By wendy, on July 10th, 2010%
The new ChronicBabe Blog Carnival theme is “who’s on your team” and I thought it would be the perfect time to let some very special people know how important they are to me, and how much I appreciate them (and hopefully, to help others figure out how to develop their own support team.)
Like so many of us, when I was diagnosed with a chronic illness, most of my family and friends didn’t “get it,” and even the ones who tried to be supportive ended up making me feel as though I was at fault for getting and staying sick. It’s taken me a lot of years to find people who either understand “incurable but not fatal,” or are willing to accept my experience without actually understanding it. It’s been a painful road, with many losses along the way, but I’ve finally managed to surround myself with people who love me for who I am and provide the emotional support I need to survive. Continue reading My Support Team: They weren’t Easy to Find, But They were Worth the Wait »
By wendy, on June 7th, 2010%
Do you suffer from bipolar disorder or depression? Are you pregnant, or planning to get pregnant?
If so, and you’re taking an SSRI (Prozac, Paxil, Celexa, Zoloft, Sarafem, Lexapro, Luvox) or SNRI (Cymbalta, Effexor, Pristiq) type antidepressant medication, or a combination of two different types of antidepressants, you may want to talk to your doctor about other options during your pregnancy. A new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal reports that taking these medications during pregnancy increases the chances of spontaneous abortion (miscarriage) by MORE than two-thirds (68%.)
WARNING:
Withdrawal from these medications is extremely dangerous, and should never be attempted without the supervision of a qualified specialist with experience in handling “Antidepressant Discontinuation Syndrome.” The symptoms of withdrawal can be more severe than the original symptoms, even when doses are only reduced, rather than stopped entirely.
Sources:
Canadian Medical Association Journal, abstract: http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/abstract/cmaj.091208v1
Baker, S.L. (2010). “Antidepressants during pregnancy cause alarming 68 percent increased risk of miscarriage” (retrieved June 7, 2010). http://www.naturalnews.com/028943_antidepressants_miscarriage.html
By wendy, on May 30th, 2010%
Chronic illness is a life-changing experience for everyone, and each person’s journey is very different; but there are experiences we all recognize as well. How many of us have lost jobs, friends, spouses, homes, and family members to our disease? No matter what illness we have, we share so much that we can connect on a level that many will never understand unless the journey comes to them. We share symptoms, and losses, and lessons; and we share the understanding that our lives will never be the same because the illness, the journey, has changed us in ways that can never be undone. Even if we were to wake up tomorrow and be healthy again, even if by some miracle we were cured; the experience has changed us in fundamental ways, and the lessons it has taught us can never be unlearned.
My journey began many years ago, and it has changed my life so much that when I look back I barely recognize the woman I was. I was married, and miserable, and convinced that I was too stupid to ever be able to take care of myself without a man to tell me what I thought, what I wanted, and what I felt. I was depressed and suicidal, dissociative, and having flashbacks that I thought were delusions or hallucinations. I was terrified that I was losing my mind, and more terrified to tell anyone what was happening for fear that I really WAS “going crazy.”
I can pinpoint the exact moment that my journey through illness began, too. Not with a time or a date, but with an event; an event so ordinary, so innocuous, that I could never have suspected the effect it would have on my life. Continue reading My Chronic Illness Journey – The Trip I Never Expected (or WANTED) to Take »
By wendy, on April 4th, 2010%
Disclaimer: Not all of the experiences in this post are mine. I’ve collected stories from my friends, too; and if it sounds like something that happened to a guy, it probably was.
My mama never mentioned that it was a bad idea to fry bacon while naked . . . seems to me that would have been good information to have, right up there with “don’t touch a hot stove” and “the red end of the cigarette HURTS.” Continue reading Never Fry Bacon Naked, and Other Things Mama Never Told You »
By wendy, on March 3rd, 2010%
I’m going to do an off-topic rant . . . I know there are tons of people out there that are going to agree with me, and many that won’t, but I’m VERY frustrated at the moment. I’m sorry if it sounds like I’m a prejudiced bitch – my family immigrated to this country, we’ve just been here a while and lost the accent. I really don’t have issues with anyone who’s trying to make their lives better, I’d just like to be able to UNDERSTAND what’s being said to me. If someone is being paid to speak English to native English speakers, they need to speak it clearly.
Have you had to deal with out-sourced customer support yet? Not only are most companies outsourcing their support, the majority of those are off-shoring as well. That pisses me off for a multitude of reasons, but the biggest one is the fact that I can very rarely understand what the hell these people are saying. For heaven’s sake, you’re selling your damned product in the United States, so why is it that the people you hire to provide your customer support can’t speak clear English? (Question for our native Spanish-speakers: do you have the same problem? When you request Spanish, do the customer support folks you talk to have such a heavy accent or such awkward phrasing that you have difficulty understanding them?)
The online support isn’t much better, either. I don’t have to deal with an accent, and in most cases the support folks spell well enough that I know what word they intended, but the phrasing is still awkward so interpreting what they MEAN isn’t always easy. If someone is supposed to be helping me fix a problem with a piece of equipment I purchased, they can’t do their job if I can’t understand what they’re telling me to do to resolve the issue.
It wouldn’t be so bad, but if I have the nerve to say, “I’m sorry, I’m having difficulty understanding what you’re saying, could I speak to someone with less of an accent?” they get insulted and hang up on me, so I have to start all over. For heaven’s sake, I’m getting older, my ears don’t work as well as they used to, and then you throw in a phone connection to another continent – I’m already having trouble, and that’s if I’m talking to someone I KNOW and talk to all the time. Throw in an unfamiliar accent, and I’m screwed. I have no hope of getting anything useful accomplished under those circumstances. I really don’t intend to insult these folks, but if I can’t figure out what they’re saying, they can’t help me; and the next time something needs replaced, I’m NOT going to buy that brand.
**If you are reading this post anywhere other than wendyburnett.wordpress.com it is because it has been stolen. Please click on the link provided to return to the site of origin.
|
If you enjoy the content on this website, you can keep it coming by donating to help keep the site online.
"The moral test of a society is how that society treats those who are in the dawn of life . . . the children; those who are in the twilight of life . . . the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life . . . the sick, the needy, and the handicapped."
---Hubert Humphrey
Welcome to the new home of Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired. I hope you'll enjoy the changes, and the new resources I'll be adding as I have time to work on the site. Things will look a bit odd while I learn where and how to modify the appearance, so please bear with me.
|
