The new year begins!

Hello and welcome!

I'm going to begin with an overview of my current condition. The first video of My Road To Recovery is available here on the right. Viewing this should give you a good idea of where I am. I want to take this opportunity to thank Lucia Duncan, the documentary filmmaker from the University of TX Film School, for her time, talent, and energy. She shares our vision of making a series of videos, over time, that will hopefully show my improvement and document how the various therapies play a part in my healing. We aspire to help others who also have currently-diagnosed, "permanent" neurological damage.

For a summary of how I got here, visit my Medical History. Also available are my 2007 Health Status Reports, sent out by my darling Jack. 

Last November, Jack sent out my final health status report for 2007. He shared how I was improving physically, graduating from home therapy to outpatient therapy, and the great challenge I faced with ataxia. During my stay in the hospital last year, I had stopped breathing several times, which temporarily deprived my brain of oxygen. This combined with the malnutrition most likely caused damage to my cerebellum. Unfortunately, there is no treatment, other than physical therapy and the passage of time, offered by the medical establishment. While the physical therapy has been tremendously beneficial, my neurological symptoms have not improved. I suffer from impaired speech, hand tremors, loss of balance, vertigo, and eye tremors which cause shaky and double vision.

My weight has steadily increased since the adhesions constricting my intestines, caused by scar tissue from an appendectomy at age 10, were removed last July. I was 74 lbs. in the summer, and today I am 105 lbs. In the past couple of months, I have gained more fat than I need, and I still have a good amount of muscle mass to gain. But no worries :) As I become more active, I know the weight will come on and redistribute as it should.

Last December, Apple terminated my employment after a year of medical leave. It was sad, but I am disabled and in no condition to work. I am still highly dependent on Jack for my day-to-day living. This makes him my primary caregiver, so he is unable to work. More than being a sad event, losing my job put me on the frontline of the crisis facing Americans today: affordable healthcare. Apple has an excellent health benefits package, and I was protected as an employee. Once my employment ended, the harsh reality set in. I have to now make a monthly premium of $450 out of my meager disability check for health insurance. On top of that, I have to make co-payments on every therapy session I attend and sorely need. I learned that I am not eligible for Medicare until I have been determined to be disabled for TWO YEARS!! WTF?!! So I find myself in a tough place.

Well, that is all for now. In upcoming posts, I will describe how I spend my days and how I am working to heal myself with standard and alternative therapies. Stay tuned:)