Tag: CES

therapy black out

by Midnight Demon, posted in blogging, Chronic pain, CRPS, depression, mood disorders

Therapy black out

Trigger warning sexual abuse talk

I had therapy today and in the middle of it, my power goes out. I had to use my hotspot to connect but because I was in the dark, I didn’t turn the camera on. UGH. We were talking about trauma and specifically my mother’s abuse towards me. She sexually abused me from the time I was young, like age 2 to 13. She always had to look at my genitals or breasts. Now that I have been cathing for a while, I still have flashbacks to when she touches me when I touch myself. In my pediatric records, the doctor notes that my “vagina was closing” according to my mother but I wonder if it was really my urethra as it is in my vaginal opening. I’ve had a few UTI’s growing up and I wonder if it is because my mother stuck things in there. I also had a trauma medical procedure done to me when I was five. I had to be restrained physically and chemically for the doctor to do the procedure. All I remember is that I was screaming for my mother to get me, to comfort me, and when she didn’t come, I felt abandoned. I hated my mother for not being there. It was then that I started hearing voices.

Today’s WordPrompt from WordPress is transition. I was talking about my transition today with my therapist as my mother misgendered me, again. It invalidates me and makes me think my transition is not worth it. As I will always be seen as a “daughter” to her rather than a son. She thinks she owns me. I haven’t told her that I will be having top surgery yet. I want to make sure the insurance is going to cover it. I don’t want to tell her and then it not happen. It is five months away anyways. I am hoping that I can have it sooner but I got to know insurance will cover it first.

I am going for blood work this week so asked my pcp if they also need a urine sample because my test strip for home testing tested positive for white cells. I don’t know if my bladder is still inflamed or what. It still hurts though and even though I am starting the estrogen cream tonight, it could be a month before it has an effect. I was going to start last night but I got too tired to put it on. I was going to put it on after my last cath for the night but I didn’t want to get out of bed. I was comfy.

I woke up a couple of time during the night to pee and I was on the same schedule as my mother as every time I had to go pee so did she. I might have to hide the benzoyl peroxide I bought as I found it on the sink rather than in the cabinet. The last tube I bought was used by family members. I never had a chance to use it because it was used up before I could or it went missing on me. I have a breakout of zits right now and need to use it. For fuck’s sake, I bought it with my money and the shit is not cheap. Pisses me off that someone keeps using my acne products.

I wanted to make a zucchini chicken stir fry for supper but my ankle and foot are hurting me too much. My mother is just going to make the chicken with salt and pepper for me. I just realized I haven’t eaten anything since breakfast this morning. I never made lunch like I had wanted to. Therapy just got me so upset.

legs don’t want to work

by Midnight Demon, posted in blogging, chronic physical pain, CRPS, depression, mood disorders

Legs don’t want to work

My legs hurt today for some reason. I wish I could say that it is because I walked too much or something but I haven’t done anything the past few days. Other than leaving the house Monday for my MRI, I haven’t left the house. I just showered and I feel a little bit better. My groceries will be arriving soon. Just hope I can go up and down stairs.

My surgeon got back to me. I will see her next week for the discharge that I have. Sucks that I have to go through this another week. I was hoping that it was done but when I looked at the pad before taking it off for my shower there was some yellow stuff on it. I don’t care I am wearing boxers today. I will change into underwear before bed. I was getting chafed by the underwear elastic because I got a size too small. I need a break. I still have a stitch on my belly. I don’t know why it is still hanging on me. I tried to gently remove it but it is stuck on me pretty good. I will have the surgeon look at it if it is still there next week.

I don’t know what to do today. It is cloudy and muggy. I might go to the square this afternoon to mail my letter and get some cheese. I want to make a grilled cheese sandwich. I am really craving a bowl of Chex cereal. My groceries came and I don’t feel like doing anything now. I am so damn tired. I made quiche for lunch and am pretty full. I also had my second cup of coffee. I have been having at least two to three cups a day and I am still tired. It was muggy in the kitchen so I opened the door. It is cooler outside than it is in the house. I am sweating though. My mother called me to tell me to pick up the milk from my cousin. Going up and down stairs really exhausted me.

I am glad I checked when I am seeing my uro NP tomorrow. I thought it was at 2 and it is at 1. We have a lot to discuss. Since stopping the Flomax I am finding it easier to cath. I don’t get the urge as much but I keep track of the hours in between caths. It still hurts when I void so I cath when I can. I also increased the tolterodine and that has helped a lot. I don’t know what the NP will say to this but we will see. I think she will be ok with it.

can’t sleep so I have been up since 0530

by Midnight Demon, posted in blogging, cauda equina syndrome, CES, chronic physical pain, CRPS, depression, disability

Can’t sleep so I am up at 0530

I feel like I have been up every fricken hour after having weird dreams. I gave up at 530 and at 6 had some coffee and a banana bread biscuit from Belvita. Nothing is going on on Twitter so I decided to write.

I honestly think the Flomax I was taking was causing urges to be strong. Since discontinuing it, my urges have been way less than they are and that makes cathing a whole lot easier. I haven’t experienced any bladder spasms so taking the tolterodine was kind of useless.

Yesterday afternoon I had a bowel explosion. Shit was everywhere and I got it on my hands while wiping. It was very soft shit so I couldn’t hold it in. After I cleaned my underwear and the toilet, I took a shower to clean myself to make sure I was clean. I felt so awful after this happened. I hate when it happens. I have no control of my stool once it reaches the rectum and enters my anal canal. I just don’t have the function of holding it in. I have nerve damage to that area. I have been trying to be gentle with myself. I colored a difficult piece of art yesterday after the accident. It took me a couple of hours to sort the colors out. And then it took me a couple of hours to color. It took my mind off my troubles as I was thinking about what color to use next. My finger got pencil coloring on it and I felt like a painter doing work.

Today is supposed to be sunny and hot. I plan on going to the mailbox early to mail my ballot. Every time I get the mail in ballot I have to do it like three times before it is accepted. The first time I didn’t receive the ballot, just the envelope that had to be signed. The second time I received the white envelope and the ballot nothing more. Third time I received the yellow envelope and white envelope with a note saying that my ballot had to be in the yellow envelope and signed. Hopefully this will be the last of it as the election is coming up soon.

I need to shave my head and face today. I have stubble that is turning into a beard. I have finally mastered the goatee so I need to shave around it. I want to use the electric shaver but I need the mirror and I don’t know where it is at the moment. I like that I can shave in my bed. I can’t do my head with the shaver because it has hair dust that stays and I will have to wash my head afterwards. Besides, I get a closer shave with a razor than the shaver. I might use my five blade razor today. Just hope I don’t nick myself with it like I have in the past.

I bought some new books that I want to read about medicine history and the enslaved people it experimented on. The book got delivered but I don’t remember where I put it. I think it is in the unopened Amazon box. Maybe I will read today rather than doom scroll on Twitter. It has been a while since I read a book. I am still working on the MLB book. It is a big book with over 500 pages. I have learned a lot but I don’t think I can write the book I want to using this book as a guide. It doesn’t give me the right information I am looking for. I don’t know where I can find it. Seems teams names changed every year before 1901 as owners changed hands. Some teams were dropped off because they didn’t collect enough tickets to be worthy of playing so their players were switched to other teams that did collect enough tickets. It was kind of confusing at first but I think I got it after I read a little more. I have a reading challenge going on like I do every year. My goal for this year is to read at least 12 books. I tried to do the 20 books but always came up short. I figured 12 would be one book a month but I haven’t finished any book since Trauma and Recovery by Judith Herman. I have read 6 books so far so I only have 6 books left. Should be easy if I get off Twitter enough. I am a quarter way through the MLB book. I also bought Jim Acosta’s book, Enemy of the People. I can’t wait to start that one.

I wrote to my psychiatrist to tell him how awful I feel about my bowel and bladder issues and how I don’t think my therapist is going to be validating me on them. I feel so alone about it. Since stopping the medication, I have to keep myself on a schedule or otherwise I will forget to pee because I don’t have the urge. Also right now having a full bladder causes me abdominal pain because of the hysterectomy. I still have the stitches in me. I tried taking it off but it wouldn’t come off so I just left it. I am entering my third week post op. I don’t know when the stitches will fall off. I need to ask the nurse that when I talk to her hopefully tomorrow.

I bought some marigold seeds that I want to plant. I had bought some soil and terracotta pots for a seedling my cousin gave me but my sister was able to plant it in her pot so my pots have been sitting on the porch all this time. I might give it a go sometime this week. Marigolds are my favorite type of flower.

Follow up to previous blog about trauma and therapy

by Midnight Demon, posted in blogging, Chronic pain, chronic physical pain, CRPS, depression, mood disorders

Follow up to previous blog about trauma and therapy

I sent the blog I wrote yesterday to my therapist and she read it before our session today. We talked about it and she explained why she is often “pushy” and one sided in her decision makings. We also talked about ways she could be more collaborative in therapy and more validating. It was a good session. We talked about meeting twice a week for a while and she was open to this.

I have been tired all day. I haven’t been able to nap though. I had two cups of coffee to try and get going. I wanted to change my sheets today but I ran out of gas. My neck hurt too much today to do anything. My ankle was also bothering me so I had a fair amount of pain. There were times when the pain got so bad I wanted to end things right then and there. I thought about sending my therapist a text about it but I never did. She wouldn’t like it. My jaw has been hurting me most of the day. I have been having trouble opening my mouth and my teeth hurt on the top row. I really need to see a dentist to find out what is wrong but I think it is because I am clenching my teeth that is causing me pain. I am under so much stress and tension in my upper body. I know it has to do with trauma and not feeling safe in my own home right now. Too much stuff is happening and it is making me so anxious and hypervigilant. Plus this week is an anniversary week so I am dealing with memories of my past. These memories aren’t intrusive, they are just there and sometimes with the leg pain, causes me to react with PTSD symptoms.

I have a lot of trauma growing up and it is why I have been so tense lately. It centers around my mother and sister. One is old and the other is fairly new. Getting used to living with my middle sister again hasn’t been easy. We fight a lot of the time and often I can’t stand to be around her because she is so quick to anger. She is not physically violent, thank god but she says hurtful things and that is hard to accept. My mother just violates privacy a lot of the time. I still am not over the childhood abuse she did to me. I’ve never talked about it because I am scared to. I think I have the right therapist to help me talk about it though.

Twenty years ago this week I was diagnosed with cauda equina syndrome. I had lost function of my legs due to a disc fragment compressing my nerves. I had to have a back operation to get rid of the fragment. I had to relearn to walk, which was tough. It took more than a week for me to move my toes again and gradually feeling and sensation came back. Strength took a little while longer. Then two weeks later I developed a staph infection and became really weak. I was really sick and it was difficult to walk at that point. I couldn’t go as far as I did before. It took a long time for me to recover. All the while I wasn’t working so had financial worries. I had to file for bankruptcy and that gave me some financial freedom for a while. It took me a few years to get back up to 40 hours a week. It took a lot out of me.

Tomorrow I have PT virtually because there is going to be a snow storm. I am not going out in it. I don’t care. It is going to suck because virtual PT is not ideal but there are exercises that can be done at least. Just sucks because I really would love for the PT to massage my neck again.