- It may only be eight years but it feels like I've been this way forever.
- I had less than 50% of ever regaining movement below my neck
- I was never supposed to breathe on my own after being put on a ventilator.
Today marks my eight year anniversary of my accident. I have mixed feelings about this day. They have run through my head all day too. So I've gathered a few of them for you guys to have the inside scoop!
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Today was a pretty good and laid back at first. I was up at 9 then cleaned cages. I listen to music with my headset as I vacuum out cages and sing as loud as I can. I know everyone can hear me but I really don't care. I'm truly different than everyone remembers my as from before my accident. I've been watching the TV series gossip girl and I have absolutely loved it! It's just the right amount of drama to keep me interested. I didn't plan on doing very much other than cleaning cages today. Got a better picture of my hair for everyone! I hope you like it. LolaA little after four Derek was involved in a car wreck and Jessica had to leave. As she left I heard a cry coming from my trio cage and I knew that the Joey was not old enough to be detached yet. That's a bad sign right there. Trying to Rios is very difficult if the mothers don't get along very well. It can lead to death of Joey's and even one of the mothers if not careful. When I open the pouch I found the Joey which I have put a picture above clinging to one of the moms. Unfortunately it was not it's real mother and I knew that Autumn was not allowing the baby to feed from Sommer. I ended up having to take Autumn out of the cage for the sake of the Joey. I found out that it's a little girl. I've decided to name her Lola. Once she is healthy she will be up for adoption on my breeding website loveaglider.com I got to know that I will be bringing this beautiful little boy home around three weeks from now! If he is at his goal weight by then I will get to fly him in from Utah! I am so excited to be having my first hedgehog! He's beautiful. I need a name for him though, what do you guys think his name should be? Here's the two I like so far: Prince Eric or Oreo.
iWhen people see me the first thing they see is my wheelchair of course, and I hate it! A few years ago I put in some crazy hair colors to distract from my chair. Last year when my mom passed away I decided to give up those colors to try to be normal but I missed those colors again. So I've done it again 🌈
I don't want people only to notice me because of my wheelchair so the hair is my way of standing out. Today was my lazy day! I cleaned cages and went to Walmart. It was nice to just relax most of the day. Tonight we went and seen a movie called "Fifty Shades Darker" with Deza and Jessica. It was kind of nice to have a girls night out with no kids and no guys. Jessica is pregnant so of course we couldn't get too wild but we had a very good time. Deza screamed when the gun shot went off during the movie which everyone thought was hilarious! Oh I also went to get my hair washed at the friends shop and just as we get to washing the shampoo out of my hair the hot water heater stops working. I was freezing!! I stay cold anyway because of poor circulation due to my injury. I was screaming!! I hate it! I hate being cold!!!
So yes, I know it's already like two months into the new year but I've decided that I'm going to set some realistic goals for 2017. So I'm going to list them here and kind of explain why these goals are important to me this year. Goal One ✔️Baclofen Pump I wanted to baclofen pump because my spasticity has gotten so bad that it's hard for me to get outside and do anything that I really like to do before my accident happened. It's crazy that specificity could get in the way of so much! I completed this goal January 2017! I'm so proud to know that at least one of my goals has been completed this year! Goal TwoStoma Procedure The stoma will give me the independence of not needing someone there to empty my bag when it gets full. I wear a foley catheter 24/7 because it's just easier than having to cath me every four hours. There's always drawbacks to everything and a few drawbacks to wearing the foley so long is: I keep constant UTIs; Sexual activity with a foley is painful; The foley line is breaking down my legs; My insides are also being broke down; and the most important is I won't leak and cause embarrassment because of incontinents. Goal ThreeAce Procedure The ace procedure will help me not have to worry about having a bowel movement unexpectedly. Someone with my injury knows that we can't control our bowel and it can comes when we least expect it too. It can be so embarrassing when in public. It could also be embarrassing if it decides to come during sexual activity. I'm not sexually active but one day it will get there and I want to have some control over this first. I'll also have less accidents. Goal FourDriving I have so many doctors appointments and things that I want to do for myself that I can't because I'm not able to transport myself. If I drive I'm going to have so much more independence to do what I want too do. I'll be able to go see who I want and all the things someone who is twenty two years old should be able to do alone. I see all of those I went to school with out and about with lives of their own and homes of their owns. I'm still stuck having to live with someone and having to have someone help me more than I want too. Goal FiveComplete Breeding Program My disability prevents me from just going out and getting a job like everyone else is able too. Employers aren't very aware of how my spinal cord injury affects my movement but it doesn't effect the way my brain works. I'm still never going to be able to be normal. I breed sugar gliders because I love these little creatures and I love watching the faces of joy they bring to others who have them. When I complete my breeding program I'll have another income coming into my hands. Disability is all the income I have right now and it's just not enough to sustain one person on its own. Goal Six ✔️Getting Standing Wheelchair My wheelchair is four years old and when you live in the chair like I do it gets worn out. When I first come out with a standing my chair I was so excited because trying to get me out of my chair and into a stander is very dangerous no matter how many people are there to guard you. With my standing wheelchair I would be able to stand out whenever I want and be able to help keep my bones healthy by putting pressure on them. So I've been trying to get Medicare to approve my standing wheelchair. Well in January the chair was approved!! I got my wheelchair. I currently have a wound on my foot that has to heal before I can get approval to stand on my broken hip. No matter how long it takes I do have the chair to be able to stand, now I just have to heal up to stand again. :) Goal SevenPay Off Debt
So when my accident first happened the medical bills started piling up, which in turn started sending my credit in a downward spiral. I want to be able to get a loan if I ever need it so I have to clean my credit up a lot. The first place to start is paying off the medical bills a little at a time. I've set up a plan to slowly pay off the debt monthly. Today technically started yesterday, I went to the doctor to see if I had the flu and found out that I had an upper respiratory infection and I was prescribed an anabiotic with a steroid. I didn't know that I probably shouldn't take the steroid at night and I took it about 9 PM last night. I tried to go to sleep at 11, then at 3am. All of these attempts failed miserably! I ended up staying up all night long! I have to say that I did get a lot of stuff done! I got all kinds of caught up with my web design course. (I'm staying up later tonight to finish up one section.) I ended up getting really spazzed out because of the steroids and I haven't been to sleep since I woke up at 9 AM yesterday morning! I will never let them take steroids again! I'm hoping that I can sleep more tonight. my morning breakfast with some delicious donuts that Jessica picked up instead of birthday cake since we just celebrated her birthday this Saturday before. They were fantastic! Once I was able to calm down a little bit I got all of my things that I needed to get done in my building finished before noon! At five we headed to my dad's house for a birthday party with my mom's side of the family. It was very nice. Ms. Kay fried me some huge shrimp! My favorite of course!! Everyone ate like they were pigs! It was so so so so good. We brought a whole lot of stuff home including my beautiful birthday cake that was made with homemade icing. We all took some silly photos with props that Ms. Kay had gotten for me. It was probably the best birthday I could ever ask for since my mom has passed away. My birthday gift to myself is getting a hedgehog and that soon will be becoming reality! Stay tuned for more info my beautiful little girl. more pictures from tonight! I had a wonderful birthday even though this will be my second birthday without my mom present physically. I miss her every single day and I wish you was here to see how much I've grown since she left. :(
So the last few days has been crazy. Saturday was the birthday party for Brantyn, plus a Valentine's Day party at my dad's house and Sunday morning I had to take one of my gliders to an emergency vet. Grouchy got into a bowl of hot wax in my wax warmer and I had to rush her to an emergency vet to save her life. I was so scared a squalled the whole time. It turned out that she had no bond and all they have to do is put her under to clean off most of the wax. She didn't have to have anabiotic's or anything so I got to come home with her. I went to the doctor today because I wasn't feeling well and I was beginning to lose my voice. I figured I had bronchitis or strep throat but it turns out I have an upper respiratory infection. It's lovely to be sick the day before your birthday! Tomorrow Ms. Kay is cooking me a birthday dinner of fried shrimp which is my favorite! I can't believe that I will be 22 tomorrow. It's amazing how fast time flies. If feels like it was just yesterday that I was turning 17! It's going to be another year without my mom but I hope I am making her proud! Madilyn is getting so big. I can't believe that she is already seven months old! It won't be very long and she will start crawling and even walking. It's hard to think about in the next few months she will be learning to walk and how to talk! There's going to be only 13 months between Madi and the new baby. I'm so excited in some ways but scared in others.
So today came in my shippment of live mealworms for my sugar gliders. I was kind of skeptical that I wouldn't like it but it turns out that they were a big hit with everyone! I only had two Sugar Glider's that would not eat any. It was so much fun to watch them chase them around as they tried to wiggle away from them!
If you are interested in sugar gliders? Loveaglider.com So today we took Brantyn and Maddie to the doctor to get them checked out because either of them was feeling very good yesterday. They were feeling fine today thank God but it turns out that Brantyn has the flu! Maddie doesn't have it yet but we have to make sure she doesn't because of how long surgery could be very dangerous for her to get the flu. It is also very dangerous for me to get the flu because the only time I've ever had it I had to be hospitalized and I couldn't remember the week I was in the hospital. I was also having hallucinations. Tomorrow since I am being quarantined in my building until everybody is over the flu I will be cleaning my cages and all that kind of good stuff before I get to filming some videos for all of you for my YouTube channel.
so I know these pictures are very good quality but it gives you a good idea of what my wound is looking like this week. It is looking a whole lot better. It is finally starting to heal up. Pressure wounds are very tricky to heal! Hopefully next week I'll have even better progress.
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AuthorParalyzed from the neck down after an ATV rollover at 14, April Otwell is beating the odds the doctors gave her. She's a blogger, fantasy writer, college student, sugar glider guardian and spinal cord injury survivor. She's even writing her first fiction novel!
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February 2023
CONTACTEmail: hopeful.thinking123@yahoo.com
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