Category Archives for Mental Health

Reminded Of My Interrupted Life

A few nights ago, I went to a dinner where a dear friend of mine was one of a number of honourees recognized for her career-long contributions to our country. I felt very proud being there to witness a celebration of her achievements. She has accomplished so much in her life it takes my breath away just imagining the commitment and hard work it took for her to meet the goals she set for herself and how she kept reaching higher after meeting each of them. Her humility is also inspiring because she doesn’t see herself as having done anything exceptional beyond what was required of her to contribute to society and give back because of opportunities she was able to seize.

In my life, I was motivated to work hard and make my mark, because of what I’ve seen her do with her life. I learned from her that I could pursue a conventional 9-to-5 career, but also volunteer my time and find creative ways to use my knowledge and skills to help others. It has been wonderful learning from her example that as an ordinary person I could do so much with just the willingness and desire to make a difference. My friend is someone whose life and work I’ve been fortunate to be influenced by and I can’t think of anyone more deserving of the honour and recognition bestowed upon her at that event.

Reminded Of My Interrupted Life

However, as proud as I was to support her, being at that event was difficult for me physically and emotionally. In the three years since I’ve been ill, my career and plans have been on hold. The issues I had chosen to focus on and put my efforts and energies behind to make changes within are moving forward without my contributions. The few moments where my work gained recognition seem so far behind me. With each painful passing day, I am losing touch with people and the progress they are making to affect tangible changes in the world. All of this was amplified as I ate my dinner choice, while trying hard to focus on all the conversation and activity around me for a painfully long four hours.

It’s been hard to accept that the life I planned for myself has changed so drastically. Instead of days bustling with activity to deliver services and resources to people in need of them, I now spend my time working hard to stay awake through the haze of pain medications and building tolerance to bear my pain. I’ve been trying to figure out ways I can still contribute and affect change, without breaching the contract of my disability benefits, but that isn’t really my biggest obstacle: my body is. How can I take part in the industry I wanted to change so significantly without working as hard as I know is required? How can I clear the fog from my mind long enough to work on lengthy projects or deliver coherent presentations or research issues? Just thinking about the demands of the work exhausts me and raises my awareness to the presence of my pain.

Furthermore, I don’t know how long I can be away from my career before what my education and experience taught me become obsolete. I don’t know when I will fade from the memories of the many people I worked with, shared ideas and helped to stay hopeful. I don’t know if I can be satisfied with my past contributions knowing I may not be able to make more. I don’t know when this unexpected interruption in my life will end, but I do know that when it does, it will be hard work getting back on track to where I was once projected to go.

 

McFadden & Whitehead – Ain’t No Stopping Us Now

 

All Those Seeds

I read a post from someone who visited my blog earlier today and it reminded me of what I went through this time last year. I was in another downward spiral because my reluctant surgeon couldn’t seem to move far enough forward in her thinking to get me into surgery. For almost a year, in one appointment after another, she sent me staggering emotionally from hope to despair about what my life might look like based on one worst-case scenario after another. She eroded any confidence I might have held in her. Thankfully, even through the fog of all my pain medications and my endless pain, I was able to feel and recognize that I deserved better than what she was offering.

The few visits I had with my second opinion surgeon, led to swift action and although I wasn’t cured of my pain, at least the thing that was growing inside my pelvis that started all of this is gone. Without the confidence and compassion of my second opinion surgeon, my fears and anxiety would have grown exponentially. Instead of making calm, informed decisions, the way he did, and now the rest of my current medical team help me to; everything would have continued to be reactionary based on my desire to stop feeling pain without understanding the suspected source and mapping out the best treatment plan for me.

I hope Snowdroplets finds the same compassion, expertise, and thoughtfulness I did as she seeks out her second opinions and makes her choices. I also hope that mirroring her words back to her will help to keep her positive and confident that seeking out doctors that make you feel comfortable and secure is the best medicine.

 

All Those Seeds

 

Zentangle: Residual Feelings

I didn’t sleep much, or peacefully, the many times I dozed off last night because yesterday was a bit of a strained day for me and I couldn’t shake off the residual feelings of the day. First off, I had to be up early for an appointment with one of my specialists. That meant I had a lot of anxiety the night before, and while getting ready in the morning, because getting anywhere on time these days is difficult for me. If I have to wake up early for an appointment, I don’t get a good night’s sleep because I feel anxious about the possibility that I might oversleep and miss it altogether. Then getting showered and dressed, even though I checked the weather report and had an outfit picked out, is a major production that always takes longer than any amount of lead-time I give myself to get out the door allows. I keep hoping that I’ll finally figure out the right ratio of time I need depending on the level of pain I’m feeling on a given day, but for now I’ll have to live with the crapshoot that I might get to where I’m going on time.

However, my early morning appointment wasn’t the only thing that made it such a difficult day for me. Yesterday was the birthday of my great-aunt M. She passed away about 15 years ago after a long battle with cancer. She was a sweet, caring woman. Everyone who knew her loved and respected her. Even though she was my grandmother’s sister, my great-aunt M and I had a closer relationship. She was one of the few people in my life whose love and affections I never had to question, and I miss her terribly.

Throughout my life, Auntie M was a positive presence who always did things to make me feel special. Because she lived overseas, I didn’t see her often but I did have opportunities to spend time with her during long visits over summer vacations and other holidays and she always worked to sustain a significant presence in my life. When I was a child, she would send me packages with a mixture of toys, clothes, and sweet treats. I loved opening those gifts and seeing the pretty things she had taken her time to pick out just for me. As I grew older, Auntie M wrote me letters and sent me cards that always arrived on time for my birthday and holidays, and there were her phone calls just to say hello.

As much as I miss my Auntie M, I know I should be relieved that she’s not suffering anymore from such a long, terrible illness. Because it wasn’t possible to celebrate her birthday with her yesterday or chat with her to hear her reassure me that everything will be fine the way she used to; I spent my sleepless time doing things to distract myself from my currently hard to cope with life and sadness. I like the way this piece turned out and I’d like to think it turned out so well because Auntie M was helping me to steady my pen like she used to support me when she was alive.

Tile 36 Shaded - Tangles-Sand Swirl-Leaflet-N'Zeppel - String 008

Tile 36 Shaded – Tangles-Sand Swirl-Leaflet-N’Zeppel – String 008