Category: Ted Houser

New AMC Awareness Blue Bracelet

Since I sweat constantly, (like I could be standing still & because my body has to work more to simply do that, I’ll start sweating) the bracelet everyone was using to honor, on June 30th a few years ago, as AMC Awareness Day, didn’t last very long with me, since half of it was leather. My little sweat machine soaked right through that & it detached from the sterling silver side of it in no time…

That being said, I saved up some scratch so I could begin looking for a version of a blue Bracelet that might hold up better with me & thought I’d share it…

Plus, I kinda like the more subtle approach to these things. I know, I know it prob defeats the whole purpose of wearing a blue bracelet, but let’s be honest though, if it takes seeing a blue bracelet on my wrist for someone to ask about my condition, then I’d bank that there’s a bigger issue there hahaha

If you are interested in where I got this, here’s the link
(again, I saved up for it):
World.Holzkern.com

The other bracelet is from St. John, V.I. & has an interesting story behind it as well. Maybe someday I’ll turn it around & share that story…

Until then, keep on… keepin’ on folks…

~ Ted H.

Learning To Tread Water

It was maybe ’83 or ’84, puts me at around nine or ten, my family & I were heading back from fishing well past James island. It was a bright sunny, summer day, the chop was mild so the boat was in full throttle. I recall my Mom & Sister were sitting in the back two seats, my Father was driving & I was standing on the passenger seat holding onto the windshield feeling the wind hit my body (as I liked to do when it was somewhat calm & going that fast).

We were just coming up on James Island to head around the bend to Taylors Island (Yes the two islands were named James & Taylor, how my Grandfather & Parents found it is another story for another time), anyways James Island was where the campground we stayed it was and where we docked my Grandfathers boat. I don’t believe we had caught anything that day so we were simply taking a joy ride around the islands.

(See it’s a real place & apparently the camp ground is still there hahaha)

Anyway, everyone was happy, the sun was shining bright, I was having a ball standing up on the seat feeling the wind hit me when before I even knew what was going on, I was suddenly weightless hurdling through the air. I hit the water on my back and sank to the bottom, (it was well over my head). I remember feeling the sand on my backside & opened my eyes to nothing but mud and salt water (this was off the Chesapeake Bay, so the water was not clear by any means). Panic instantly took over & luckily enough it was sunny out or I wouldn’t have known which way to go, saw the sunlight blurringly piercing through the muddy water, a ways away, stood up and pushed towards it. Kicking & what seemed like clawing my way towards the light, all under water which now seemed like minutes (it wasn’t, it was prob 5 seconds). I burst out of the water taking my first breath since all this took place, bobbing my head up and down because I hadn’t quite figured out treading water yet (my grandfather had begun trying to teach me how to swim and tread water & i hadn’t actually figured it on the beach). 

I managed to actually get it under control enough to see that I couldn’t see the boat, like at all and i was facing the bay. I think at this point, the panic had set in so much that not seeing the boat or my family made me instantly figure out how to tread water and turn. I managed to spin around completely and saw the boat about 15-20 feet behind, drifting, the engine was off. My Mom was holding onto my Sister in the back and my Father was frantically looking around the water. I was so terrified that when I tried to scream, not a single sound came out of my mouth. So i managed to begin slapping the water as hard as I could while keeping my head above water.

The way i recall it was, my Mom seeing me first and pointing me out to my Father, to which he instantly jumped in and began swimming towards me. Which to me, at that point felt like an eternity, and I was beginning to get super tired, since I was fully dressed with shoes and socks on, treading water for what seemed like forever (this may have honestly been all within 5 minutes, maybe less).

My Father got me and scooped me up and began swimming back to the boat, telling me it will be alright but he was also in panic mode, we all were. He gets me to the boat, my Mom grabs me up as he lifts me and then he climbs in. At this point the boat is drifting, the engine is off and the stirring cable on the drivers side was completely snapped in half. They checked me over as I was shaking like a damn leaf, still couldn’t even speak yet, my father was helping my sister who had caught a fish hook in her leg.

Apparently while we were at full speed, the stirring cable snapped which caused the outboard engine to fully run to one side. Now anyone that’s been on a boat & knows how outboard engines were setup, knows that when that happens, it will put  24 foot boat into a complete tail spin & that’s exactly what happened. Since I was standing up on the passenger side, it launched my little 90 pound @ss into the air into the water. (hence the sudden feeling of weightlessness and then SPLASH)

So my Father began calling the coast guard on the CB Radio & I was on my moms lap, in a towel, trying to get my head together enough to realize what had just happened. As I’m sitting there, in full blown tears mind you, i began to giggle & my Mom goes Teddy what are you laughing at. To which I said, my shoe just floated by, I think the other one sank. It took maybe an hour or so for the coast guard to finally get to us and prob another 45 minutes to tow us in.

We get all the way back into the marina, where my Grandparents met us, since by then they had caught news about what had happened. Well, my Grandfather had called the repair guy on the island, to be there when we came in & had the boat fixed immediately. At this point, I was back in the trailer sitting on my Grandmom’s lap, my mom and dad were making sure my sister was alright after they had removed the hook she caught from the fishing rods flying around during the accident & my Grandfather comes walking up to the trailer, tells my Grandmom to let me go, that we were going back out on that boat.

To which i went into a complete melt down screaming no, and he scooped me up like a sack of potatoes, carrying me on his side and started walking towards the boat in the marina. I’m screaming my head off, kicking, punching, nothing was working he had me. My parents come out from around the main store going “Dad what are you doing?!” to which he replies “No grandson of mine is going to be afraid of the water” (Mind you, this was the early – mid eighties so this type of stuff was a-ok 🙂 )

He gets me in the boat, grabs the cooler, throws it in the back, starts the engine which completely nulls out my cries and begins to navigate back out onto the water. Now, he doesn’t take me back to where the accident happened between the two islands, no no… he takes us straight out into the channel of the Chesapeake Bay, turns off the engine, walks to the back of the boat, opens the cooler, cracks open beer and goes “Well Teddy-Bear (he coined that one for my father and then since I’m a jr, for me & still to this day only a very select few have said that to me without bothering me & telling them not to), if you wanna get off this boat, you better drive it back into the marina and dock it” 

It definitely took my a minute or so to actually grasp what he just said because I was completely terrified. I managed to muster up “What?” as we are now drifting down the channel, in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay. He goes “I have this cooler full of ice cold beer and I plan on drinking them until we get in, which means, I can’t drive it but I can show you how” Now I’m beginning to get it and being nine or ten years old and told you can drive your grandfathers boat all the way into the marina and dock it, that was simply the coolest thing I could have ever wanted to do at that age.

So I very slowly slinked from the passenger seat into the drivers seat and he showed me what all the controls did. I turned up at him and said, “ready, you better sit down”, turn the key, the engine kicks on, I grabbed the steering wheel and threw the throttle ALL the way down to which he predominantly yelled “SLOW DOWN!” I don’t know about anyone else’s grandfather but when he yelled, you just about shit your pants every time, even though it wasn’t a negative yelling, he simply had that kind of voice where you would literally, nearly shit your pants when he did yell (& it wasn’t that often) To which I jumped and automatically turned the key off and cut the engine, put the throttle back into neutral & we were then drifting again, in the channel. I apologized, but damn that was awesome.

He mutters the famous muttering word whenever something happened that he didn’t like under his breathe “BALLS” Then goes, ok start her back up and slowly use the throttle forward, keeping your other hand on the steering wheel. This time I wasn’t about to gun it, knowing very well I didn’t want to make him mad again. Matter of fact, I was going so slow this time, he even said “Are we even moving, give it some juice”, as he cracked open another beer. So gradually I begin to bring it up to full throttle and this thing could move. He’s showing my how to navigate threw the crab lines that the crabbers left out, see if you ran over them, it could either cut their lines or get spun up into the engine essentially causing you to cut the line (which was very illegal)

I asked if we could go across the Bay to the other side to which he asked “how much gas do we have in the tank?” it was full, he knew it was, he had it filled up before taking me back out & i’m pretty sure he wanted to kill all those beers on the cooler, so we did & then headed back in.

As we got closer to Taylors Island, you can see my parents behind the main store facing us they waved and couldn’t believe that my grandfather was sitting in the back of the boat and I was steering her into the marina. It had been maybe a coupe of hours since he had carried my (90 pound @ss soaking wet) kicking & screaming into the boat, so I’m sure they were not too happy about it.

I get her docked into our slip and my Grandfather ties her up, then lifts me out and we get back to the trailer and he goes “See now he’s not afraid of the boat or the water” since i was all smiles, telling them about what we had done.

After that I was a fish-in-water ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

~ True Story, Dedicated to my Father & Grandfather Houser ~

~Ted

Workout

I was always a fan of keeping my core tone, as much as many may think I never worked out, or ate a lot, the truth is I never really felt the need to tell people about it. Since todays craze in the digital, social media footprint is to let people know that you workout but to even show them screenshots of the workouts & maps to where they ran/walked/biked, here it is:

Be fore my 2013, I never really walked distances, aside from working trade show events. Anyone that has ever done that, knows you definitely get your steps in working at convention centers. I did however always worked on my core & used my own body weight to keep toned & my muscles active. As a Professional Graphic Designer, most of my time is sitting on my @ss, so it was always important to me to continue a workout routine & constantly stretch, ling after I left Alfred I Dupont in Wilmington, Delaware. I simply never shared it or talked about it, because it never even crossed my mind to do so.

It turns out that me keeping up with all of that was very beneficial when my spine started collapsing on itself in 2013. Keeping my core strong was a key element to my physical recovery & I have recently begun a new routine.

I started using an app called Just6Weeks. It has the features I was looking for, along with routines that can be scheduled & work at my own pace. I was looking to keep my core tone along with upper back & arms & this app works for me.

I also began weekly walks at the strongest pace I can, taking the longest strides to help maintain & gain back a strong tolerance in fatigue (ever since the spine surgery, fatigue in doing anything was a constant battle). For this I use MapMyFitness, it records my walks & shows maps, with information about each walk that help me improve each week. For me, it also is somewhat of a push because I can see where I was stronger & weaker which helps me make adjustments on when I walked, was the weather a factor, was the time of day a factor, washy pace quicker or slower, what was my distance, etc. etc. 

As anyone knows with AMC, proving theories wrong is what we do best & I am a firm believer that if you think you can do something, you are right … & if you think you cannot do something, well, you are also right.

This may sound strange but I also encourage myself before each workout session by telling myself things like :you got this” “you can do this” “own it” beforehand to set my mind in the mode I want it to be in.

I also do this trick for a workout where you are counting to a specific #, as in push-ups or sit-ups – I count down instead of up & towards the end I also think about & vision myself a few #’s ahead.

It sounds strange, I know for me though, it works. Before I know it, I have reached the goals of the #s setup by the Just6Weeks app. without feeling overly strained & I think it is a complete mental game. If I’m close to reaching the end count & don’t trick myself by thinking ahead or even beginning to count up, then those last few push-ups are the most difficult to accomplish. However, when I began using those mental tricks, as I was counting each one down, I noticed those last few were not as difficult as they used to be because I had already envisioned myself being there.

~ Ted H.

Here’s seek screenshots of what Just6Weeks shows you as you begin their routines & also a screen shot of what MapMyWalk displays:

Just6Weeks:

MapMyWalk:

Genetic Test – A Strain Of Escobar

I recently had a genetic test to determine which form of AMC I may be. Maureen Donohoe PT, DPT, PCS petitioned for me to have this genetic test through Bamshad Laboratory:

Aimee Schantz, M.Ed.
Research Coordinator, Bamshad Laboratory
Dept. of Pediatrics | Div. of Genetic Medicine
Tel: 206-221-3849 | Fax: 206-221-3795
Email: aschantz@uw.edu

It’s a very simply procedure, they sent a kit directly to my home. Some spit in a tube, sealed the container & sent it back. A few months later, the results were in.

Reenee transcribed the results below:

Your official gene is Two potentially compound heterozygous frameshifts in CHRNG: NM_005199.5:c.459dupA:p.(Val154Serfs*24) and NM_005199.5:c.597_598delCT:p.(Phe200Hisfs*97). We did not confirm inheritance however given phenotypic match these variants in CHRNG are likely causal. The (20 CHRNG genes appear to be the reason for this.

That translates to, you have a difference on your 2nd chromosome on the q end of the chromosome (2q37.1 ) that caused your type of contractures.

Your mom does not have that difference. 

You do not have the lethal version, in fact you have a very mild version because 2 very smart genetics (Dr. Hall and Dr. Bamshad) did not think you had it based on your respiratory status and your age.  They trusted me. Anyway, escobar is an acetyl choline disorder on the same area of the gene as myasthenia gravis. For those who have severe involvement, they do well with a drug called methimazole which makes people (and animals) magically stronger when they take it. You are not that person but if you wanted to google youtube videos of before and after the drug in dogs, it is pretty remarkable.

Your take home messages are that you are at risk of respiratory issues so if you get sick from a respiratory standpoint, it is important to address it quickly. My area of ponder is how acetyl choline works. It is a component in creating muscle contractions but is also something influenced with pain medication. I believe that is why you actually get worse when on pain medications.

Maureen Donohoe PT, DPT, PCS
Clinical Specialist at Nemours / AI DuPont Hospital for Children

Some interesting information to share, especially if anyone else is remotely close to my version. Plus, I think it’s good to share where this test can be done, for those that also want to find out how it may have happened to them. It also is really important for any medical physicians to have, moving forward, so that they can better treat myself/you.

All in all, my main reason to have this done, was to attempt to help anyone behind me to receive more information about this version of AMC. I would like to thank, once again, Reenee for petitioning me to have this test done. 

So, not only can I tell people “I am screwed” (I have 2 rods & 12 screws in my thoracic spine) when asked how I am (from people that don’t really know me) but I can now add “I am a screwed Cartel Boss of Escobar Syndrome” since Reenee has always said that I am the oldest she has ever met, in my position/version of AMC, so I have THAT going for me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

~ Ted H.

Plant Based

Going Plant Based Was Like Living Night & Day

I wanted to share something I had never tried before, thinking what do I have to loose? The answer to that, simply, was… nothing at all.

I recently switched my entire diet to a fully plant based one and instantly noticed drops in my everyday pain levels of around 5, that I have lived with my entire life, that are now down are a 1. A 1!

I had truly given up on the thought of of ever being pain free and now it may actually be within my grasp.

Now, I can’t speak for anyone else because i understand that everyone is different, aside from the 400 different variations of AMC. I do want to share with you what I have done and the results I have found.

I went fully pant based a few months ago by joining PurpleCarrot.com (@PurpleCarrotXO) so I could learn how to cook this way and get a better understanding of things. I also had friends recommend me adding things like Chia & Flax Seeds to my diet. 

Chia & Flax Seed Benefits:

I also watched What The Health on Netflix which began to validate what I was learning to be true. So without even thinking about it, I made the switch because I was not convinced that Big-Pharm was the way to go. There had to be a healthier way to alleviate the physical pain i was in that didn’t involve prescriptions and this was something I had never tried.

I instantly noticed a drop in pain levels, so much so, I stopped taking inflammatory meds & tramadol for pain. I had more energy, I wasn’t tired after eating and actually enjoyed cooking these new meals. Now it may seem extreme to simply switch over instantly but when I make a decision, I do it. I was also going to PT at Specialized PT twice a week and they highly commended me on switching to this diet and said the improvements for my body type will be tremendous and they have been.

So for those who are still living in pain and on meds, I highly recommend doing the research, check it out for yourself. You honestly have nothing to loose accept taking medications and beginning to live pain free. 

Appreciation

Appreciation

So it’s been a while since I wrote in this, guess I have been busy figuring things out and I finally feel like it’s time to fully appreciate everything that I have. Especially all the important people in my life who have been there during my most recent situation in life with AMC.

It’s rare that you actually have the best support team of friends and family in this world where there is so much going on. I can truthfully say that I do, without their support, their effort to help me through the most difficult of experiences that literally almost had me checking out twice during the early stages of the process. The pain was that intense, that it mentally wore me down to the point of not even thinking of others anymore and seriously considering checking out, because I knew the pain would stop. Having the group of people around me during that time, constantly checking in on me, always letting me know they were there, even though I was so out of it on the planets strongest narcotics & opioids was an essential key.

My Mom had to see her son go through what even she said was up there for going through situations with AMC, although she said, since I went through it as an infant then I can survive it as an adult. Accept she liked me better then dealing with it then because I wasn’t as much a pain in the ass, mostly because I was an infant hahaha.

J & his entire family fully supported me during the entire process from the moment I noticed something wasn’t right in the elevator in Chicago with J, to where it has brought me now. Helping me through every hurdle from learning to deal with the intense pain I was in, to helping me escape the opioids & narcotics that had me trapped within my own head.

My roommate, Tom, at the time was the everyday person that saw me go from life at 100 miles an hour to barely being able to walk down the stairs. A saint by any means that’s for damn sure.

Reenee for being the key player in all of this that helped me get to the right Dr and actually find one that was confident enough to help me and did an amazing job, hence being able to type up this entry of appreciation.

Being there with me through each phase of it must not have been easy on anyone that saw me, or dealt with me and I am truly grateful for all of them. Each phase was a hurdle that I was sort is familiar with, just not as intense and certainly not my entire spine and it was about 30 yrs since I had been in a situation that difficult to pull out of.

The phases: ( or seven layers of hell, I like to refer them to)

1: The realization that something is drastically wrong, before any of the Drs even knew, having AMC, my physical awareness is ridiculously through the roof.

2: Going through the process s, upon tests, upon tests, then repeated tests, upon tests and still hold it together. Hailing the conversation in the beginning with my main Dr, that I didn’t want to go on pills, but the pain was so intense and after he saw my results he even said we will always use the lowest dosage but you are going to need something strong in order to help you through this because of your tolerance to pain and the fact that you are in so much pain it literally appears on your face, even when you laugh.

3: After months and months of tests, hearing from top spinal Drs, that their was nothing they could do, literally and almost giving up. I reached out to people who were involved with me younger years, they helped me get to the correct people because I was on intense mess, not by choice mind you, and was beginning to have difficulty seeing things clearly. Due to pain, the lack of finding help, the mess, my life quickly was deteriorating right in front of my eyes.

4: Coming to terms with the idea that surgery was my last and only hope, the pain was so intense that I was already set to checkout had it not worked. Having the last spinal injection procedure and literally telling them, they need to stop the pain because I couldn’t handle it anymore. They even left me in the room by myself with mess sitting out as if to test to see if I was junking out. I literally was in tears by the time they returned and when he said he was sending me back to the surgeon, I clearly remember saying “please tell him I don’t want to feel this anymore, I can’t take the pain any longer, that I don’t want to feel it at all even afterwards”

5: Having the surgery, now this was a place I was familiar with, the mental preparation of going back under that deeply for the 17th time was a massive undertaking to handle. I was more upset about possibly loosing memories, because whether people actually notice or not, it literally is the most difficult part for me, when coming back out (waking back up). I definitely notice it now, I’m not as sharpe as I was, I can literally almost feel the wheels turning sometimes before answering or showing a reaction. I will take that anyway over where I was.

6: Recovery, physically I’m perfectly fine with, I can be stretched, pulled, cracked, whatever that was not the problem. The problem was literally remembering relationships, this I absolutely lost. If I hadn’t seen or heard from you recently after surgery then I was very unaware of the relationship that we had before and upon seeing people again, it either clicked or I just went with it because I didn’t have much of a choice. There are people I totally do not remember and I have to explain to them why, because there have been a few that have seen me recently and I literally went blank. It’s not fun place to be, but I’m here and I’m back, so I can always explain things and create the connections again.

7: The final hell phase and one that not many can get through. Getting out of the mental trap f the medication, especially when you go through something so intense it requires the worlds strongest meds to help you through it. Once out though, it changes and it changes in such a way that I was literally trapped inside my mind. Watching me go through the motions, and literally not being able to control ANY of it is probably the most mentally scary place to ever be. Literally felt like I was inside those very old under water suites but I couldn’t control any of my actions, reactions, decisions, or lack there of. The only thing I had was control over my breathing and again having my Mom and J there to listen to me attempt to reach out through this suit, that I needed help because I felt trapped within my own head because the day before I was sitting in the living room and all four walls literally fell in on me like a house or cards falling down, Literally.

Finding Ann, my attorny who helped me get on SSD, because this has left me, physically not in the same shape I was before it all started. Having met her and knowing she was fully behind me in helping me get over this last real mental hurdle, once my mind was clear from all medications and accepting the fact that I cannot do things like I used to. Not an easy thing for me to accept, by any means. I always took a lot of pride in being able to do everything on my own. Now that simply is not the reality in my life and it took a lot but with her help, I am now able to move forward without the weight of that on my shoulders.

So that is my processing of this last experience, it’s not me complaining or reaching for a poor me type of thing, AT ALL. It’s simply what happens when my body is failing and the mentality it takes to fall that far and get back up again. With the support I had around me and the constant reaching out from friends & family far and near, I would not be here today to appreciate how much everyone means to me.

This entire procedure has literally changed my life, for the better, THAT however is another entry for another time, maybe. I may also just leave that where it is, behind me 😉

This was to show my appreciation and gratitude for everyone in life and to show how much they truly mean to me.

Thank you,
~ Ted

Applying for Disability

If anyone has never required or needed to apply for Disability (SSI or SSD) then, may you never, have to feel the roller coaster of emotions that will certainly make you upset, piss you off, make you want to cut and run, or even throw in the towel. Understand this, NEVER GIVE IN!

Being that I was not one to ever lean on AMC or take advantage of a system that is designed to help those in need. Unlike (and this is a guess) say 90% of the population absolutely abuse and use the system. Which, by the way, caused someone like me, with a real genuine situation to have to fight, re-live every single detail over and over again as to why I am filing, have to file twice due to the lack of a proper attorney the first time through, find a real Attorney (MaddenTufanoLaw.com), re-live the entire situation all over again, fight some more, for 3 years. All while recovering, regaining, relearning, rebuilding, getting off some of the most deadliest medications on the planet and becoming stronger physically & mentally, while keeping my head afloat financially (robbing peter and f’ing paying paul) until the situation I am currently in is understood.

That I am in fact, not attempting to scam the system, that I in fact, require the services that our nation provides for those who can no longer fully work to the ability that they once did due to a symptom that I was born with (AMC), that I in fact had to mentally battle with & accept the fact that this is not going to get any better.

There is so much that I have learned over the past year, once I was clear headed from being off the medications, that I really don’t want to get into my details or trials and tribulations. I simply want you to understand that there are a few things that you need to know. It may help you better get a grasp on this process.

First, be prepared for the long haul, this will very rarely happen quickly, I have heard stories from people that have said theirs went through relatively smoothly and within 6 months. I have also heard Big-Foot was seen at Walmart buying flip-flops.

Second, find the correct Attorney, preferably one that understands the situation/condition that you are filing for. I found (MaddenTufanoLaw.com) through facebook groups for AMC, I highly recommend using every possible resource you can get your hands on these days and social media can help with this. THIS IS IMPORTANT, if they treat you like a number, dump them and find an attorney that treats you like a person. 

Third, know your condition inside and out, study it, research it, know it better then any Dr will and let’s be honest, if you have any form of AMC then you already do. But dig in deep and find your specific version or at very least, connect with ALL of the people who have seen you. Get in contact with them, ask them questions, ask them for help, explain your situation. It will give you a better understanding that yes, you in fact, do need to apply for this now, rather then later. Something I severely struggled with in the beginning.

Finally, once you get to the point of sitting down with the person doing the filing, don’t get snippy, be respectful (the person filing has heard it all, seen it all, and is only there to fully understand your reasoning for filing), stay calm, YES & NO become your answers, have ALL your paperwork in line (financials, medical, bills, places of previous employment, etc), and (THIS IS IMPORTANT) ask questions, close your mouth and listen. 

ssa.gov

~ Ted

Under The Blade

From what I have been able to find and read about, people with Arthrogryposis have been under the blade up to 5-30+ times and some still require many more due to previous surgeries alone. In this article I will share with you my experiences in as little detail as possible, lets be honest, even I don’t want to read all of that crap. I am sharing this in hopes to help anyone else put into perspective their own situation and hopefully generate a conversation through the comments sections.

I can truly say that without Dr. Cow, (whose name may be shortened, and even spelled wrong) I was a very young child when he was my doctor and without the way he handled every surgery with me, I don’t think I would have ever understood the procedures they were doing to me back then. He would get me all prepped, tell everyone to leave the room and then proceed to explain to me exactly what he was going to do. Mind you he didn’t leave out any details and we are talking to each other person to person. Not child to adult, or dumbing things down because i was so young, he knew me so well and made it a point to spend as much extra time with me to know that I damn well understood what was going on and was very aware of things. He would ask everyone to leave and then go over everything and at the end say tell me “here’s your options kiddo” 1. we can get you into surgery, and hope things turn out for the best, which I am confident they will OR 2. you can tell me you don’t feel comfortable with this and I will send you back to your room, and you will still get the yoyo. So what do you say kiddo, whats your move? Now he would do this before EVERY surgery and this was from the age of 3-7, from birth to the age of 7 I had had 16 surgeries, give or take. Ranging from various tendon releases under each knee, and the front of my hips to full out major surgeries to both feet (3 on each foot to be exact, to get them in front of me)

Aside from meeting Dr. Arlet (who recently did my spine surgery) Dr. Cow was the only doctor I ever trusted fully with my life. AS a child he was very aware that although there could have been a lot more procedures done, he went the route of, if its not fully broken, lets not fix it. My parents also played an important role in all of this, because had I received more surgeries then I have had it may not have been beneficial for me. So my point to these paragraphs about doctors is that finding the one that you feel fully confident with is the key to ALL of this. I can tell immediately if I can trust someone, or if they are even confident in themselves to handle my situations. Dr. Arlet has been the first surgical doctor that I have met since Dr. Cow that I would fully trust with my life and his team that works with him is astounding. Dana Randall is an amazing and trusting companion to have help me get through this recent ordeal and of course Maureen (Reenee) Donohoe PT, DPT, PCS from Dupont has been my staple from an early age.

The other point I wanted to make is that regardless of what surgery it is, there is a huge mental side of this that people rarely talk about and I feel it’s one of the most important aspects of going under. Figure by that point, dealing what ever has lead you to surgery is in the bag, but being fully mentally prepaired is crucial to how fast or slow you recover. For me it has always been some sort of a roller coaster of emotional trains of thought, that eventually end up me weighing in the pros and cons of what I am about to go through, and fully accepting both ends of them is important. It’s like taking a step back from yourself long enough to detach yourself to see both sides of the coin and and accepting which ever side faces up. An example of how I know I am all set, this recent surgery, Dr. Arlet came into the prep room and said “how are you feeling this morning?” Now, if i wasn’t on point I would have simply answered him, but because i was on point, my reply was “Better question, how are YOU feeling today, how I feel is compeletely irrelevant?”

The different types of Anesthesia, (click on the word to read more about them) local, regional, and general and I think its important for everyone to learn about them. I believe the only kind I have had is General, and I definitely notice the side affects to them I have been told by close friends they haven’t noticed a difference but I can honestly say after the last one. I notice internally that my response time is some what slowed, or lagged. It could also just be me ahahaha!

What are your thoughts, do you feel this article helped you? Did it raise questions you may not have thought of? Is anyone actually paying any attention to any of these articles? (ahahah)

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