Life As A Medical Anomaly Part 1


Adversity was part of my language long before I knew what the meaning of the word was and dealing with hardships with difficulties was second to it.  Before I was even ever diagnosed with Asthma, Carpel Tunnel, Tendinitis, Hypothyroidism, Chronic Migraines, and mild Scoliosis I was born with a speech problem and a motor skill problem although it was not discovered until I was in Preschool, where those part of the program realized there were issues with my speech and my motor functions which started my journey of being a medical anomaly even though I would not understand until many years later.  In grade school I was put in special education due to the fine motor skill problem and the speech issues, going through a speech therapist during the process for the whole length of my grade school years, it was during those years I would know what adversity was even before knowing the word.  I was teased and bullied during grade school, due to me being in special education and later becoming a heavy seat child, and through that adversity became a part of my life even outside of school with being raised by a single parent dealing with the rough times of being a single parent without support from my birth father.
There have been many titles and definitions that matched to who I am or was at any specific time. I think even as kids we go through these changes. Of course as a child though we don't think of the possible other things that might come such as diseases we might have to live with for the rest of our lives. Some are more well-known than others. Some are even more life threatening.

            All seem to have stereotypes of who is affected by it.  This is a story about the real life challenges of one who has many different health issues and seem to boggle the mind of doctors on more than one occasion, about a person who tries to be a fighter and is strong because of God, her husband, and her close friends, and about dealing with health issues some that the world does not seem to fully understand and know about.  This will be a very public from a somewhat private life, but it is time to have someone who can speak for the voiceless about how dealing with health issues especially those that seem to puzzle doctors can affect a person’s life.  The sometimes daily struggle that seems to happen when someone has various health issues, especially dealing with an ongoing unknown of asthma to the pain issues from carpel tunnel and tendinitis.
 
These issues have definitely affected my work life especially the asthma.  Where most people my age might have anywhere to six to upwards of ten years depending if they went to college, worked during college, or a number of other factors, however I have a lot less due to having to quit jobs due to my asthma getting to the point that I would be missing too much work, or being let go because of attendance issues that were caused by my asthma being severe.  My asthma can end up acting up due to many things that many people take for granted.  Instead of normal allergies that most have, I deal with sensitivities being sensitive to things without being allergic also known as non-allergy rhinitis, including everything from dust to cigarette smoke to different fragrances and cleaning products.  When starting disability just having asthma that was severe hadn’t been enough to get it, but now with all the knowledge of other medical issues I am not sure where life is going to lead.
 
Having my wonderful husband that supports me through everything I do and takes care of me with having the health issues and loves me even more is one of the wonderful things that keep me going when a day is difficult.  Trying to keep positive and try to still accomplish the goals that God has put into my heart is another aspect of my life that keeps me going.  I have a good support system of people who really care about me both online and offline including many I have known through the years on my Yahoo Groups. Being saved and having God in my life keeps me strong, determined, and put my fighting spirit to good use.  These support systems keep me going through the hardest asthma day, pain day, or whatever else might be in the process for the day.  There are moments even with such a wonderful support system that I have moments of being depressed or wanting to give up, constant pain can cause these things, and it can cause days where you feel everything is going to be crappy even with things can look up. 
 
Through these posts I hope to talk more about all my health issues everything from the seriousness of having severe asthma to pain related issues from the carpel tunnel, tendinitis, chronic migraines, and mild scoliosis.  I will talk about getting through the good and bad times, how I personally handle it, what I have learned through reading about it, what I have gained and lost in life, and most important the lessons I have learned about life through the whole process.  My name is Mandy and I have these health issues and this is going to be a story like no other.  A story about a real person and real health issues some that don’t truly know or understand very often.  Welcome to a part of my life the ups and downs, the good and the bad, but this is my life, the life of myself even if I call myself a medical anomaly that refuses to let health issues completely control, but also wants more people aware of how these health issues can affect people and bring into light health issues that can become very serious. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

There Are Those Moments

Take My Hand

Journal Challenge Day 12