Month: April 2015

Danni

Hoist! New Shiny Toy! Yay!

Autism, Computers, Danni, Gaming, M.E., Physical Disability, Real Life, World of Warcraft

Update post in list format cos easier with broken brain 🙂

  • The big one: I’m getting my hoist! Got a phone call 10th April saying the OT was coming with a couple of contractors to measure up for the hoist. Friday 17th they did the measuring, and have worked out how best to fit a ceiling track in my bedroom and the living room (so I can lie in there during the day for a change of scenery). They need to sort who’s installing it (two different companies did the measuring, as they got to get quotes from more than one), sort the funding (which I was told won’t be a problem with how much support I have for getting this hoist) and then work out when they’re available to do the install, but I should be looking at 6 weeks or so. I’m hoping it’ll be before my birthday, which gives them about 9 weeks.
  • Apparently the best way to fit it in my bedroom is going to be diagonally from the corner next to my bed/the window to the corner next to the door. This is going to be interesting to look at 😛 (I’m not sure what they decided in the living room as I couldn’t see.) Johan helped a bit with the measuring 🙂
  • I got my sleeping pattern back to normal, then broke it again a couple of days later. This has happened several times. I’m getting a bit annoyed that I keep missing stuff because of it (not that it’s anyone’s fault, just that it’s happening).
  • I think I might be getting over the cold. Though I still have a blocked nose and I’m still sneezing, so maybe I haven’t. Or that could be hayfever. Since I have all the other cold symptoms permanently (sore throat, headache, temperature dysregulation, coughing) it’s hard to tell.
  • Had my annual review with the nurse from the GP surgery. I didn’t realise I get annual reviews but apparently I do. I guess it’s a good thing 😛 My blood pressure was slightly low when she took it, and she initially measured my pulse as 55 bpm but unfortunately that was hers, not mine (mine was 87 bpm, which is about normal for me).
  • My GP can now be contacted by email. This will be useful if I ever manage to write emails (or can convince Johan to write them). As I’m struggling a bit with my mental health and a couple of other niggly bits I’ve asked for her to come see me (nothing too major, just anxiety is more of an issue and flashbacks/nightmares are getting worse, and I not know how to cope with them, and not being sure if I have a urinary tract infection again or not).
  • GP has prescribed the supplements I need cos I’m deficient in a couple of vitamins and minerals. One is folic acid, and the pack says it’s for preconception. Is there something they know we don’t? 😛
  • We have a cleaner! She comes weekly and has already done a massive amount. OT didn’t complain about the amount of stuff we had when he came for the hoist, which was good. She’s from the council’s home help team and is starting to understand that we need help with decluttering and tidying as well as cleaning.
  • I have a care review on Wednesday 22nd. Apparently it’s going to my social worker (I have one now it seems), the care agency, the home help service, and I think there’s someone else but I’ve forgotten. Too many people. Hopefully we’ll be able to sort out the things that aren’t being done (the biggest thing is I need prompting adding to my care plan so care workers know I’m not going to be able to tell them what I need doing).
  • As my Nexus 10 is in the process of dying (and is occasionally flashing a white screen at full brightness, which is not good for me) I bought a new tablet (well, asked Johan to buy it for me) on Saturday. I was hoping to hold out a couple more months until the new ones were released, but it was getting urgent. After looking online and going backwards and forwards loads (I’ve been talking about getting a new tablet since last year) I decided on a Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5. The screen is a bit bigger than my old one (10.5″ compared to 10.1″) but the actual device is slightly smaller and much thinner and lighter. The only problem is it’s so light and thin it slides on the pillow when I’m trying to use it, so I’ve had to get a case to stop it 😛 I’ve upgraded it to Lollipop (it came with Kit Kat and for some reason the Lollipop update hadn’t been released in the UK yet so I did it manually) and rooted it so I could transfer all my games and stuff over. I’ve also enabled the software navigation bar as the home button (being a physical button unlike the recent apps and back buttons) is too hard for me to press frequently. Depending on how well I get on with TouchWiz I might stay with the stock rom or I might swap to something else that doesn’t have it.
  • I’m getting on my computer a few times a week now, but not always at the times I want. It’s a great distraction but that does make it easy to overdo it. It’s really good for my mental health though (which is a bit wobbly at the moment though more anxiety than anything else) and when I catch her I love talking to Sammie.
  • I’m really struggling with things like food shops, buying stuff I need (like clothes/pyjamas), and communicating with people. I not sure what to do about it. It’s taking me months to decide things which isn’t great. Autism plus ME makes things hard.
  • Our washing machine is making a lot of noise. Something (we think a bit of plastic from the drum) has fallen inside the sealed bit. We’re not sure whether to try and get it repaired or buy a new one. I’m no way well enough to choose a new washing machine, or sort out a repair, and Johan isn’t either (Esther can help with phone calls but needs to be told who she’s phoning and why).

Below is all my gaming stuff so feel free to ignore it 😛

  • I managed to get Dannila (my Monk) to level 100 in World of Warcraft. I was still in Talador (though wearing heirlooms). Now I’m questing through Spires of Arak while daisy picking, mining, surveying, logging and trying not to die.
  • Danni (my Priest) got Harrison Jones as a follower today. Yay! I’m mostly only doing garrison stuff on her right now, though I’ll do the Apexis daily if it’s one I’ve not done and I’m feeling up to it. I’m hoping to be well enough to do heroics on her soon as I’ve got all the inn quests.
  • Tiarna still doesn’t have her glyph of the penguin back so she’s levelling the slow way- through garrison missions. She’s about halfway through level 92 😛
  • I’m still playing all my mobile games. I’m not spending quite a much time on them as I was because I’m trying to spend more time on puter.
  • I unlocked everything on AdVenture Capitalist so I’m now very slowly getting more angel investors (have 2.631 duotrigintillion right now and hope to roughly double that next reset, which will probably be in a week).
  • Krystall (my character in Kim Kardashian) has climbed into the top 100 of the A list for the second time and is looking to reach the top 50 soon. I’m pretty sure I’m the only person I know still playing this 😛 I mostly like holding parties in my house in Calabasas as it gives me over a million new fans for each 3 hour party (that takes me less than 10 minutes if I’ve got all the energy I need).
  • In High School Story my school is level 19 and I’m currently partying for a Mascot guy during the day and a Movie Star guy during the night (Mascots are the only class type that’s still time based). I’m really running out of room in my hangouts even though I’ve got all three upgraded platinum as well as the type ones 😛
  • In Hollywood U I’ve completed all the quests (luckily there’s new ones each week) and I’m currently levelling all my entourage to level 15 (Danni is level 45 and most of the main characters are level 20). I’m partying for a Celeb Blogger guy then it’ll be back to partying for the elusive Fairy Tale girl. My space issues aren’t quite as bad as in High School Story but I still need to be careful not to admit too many of those I already have.
  • In Dragonvale I’m currently trying to breed a Spring dragon and a Miasma dragon. While trying for the Spring dragon I’ve bred a Double Rainbow dragon and it looks like I’m getting a second one. They’re cool but they also take 60 hours to breed so I’d rather not get too many. There’s a lot of dragons I don’t have that I can get with the combination I’m breeding with (Leap Year and Snowy Gold) so I’m hoping to get some of them. I’m a bit annoyed they released the current star fall event so soon after the Easter egg event as it means I don’t think I can get enough star dust to get even one dragon (though I’m hoping I’m wrong). I should get the Walk of Stars (which is a pretty path) today, hopefully.
  • I’ve got spreadsheets for High School Story, Hollywood U and Dragonvale to keep track of what students and dragons I have and what ones I’m partying/breeding for. I spent far too long one night setting them up with all sorts of formulae to get it working how I wanted 😛
Danni

Coping with a Fluctuating Illness

M.E., Physical Disability, Real Life

ME is a fluctuating illness. Sufferers have good days and bad days, good hours and bad hours. For those a bit further up the functioning scale, the fluctuations are pretty easy to see. On a good day random ME person can go out and do stuff (how, what and for how long will depend on how their ME affects them, but I’m thinking out of the house). On a bad day that’s just not possible, and for anyone with moderate to severe ME a bad day can mean being unable to get out of bed.

I bounce around the bottom of the functioning scale (there’s actually several, all measuring slightly different things, but I’m at the bottom of all of them). To an observer, there’s not that much difference between a good day or a bad day. On a good day, I’m stuck in bed, incontinent, and reliant on 24 hour care. That’s still true when I have a bad day. To me though, there’s a massive difference, even if it’s only a percent or two on the actual scales.

On a good day I need the light reduced as I’m photosensitive. I can’t tolerate moderate to loud noises, and my body floods with adrenaline if the phone rings or the doorbell goes (even with all the doors shut). Sitting up will make me faint, and if I move too much my pain levels increase massively and my muscles become weaker. My muscles spasm, my limbs randomly jerk, and I’m experiencing too many other distressing symptoms to list. What I can do is speak, prop myself a bit up using the bed, manage my lamp to provide enough light to see by, my normal glasses while looking at my tablet (on minimum brightness) and the big one, go on my computer. This means I can communicate as easily as is possible for me, and I can talk to my daughter, Sammie.

Using my computer I manage our finances, do food shops, use Skype (to talk to Sammie), attempt to use Facebook to keep up with my friends and family, research whatever I need to research at the time, buy stuff, and play games to distract myself from how horrendous I’m feeling. I can’t manage it every good day (on other good days I’ll have a bed bath, change my pyjamas, and occasionally have visitors instead) but I really appreciate it when I can. It makes a massive difference to how I feel. On very good days (which are rare, maybe a couple of times a month if I’m lucky) I’ll be able to try watching a TV programme or a film, have lots of hugs (physical contact is painful) and do more work on trying to sit up without fainting. If transfers were possible (I need a hoist which I don’t have yet) good days would mean trying to get into my wheelchair, and very good days I could attempt to have a shower (using a tilt in space reclining shower chair, which has been approved but I don’t have yet, like the hoist).

Bad days are different. The computer is completely out. I need sunglasses to tolerate the lamp for pad changes and other personal care, and need it off otherwise (even with sunglasses on I can’t manage it for too long). My tablet becomes my lifeline to communicate, but I can only use it in short bursts then I have to rest. Thinking is extremely difficult and I can’t distract myself from the overwhelming pain I’m in. Communication becomes harder, as I can lose speech (or be too exhausted to speak – both happen), typing is very difficult, and my concentration and memory become very unreliable. All my symptoms become much worse, having basic care (such as pad changes) done is almost unbearable (and kept to an absolute minimum) and I often lose the ability to chew and swallowing is very difficult so I mostly live on milkshakes. I also experience random bouts of paralysis- sometimes just my arms or legs, but other times I’m unable to move any part of my body, which is terrifying no matter how many times I experience it. If I’m lucky it’ll only last a few minutes, but it has lasted days before.

I’m scared of bad days. I know some of the main triggers that are likely to cause them, and so I do my best to try and avoid them. It’s not always possible though and a lot of the time it’s out of my control. How well I am can change within hours or even minutes – sometimes getting better, but usually getting worse. Doing too much and being overwhelmed are pretty reliable causes of a bad day, yet I’m not always able to judge how much I’m able to do at any time without experiencing payback, and if the neighbours are fighting or a car alarm goes off I’m likely to have a period of relapse through no fault of my own (I can cope with relapse better if it’s because I’ve done something I wanted to do).

Due to how ill I am when I’m having a bad day, on good days I don’t feel like I’m that ill. I forget that most people with a severe disability or chronic illness are still able to manage more than I am, and see myself as more moderately ill than severe. If I hear that someone is so ill that they’re only able to get out of bed to go to the toilet, I think they’re more ill than I am, forgetting that I’m not even able to do that. One of Johan’s jobs is to remind me of what I am capable of, and also what I’m not (as if I try to do something I’m not able to do, I’m pretty much guaranteed to relapse). Since confusion and cognitive issues are part of my illness, I sometimes forget that I can’t walk, that I can’t sit up, and try to do so anyway (which never ends well). The cognitive problems can be some of the scariest, and unlike pain and nausea there’s no real treatment for them and unless you know me well it’s not always obvious how with it I actually am. At it’s worst I stop being able to understand language at all, which is scary when someone is talking to me and I have no idea what they’re saying.

It’s taken me a few weeks to write this blog post. I knowingly overdid it yesterday so am starting to pay for it now, but since it was talking to Sammie it was worth it. I’m hoping the payback won’t be too bad, and I’ll come out of it quickly. I’m grateful that even through the bad days I’m able to stay happy, and I have people who love me. Though it’s not always a good thing, I’m also grateful I’m able to forget how ill I am when I’m having a good day for me, as it makes life much more bearable. I’m hopeful that in time I’ll improve and what’s a good day now will be worse than my future bad days 🙂 I’m also very aware that there are people with ME for whom my bad days are their good days, and I really hope that they are able to get better.