with that at least.

I’ve also started project 365. I’ve posted the first two days to Facebook, and I’ll copy them over here in a minute. I’m hoping that taking a photo everyday, no matter how crappy, will give me something to do :)

Posted in College, Computers, Computing, Danni, Interface, Real Life. Comments Off »

An (overdue) Update

Friday 15th April, 2011 — Danni

A lot has happened since my last update in February. The big thing is that Johan’s depression became really bad, which resulted in him having to go into hospital for a bit on 27th March. You can read more about that on his blog here. This was mainly because we still had no help from social services, and even though they’d been warned he was getting that ill they didn’t do anything.

Because Johan went into hospital, social services had to start providing my care. The morning the nurses came out on the Monday (Colin stayed with me overnight on the Sunday, but had to leave for work at 6.30am) they realised I needed a lot more help than two visits daily would allow, as I need help with getting drinks, getting to the toilet, getting food and stuff, as well as things like washing and dressing. Because of this, it was decided I needed to go into a care home while Johan was in hospital. One was found that would take me, and then an ambulance came to take me there (social services suggested a taxi, until Louise (from college) told them I couldn’t walk and was in an upstairs flat, so would need help getting down the stairs). I managed to forget things as I normally do, but it was sorted in the end.

The care home itself was okay. It’s designed for people with physical and learning disabilities, and the other residents were nice. My room was okay, apart from being very brown (I don’t like brown that much) and the doors being too heavy for me to open. This meant that I couldn’t manage to take myself to the toilet after a while, as even though I could crawl there (until I got ill- more on that in a moment) I couldn’t open the door. There were other problems as well, that we’d not realised would happen. I can’t ask for things for myself and I can’t cope with open questions, such as “do you need anything?” (this is a communication problem caused by my autism). This caused problems. It became a big issue on the Friday when I couldn’t ask to get into pyjamas, so had to sleep in my day clothes, including my big hoodie (I can’t lift my arms above shoulder height, so need someone to help me with my top half of clothing).

By Saturday I was ill- I’d overdone it (crawling to the toilet, lifting my bottle of diet coke so I could have a drink, getting myself ready for college on Wednesday morning because the staff claimed I’d changed my mind about going, when I hadn’t, and things) and I couldn’t sit up unsupported or move much. I was in a lot of pain, and I became non-verbal, which is normal when I’m overloaded. The staff’s response was to keep asking me to talk to them. I couldn’t- I couldn’t remember how to speak, and my attempts to do so failed. They had been warned that this could happen, and it was on my care plan, but it must have been forgotten at the time. One of the care staff even touched my face (there was a big sign on the door telling them not to touch me without asking) which didn’t help, and caused me to panic.

Because of my inability to communicate, I went without a drink or going to the toilet for 19 hours. This was not good. I still have a mild UTI from this. When I finally was able to type on my phone, and get one of the care staff to look at it, I was able to tell them that I couldn’t speak, and that the pain was unbearable and I couldn’t take codeine (on the Monday I’d taken some and the abdominal spasms where horrendous even with the buscopan). They called the doctor out, and while I waited (it took him 6 hours to arrive) Johan came and saw me.

Johan was able to get me out of my hoodie (when I’m that ill, I alternate between sweating madly and feeling too hot, to being freezing, so wearing a big hoodie was not the best), get me a drink and somehow get me to the toilet. He was also able to tell the care staff that I needed more help than they were giving me. Louise also phoned the care home (we were in contact via email) and told them about how my autism affects me, and that they need to ask closed questions, such as “do you need a drink?” or “do you need the toilet?”. After she’d spoken to them, things improved a bit, but there were still times they only asked open questions and I couldn’t answer.

Luckily while Johan was there I slowly got the ability to speak back (being more comfortable and being able to talk with him using messenger helped) so when the doctor arrived a few hours later I was able to explain to him that the pain was unbearable and I was too scared to take codeine because of the abdominal spasms being nearly as bad. He gave me a prescription for nefopam, which I’d never heard of before. The care home promised I’d be able to get it in the morning (it was quite late at this point).

Sunday I was still in a lot of pain, and still unable to get out of bed except to go to the toilet, but at least I was now able to drink. My visit that day also cheered me up a bit, which helped. Unfortunately, the chemist the care home uses decided to not be open that day because of a wedding, and hadn’t told them so I wasn’t able to get any painkillers that day at all. I survived though.

On Monday I finally got my painkillers, and they helped a lot. This meant that by the evening I was feeling much better, was able to sit up, and finally got a bath so felt a lot more human (I’d meant to have one on the Friday, but it didn’t happen). Tuesday I was able to go back to college, but by this point the stress from the weekend, on top of the anxiety caused by not knowing if my needs were going to be met meant my mental health had started to get worse, and I started having my first thoughts about suicide in a year. By Friday’s meeting with my social worker and the home care staff (I had been reassessed during this time- the previous assessments weren’t good enough for the physical disabilities team) I was desperate to get home, so when they said that the home care would only be another 10 days, Johan agreed that it would be better for both of us for me to be home. I’ve been back a week and my mental health has gone back to being mostly stable, so I guess it was just the stress.

The good news is that the home carers start on Monday :D I’m getting 12 hours a week from them, some in the morning, some in the evening. They’ll help me with getting up in the mornings, getting ready for bed at night, baths three times a week, and also help with doing some basic housework on days I’m not having a bath. This should take a lot of the stress off Johan (who is doing a lot better), which should help a lot.

Okay, what else has happened? I have seen the M.E. specialist, who wants to make sure my tiredness and stuff is not caused by depression (erm, apart from the blip caused by the stress of being in the care home, I’ve not been depressed for a year) or being autistic (even with the explanation I was given about it being caused by overload, I’m not convinced it can cause such exhaustion that you can’t walk). Hopefully once that’s happened, and the M.E. is confirmed again, I should get some coping strategies and things to help. I know that M.E. can’t be cured, but I’ll accept any help at the moment I can, as my functioning is really poor.

I also got my exam result from my AS Computing. I got an A :D This is awesome. My predicted grade for the next exam is either an A or a B, depending on what sort of day I’m having. I’ve been enjoying the programming part of the course, even though Visual Basic.net is a bit weird in how it does things. I’m still slightly behind, as I’ve missed a lot of lessons because of being too ill to get in, but I’ll be able to catch up as it’s the Easter holidays now.

Interface has been good. I’m now running an Internet club for the other students, doing stuff like how to send emails, how to behave appropriately on different parts of the internet, how to keep yourself safe and things. I’m hoping it’ll go well.

Tomorrow I’m going to a friend’s wedding. Yay! This will be the first wedding I’ve ever been to as a guest, so it’s very exciting. I may blog about it afterwards :)

On my functioning- well, I can stand up for a few seconds on a good day (yay!) but there are so many things I can’t do or need help with. I can’t walk at all, I can’t lift anything heavy so need someone else to pour my drinks, I knock things over all the time (the M.E. has made my dyspraxia much worse). I need someone to brush my teeth, wash/brush my hair, help me with the top half of my clothing. I need my food cut up for me as I can’t do it myself, and often have to eat with my hands because holding a fork or spoon causes my hand to shake uncontrollably. I can self propel my wheelchair for a few seconds, but it’s normally just enough to get around the toilet or get through doors if needed, and if I try to do too much I end up stuck in bed. I can type, but writing is nearly impossible. This is all on good days- on bad days I can’t get out of bed, can’t sit unsupported, and sometimes need Johan to feed me or hold my cup to my mouth. I hate being so dependant on other people, but I’m starting to get used to it.

Okay, I think this blog post is long enough now, but I may do that 30 day song challenge thing I’ve seen on other blogs, starting tomorrow. No promises, though :P

Posted in Autism, College, Computing, Danni, Interface, Mental Health, Physical Disability, Real Life. 1 Comment »
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