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Stress is difficult on everyone, but when I am dealing with this emotion it affects me in a whole different way. These past couple of weeks, I've experienced an increase of muscle cramps, tremors, balance issues, etc. I'm not sharing this as a way to complain or vent, but rather give you a look into the other aspect of me dealing with Dopa Responsive Dystonia.
As other people with Dystonia explain, we deal with flare ups form time to time. Mine are always dependent on how much sleep I'm getting, my stress levels, hormones as well as if I'm sick with a cold or other virus/infection. I work really hard to keep these annoyances at bay. For example, I do some time of exercise every day in order to keep my muscles strong. I try really hard to get at least 8 hours of sleep at night (not easy with three kids) and take a nap in the afternoon. This is my life. Some days are better than others. I'm just glad that these days are so much better than the "old days."
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Do you ever think about who you may have been in a past life? This is a question that I ponder every night before I fall asleep. And unlike many people, I know the answer to this question.
In my previous life I was a positive, optimistic, happy-go-lucky girl who just happened to be trapped in her own body due to cerebral palsy. That child wasn’t able to dribble a ball down the basketball court, run around the school play ground, hold a pencil with ease to complete daily homework or even use the restroom without the challenge of pulling her pants up and down. When that girl grew into adulthood, the idea of marrying and having a family of her own didn’t seem possible, because she wondered who could possibly love someone who has so many physical challenges? Luckily, that girl was wrong and she married a wonderful man who was able to look past all of that and fall in love with the women she was on the inside. She would later be blessed with three children and their family would be complete. It’s very hard for me to believe that the woman I just explained to you was indeed me. That girl had struggles and challenges every singe day of her life, yet here I am now capable of so much more. Every day I do so many things that weren’t possible such as: walking my daughter to the bus stop, cooking dinner, vacuuming, driving the kids to all their after school activities and so much more! It amazes me that I’ve had this new life for five years now!!! I work so hard to remember the person I was before that doctors appointment on Good Friday 2010. I make sure to give thanks to the Lord for my new diagnosis of Dopa Responsive Dystonia (DRD) every single day. I also make a conscious effort to appreciate everything that I’m able to do and promise God that I will NEVER take any of it for granted, even on those ever so busy days where the stress begins to rise in my chest. When I go to bed at night and think about who I was in my past life, I smile because I’m proud of who she was and pleased that she is making the most out of her current life…never taking anything for granted. A Special thank you to The Mighty for publishing this post (and other inspiring stories) on their website: http://themighty.com/2015/04/why-i-work-hard-to-remember-the-struggles-of-my-misdiagnosis/ After driving 650+ miles in 11 hours with three kids (13,11 and 2) alone, I am beyond exhausted. And if I wasn’t so tired, I’d be grinning from ear to ear because I was actually able to do this today. I’ll be honest…I wasn’t sure if I could do it. I doubted my new ability and thought I would have to get a hotel room about 6 hours into the drive to rest my body. But I did it! I was able to take my kids into the rest stop for bathroom breaks, walk into fast food restaurants to grab a quick meal and pump gas. Each one of those tasks was something that I couldn’t do before. At least not without the help of someone else. But today I did all of it! And without the help of another adult. And for that, I am unbelievably grateful.  |
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