Today is September 6th. It has been 40 days since I've worked for someone else. These past 5+ weeks have been quite the adventure, to say the least. I spent the first week on my honeymoon and then the next couple weeks filling out job applications. Soon after that, something happened. Something inside of me just said to calm down and take at look at the opportunity within the madness. So, I did.
For the past two weeks, I have been working part time online as an independent contractor for Rev captioning videos as well as taking on some freelance writing jobs through the site Text Broker. Due to working at home, I was able to take some time to really focus on gathering information for my book as well as concentrating on expanding my photography business. I also recently hit my one year on testosterone which meant working on my documentary as well which I have released on my YouTube channel (yes, that was a shameless plug, but check it out!) These things are what I really enjoy doing, and through doing them, not only have I felt more in control of my life, but my depression has become less crippling which has been so great.
Aside from taking control of certain aspects of my life such as these, I have also made some improvements or have taken steps to improve my overall health. I won't go into any specifics, but so far everything is going well. Just an example of one thing I'm doing is going to physical therapy regularly to hopefully end my neck and back issues that I've had for years. Working from home gives me the flexibility I need to make appointments and get stuff done.
The one downside to all of this is the pay, BUT the good news is my wife started her new job two weeks ago and her pay is more than we could have imagined. We're not sure how, but we're not complaining! Now, I do hate relying on her to pay the bills, but that is a part of marriage, and it's not like I'm making nothing. I am making something. It's just mentally and emotionally messing me up a bit, but eventually I'll be making more and we'll be back to sharing everything 50/50.
There are some drawbacks to the current situation, but overall I am 10x times happier than I was working for someone else. I set my own schedule, I have time to do the things I love, I see my wife everyday for more than five minutes at a time. and I have time to watch my favorite shows, read my favorite books, and really just relax. I think becoming unexpectedly unemployed has really become something really positive which is something I was hoping for with all of this.
Showing posts with label physical therapy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label physical therapy. Show all posts
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Friday, July 24, 2015
After Four Years, We Finally Have A Diagnosis
Four years ago I was 19 years old, working at a beach for the summer, and in the second stint of my relationship with my (now) wife (took three tries but we got it!) But, I was also suffering with an unexplained condition. I would get light headed very easily.
My blood pressure has always been fine, so my doctor at the time did some blood work. The results came back essentially normal, although my blood cell counts were in the lower portion of the ideal range. She said I was borderline anemic, but never gave any diagnosis. I was told to get some more protein in my diet, although I had been eating a lot of steak that summer already. Nothing seemed to change.
The following three years, I had two other doctors; the one I have now, and one woman I saw once in 2014. It was hard to settle down and talk about my issues with my docs changing yearly, so I turned to the Internet like I often do, (I still brought it up every time I saw a doctor though.) The one thing that made sense was that I had a nervous system issue. The majority of the symptoms were present, so I just assumed that was my problem. I started taking vitamin B-12 daily as it benefits the nervous system, and although it seemed to help a little, it never went away. Fast forward to about three weeks ago, and it started getting really bad and came with headaches too.
One particular Saturday at work it was so bad that I was even getting dizzy sitting down. I just wanted to go home, lay down, and close my eyes. After that day, I decided that I had had enough and that I wanted to get an appointment with someone. The problem was, I thought I may have a spine issue causing this because of other symptoms, but it turns out that wasn't the case. I do have spinal issues, but the lightheadedness and dizziness weren't connected. So, my doctor did some blood work, and today I got the results...
...my ferritin levels are very low. In other words, the simple cause of my issues is iron deficiency.
Four years it took to get diagnosed with something that simple. All I need to do now is take iron pills twice a day. Four long years of being on the verge of passing out, and a simple OTC will solve all my problems. I'm not going to lie and say I'm not a little irritated...
As I mentioned I also have spine issues. My posture is terrible and my doctor believes that is what's causing the other symptoms (which were getting bad headaches when laying on my back and getting really nauseous because of them.) So I start physical therapy August 10th. With the iron deficiency diagnosis and my starting physical therapy, I should be golden within a few months.
Now to just figure out how to deal with my chronic procrastination...(yes that's a real thing. Google it.)
My blood pressure has always been fine, so my doctor at the time did some blood work. The results came back essentially normal, although my blood cell counts were in the lower portion of the ideal range. She said I was borderline anemic, but never gave any diagnosis. I was told to get some more protein in my diet, although I had been eating a lot of steak that summer already. Nothing seemed to change.
The following three years, I had two other doctors; the one I have now, and one woman I saw once in 2014. It was hard to settle down and talk about my issues with my docs changing yearly, so I turned to the Internet like I often do, (I still brought it up every time I saw a doctor though.) The one thing that made sense was that I had a nervous system issue. The majority of the symptoms were present, so I just assumed that was my problem. I started taking vitamin B-12 daily as it benefits the nervous system, and although it seemed to help a little, it never went away. Fast forward to about three weeks ago, and it started getting really bad and came with headaches too.
One particular Saturday at work it was so bad that I was even getting dizzy sitting down. I just wanted to go home, lay down, and close my eyes. After that day, I decided that I had had enough and that I wanted to get an appointment with someone. The problem was, I thought I may have a spine issue causing this because of other symptoms, but it turns out that wasn't the case. I do have spinal issues, but the lightheadedness and dizziness weren't connected. So, my doctor did some blood work, and today I got the results...
...my ferritin levels are very low. In other words, the simple cause of my issues is iron deficiency.
Four years it took to get diagnosed with something that simple. All I need to do now is take iron pills twice a day. Four long years of being on the verge of passing out, and a simple OTC will solve all my problems. I'm not going to lie and say I'm not a little irritated...
As I mentioned I also have spine issues. My posture is terrible and my doctor believes that is what's causing the other symptoms (which were getting bad headaches when laying on my back and getting really nauseous because of them.) So I start physical therapy August 10th. With the iron deficiency diagnosis and my starting physical therapy, I should be golden within a few months.
Now to just figure out how to deal with my chronic procrastination...(yes that's a real thing. Google it.)
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