Real Life Struggles/Support/Vent

[icanbeyourmuse]

I am sick of having health issues. Every month, or so it seems, I have been having pain in my side. Sometimes it is so bad I can barely move. I was going to the ER and all they tell me is it is some sort of muscle thing. X-rays, CT scans, etc, have not shown anything wrong. I am seriously starting to doubt it is just muscle. This happens enough I opt out of some trips I could go on, and really want too, with a program on my reservation because I worry the pain will hit and the trip will be wasted because I can’t go do the stuff that is part of it. The people who run the program are awesome. They would all do their best to make sure I have the stuff I need to ‘succeed’ at the trip. This is on top of a bunch of other health issues I have.

[Pavel]

Depressive episodes suck send tweet.

[TNP]

@icanbeyourmuse Have you tried massage? Many years ago, my back went into spasm and I could barely move for over a year and a half. Tried massage, doctors, physical therapy, nothing worked. During one bad episode, I searched again for another massage therapist. She asked me a bunch of questions and an hour later, I walked out standing straight. Saw her 2x week for a while then once a month for years.

I recommend massage constantly. But, as with everything, not all therapists are created equal. Find one with 10+ years of experience and licensed. I found that one by calling sports clubs and asked if they had a massage therapist who worked there, figuring they’d be more experienced in treating muscle spasms and strains.

Since you say the pain is in your side, it could be the lat or the intercostals (muscles between the ribs). But there’s also a phenomenon called referred pain which means where it hurts is not necessarily where the problem is. Give it some thought.

[icanbeyourmuse]

@TNP I don’t think I could do massage. To much touching for me. IT is a thing tempting to try to see if it helps, though. The Internal Dr called it something but I forget what it was. He said it is an inflammation of the muscles and along the ribs, though. He said weight-loss should help. My DR and the internal dr are starting me on a shot thing for my also being diabetic that they said should help with both weight and my being diabetic.

[Pavel]

@icanbeyourmuse I’ve had some success using a TENS machine to counter skeleto-muscular pain. That said, it’s only anecdotal and there’s competing studies on the clinical efficacy. Might be worth mentioning it to your doctor, though.

[mietze]

This isn’t really a struggle or a happy but I am all up in my feels that for the first time one of my college kids isn’t coming home for tgiving break. Its for a good reason, he’s spending it with his partner and their family (whom we adore!) But still.

[TNP]

@icanbeyourmuse Your choice, of course. I know some people have an issue with that. But you might want to think of it as medicine that you don’t need to like so long as it helps you. Having been through pain I rate an 11 on a scale of 1-10 (literally falling to the ground unable to breathe), I know the relief of having it go away. Good luck.

[BloodAngel]

Time lines to keep your job. Doing it early and still getting fired a week early. That is my current struggle. Oh, and your amazing new therapist wants you to become catholic to heal. The hits keep on rocking over here.

[Pavel]

@BloodAngel said in Real Life Struggles/Support/Vent:

your amazing new therapist wants you to become catholic to heal

I’m fairly sure that’s unethical…

[BloodAngel]

@Pavel Hence not seeing her sadly. Clicked for three weeks sadly, thill this.

[Cobalt]

When you get coached at work for calling out someone for using ableist language in a work environment.

[BloodAngel]

@Cobalt

[Cobalt]

@BloodAngel I mean I shouldn’t have @‘d them in the group chat. But sorry I have mentally delayed and autism spectrum family members you’re not dropping the r word because you didn’t read a quiz question close enough.

I might also be a touch sensitive because the most severely mentally delayed family member is in the hospital rn and it’s been a hell of a week already.

[BloodAngel]

@Cobalt Still fuck them, fight for all. All deserve respect the end.

[mietze]

My youngest did youth first aid and cpr training with his cub scout den tonight, and while I didn’t attend I was asking him about the activities he did.

One of the techniques they practiced was in essence packing a severely bleeding wound hole with gauze and pressure. Packing, not just pressure. For a specific reason which maybe they went over but my kid is only 9 and has ADHD so I’m not sure it really hit him.

I actually don’t think about school and community violence often except during my trainings. This year in my cpr/first aid training for the first time in taking about 35 years of keeping my red cross first aid/cpr/later AED training up to date every two years, there was a quick clotting bandage and tourniquet component. (For the rest of the time it’s always been NEVER use a tournique unless given instructions to by 911/EMS–except that’s not the world we live in and hasn’t been for awhile).

I also notice that all of the hallways in my kids’ school (public) have bleeding control kits labeled as such, and my (private) school I’m employed at is getting them too.

It’s really hitting me in my deep feelings tonight. I wonder when it was coming, since usually it happens when I pack a bunch of lollipops in my substitute go-bag, but that didn’t happen this year. Just…I’ve had to use my community cpr/first aid training for a lot of incidents over the years (choking, epi pen, lacerations, ect) but the fact that it’s now decided that tourniquets and hemostatic gauze is entering the community Red Cross training makes my heart heavy even if I’m glad that it is.

And my 9 year old practiced packing a bullet wound type of injury tonight.

[Buttercup]

@mietze

I’m sorry. The world is not right and that’s not something our children should have to deal with.

I was shot taking my son to a playoff basketball game a couple of years ago by a rival team’s fan for wearing the wrong team jersey in Denver. My world turned upside down and I quit gaming and all interactions while I processed, and it led to positive life changes and new horizons for me. My autistic son however came through without issues from it. I couldn’t fathom why it didn’t harm him. Kids are stronger than we give them credit for.

It’s shocking to us and tragic. But it’s their world. He had already had shooter drills. Got the same level of training you described. I think it prepared him way better for that reality than me. I still have nightmares from it, and he was way more prepared. That’s tragic.

I’m sorry for your pain in this. It sucks. Wish the world was a better place.

We’ve had three lockdowns this year alone at my youngest (11 about to be 12) school.

[mietze]

I feel concerned honestly that as a teacher of 2-9 year olds, that there are certain elements of this that I’ve become…I don’t want to say used to, but resigned to.

The truth is at least at my school and I hope others, we are very open in our drill practices that the main thing we are training for is listening to instruction and knowing the various places that they might be instructed to go. I’ve been in the ECE biz a long time, with breathers now and then. Over 35 years kinda long with about 10 years of a break where I was volunteering that whole time with kids in a school or institutional setting while being at home with my kids or working another very part time or overnight job.
Spoiler tagged for details that I don’t want to risk triggering others in retrospect.

Spoiler

We used to train for fire drills, tornado/earthquake drills (depending on where I was living). About 10ish years ago, started to see more shelter in place drills and that awful teach kids to throw school supplies at active shooters shit and cops shooting teachers with pellet guns during “drills” that was faddish for awhile a little later.

I actually agree with the training we do now, which is, do a variety of different things during our two times a month drills (licensing requires we have a specific fire one), but teach the kids the most important thing is to listen to the one or two word instruction the teachers will give. If it’s fire, then we do our fire thing. Earthquake, we do our earthquake thing. Hide, we do our hiding thing. We always talk about how important it is even if the adults aren’t there or fall on the ground and don’t keep up they’re to do what we practice, or sometimes there might be an adult who doesn’t know where to go, which is why we all practice going so that they know what to do regardless. We have obviously not practiced this, but they do know that sometimes we might give a new instruction and they just need to do the best we can.

Because the reality is, while there might be specific circumstances that me hiding with the closet passing out my lollipops to toddlers or preschoolers to try and keep them quiet is the best thing to do, it’s just a normal wall with a flimsy ass door, and my school also gives us the discretion to tell the kids to RUN, to do whatever we need to do to try and save as many of them (and ourselves) as we can because if the guy with the assault rifle and high capacity magazines comes into the building, we’ll all die in that bathroom closet if that’s where we are, and I can tell them to run into the orchard/fields behind the school or hide in the trails in the office park depending on the campus I’m at that day and while the fucker’s going to get some of us he’ll probably not get them all.

I think many ECE folks have had something of a mental shield that this is a thing that could happen, but that’s been stripped in the last year too.

It’s just a lot on the mental load sometimes. Often hidden, you don’t notice it until something makes it bubble up. I know that it’ll fade in a bit but…I dunno. Just waiting for the numbness to set back in.

[Cobalt]

Getting the nerve block for my busted spine this morning! Wish me luuuuuck!

[Cobalt]

Ouch.

[SockMonkey]

@Cobalt hugs the Cobalt