This is A. He worked for the underground utility department in Colorado which included checking the water supplies underground in the locality. Work didn't change much for him with the virus, which was good for him as he did not have to worry about money. He was worried immensely about his family, as he did not know when something would happen. He says it is like waiting for the other shoe to fall off. He is otherwise content and appreciates the everyday little things.
COVID STORIES-1
This is R. She lost employment during the pandemic. Sitting outside and eating is something she did often during those times, as she didn't have much to do. She mentions she would have rather worked. She struggled with depression due to unemployment and didn't know how she would make rent or maybe even support her kids who are growing boys. The pandemic did give her time to spend more quality time with her family, which she says was a good thing. Prior to COVID, life was just about going to work, cooking and taking care of homework with her boys, which was very frustrating. She mentions that now she will never take anything for granted, especially the time she has with her family.
DO YOU SPEND A LOT OF ENERGY DECIDING ON WHAT PATH TO TAKE ???
Have you ever spent hours and hours of time trying to make a decision? I for sure have and I'm pretty much sure that most of us have. The fear of not knowing what may happen, the fear of not having made the right decision, the fear of failure, the fear of what if the decision that we did not take is the right and better decision keeps us in this state of limbo and chaos. Have you ever noted how your energy is when you are in this state of inaction ? For me, I am drained, drained of time and energy. I spend hours asking people what they would do, googling, etc. I forget to see that what may be right for others may not be for me. There are really no wrong decisions. Even after you did decide to go on a certain path, and after a bit realize that it wasn't for you, you can now work your way forward accordingly. There is nothing in the rules that says that you cannot change your decision once you have made it. Either ways you are still moving forward, whether you decided to stay on the path you took initially, or change to another one in the event that the one prior wasn't for you. I am not saying that you should take a decision without doing your groundwork, but give yourself a deadline and go with it.
KINDNESS GOES A LONGER WAY THAN ANGER !!!
This is Mike. He is retired from the Special Forces. He served in Afghanistan and was the bad guy per him. He was the one who was called upon to punish people. When I asked him if he believed in the war, he mentioned that he believed in his job. But kindness goes a longer way than anger, he says. He enjoyed helping the villagers in Afghanistan more than anything else. Since being retired he devotes his time to volunteering in the elementary school and the hospital. He remembers a time when a young girl at the elementary school came and unruffled his messed up hair, and the teacher was surprised that he being such a big, strong guy had let the girl do that. When he says that, I notice sadness in his eyes. He says that many people think that folks who work in the military are like emotionless robots. The war taught him not to fret over the small stuff, but this is one thing that bothers him, and he hopes that people would understand that military people are like any other human and have emotions just like them.
BEFORE YOU WALK OUT THAT DOOR, YOU ALWAYS TELL EVERYONE INSIDE THAT YOU LOVE THEM !
Last year, I started coughing real bad. That’s what I do with asthma. I have been in and out of the hospital since, being placed on BIPAP (machine to help breath), multiple medications and steroids, but I havn’t really felt better. The doctors didn’t know what to do for me. They would give me the steroids and breathing treatments, but nothing would work. With all the steroids I had become so huge, that I couldn’t recognize myself in the mirror. I felt like this sumo wrestler who had to depend on the nurses to even wipe myself, as I couldn’t reach my arm at the back. To be 44yrs and not able to wipe yourself, that’s embarrassing. You lose all modesty when you’re sick. It takes a toll on you emotionally when you can’t breathe. You take it for granted when you can. There have been times when I would be discharged from the hospital and have had to take a turn right back again to the ER. It would make me upset because I couldn’t fix myself, specially when I saw how hard it was on my husband and parents. The last admission was really hard. I was in the ICU. I didn’t know if I was going to make it. It was really scary. I know I’m going to die someday, but I would like to go out in style, not in the ICU. I did get better. I realized that we all take life for granted and I didn’t want to do that anymore. I always had big faith in God. I remember praying to God, that I would spread his word when I got better. He knows what we need, even before we say it. Since then, I have prayed along with many of my roommates in the hospital.
Whats been really tough through this, is that many doctors would come in and I was just the woman with asthma, I wasn’t ZA (initials changed to protect identity), One doctor even mentioned that maybe it was all in my head and that my symptoms were related to me being depressed. He was like lots of things come from being depressed. I don’t know where that came from. I would much rather be at home with my family, than in and out of the hospital.
Family is most important to me. That’s how I have lived my life. Its something that grandma instilled in us. You got to have family support in health and sickness. Its them that you forget to thank. Its something that I’m trying to do. Its not like you take them for granted, but you get so used to things being done for you, that you don’t remember to thank. I have been more appreciative of what others do for me, specially when I can’t do them for myself. My father always told me that before you walk out that door, you always tell everyone inside that you love them, because that might be the last. It’s something that I live by with my family, friends, neighbours. After I came home from the ICU, all I wanted for my last birthday was to celebrate it with my family and friends. I didn’t want things. My husband made it possible. I have been with him for 14 years, and even though its been frustrating at times for him, he has always looked at me as ZA his wife, not someone who has all these problems, Its not about what you have, but the people in your life and the memories that you make with them.
With her lifeline, her service dog, who’s come to her rescue many a time!
EVERY MOMENT IS A GIFT !
It was May 2016 when they found cancer cells in my esophagus. My doctor told me that I needed an esophagectomy, which involved removal of my food pipe. Initially, I was just kind of in shock and I didn’t know what questions to ask the doctor. Unless you go through something you really don’t know what to ask. But I have a very strong faith. I knew that no matter what happened, whether I made it or not, I was going to be ok and was at peace as I went into the surgery. After the surgery it was apparent that I wasn’t able to care for myself. But when you have been the caretaker all your life, it is very hard to ask for help. As time went on, it became easier for to me to ask for help and rely on others to assist with my care. I’ve learnt what’s important in life and what’s not and I no longer get upset with trivial things. I used to be a workaholic and even though I still have a very demanding schedule, I’ve put my priorities in the right order. I enjoy every moment because truly, every moment is a gift.
Reading To Her GrandKids !!
RETHINKING LIFE !
I was born with Retinitis Pigmentosa, a visual impairment. I started out with a pretty normal childhood. My parents noticed early on, that I couldn’t see very well and got me appropriate glasses. It wasn’t until high school that I started to think of my impairment as a disability. Due to my deteriorating vision I needed to be set up with this giant TV monitor on top of a camera looking thing. It was quite a cool thing. It could invert colors, zoom in and out and its what got me interested in geology, which I took up in college. I would zoom into rocks and see all the wonderful layers. I got to do some amazing field trips while studying geology. Due to worsening vision, by the time I got out of college getting a job in geology was impossible for me. I had to rethink life. I worked with a career coach who put out many suggestions based on my mindset but forgot to take into account my vision. I tried many different things and along the way realized that I wanted to inspire and help people with visual impairments in the right way. There are many accommodations that I could have used to help me in my journey, if only I knew about them. I now work as a career/ life coach with people who have disabilities. I give them information regarding resources that they could use to enrich their lives. I help them achieve what they want, but maybe with a little change in their original plans. I work with different organizations to help improve their lives. It has been very satisfying for me.
The one thing I would wish people would do, is treat me as normal. When I’m on the streets and with a walking stick, people move out of the way and I don’t like that. I have Bogey (service dog) with me now. Since then people come say hello to me because of him. I don’t want to be treated any different from others.
Overall I have a very positive attitude and I accepted my visual impairment fairly early. I don’t let it stop me from doing things that I love. I travel whenever I can, am a wine connoisseur and am a motivational speaker. And with me on my journey I have Shannon, my wonderful wife. I attribute my positivity to my grandfather. He was a role model to me and thats what I want to be for others living with the impairment.
A wine connoisseur, he writes a blog about Michigan Wines !!!
Take What Comes !
I was lifting something at the fitness center when all of a sudden I had a very strange feeling. I can’t exactly describe it, but I knew that I had to get to the hospital. I literally ran out, jumped in my car and drove to the hospital. By the time I reached the ER my left arm was numb. It frightened me, but not as much. I remember thinking that if I loose my left arm, I would still have my right. I have always been one to say “ Take what comes”. I don’t remember much once I got to the ER other than that everybody started moving around very fast. I woke up only 5-6 days later. I remember the doctor telling my wife to call my children to get to the hospital quickly, as the odds didn’t seem good at all. I had an aortic dissection. They operated and saved my life. I had 2 surgeries after, to repair everything. One of those surgeries had gotten cancelled at 2 am the night before due to an emergency. At first I felt aggravation, but my second thought was that I’m alive today because somebody else got put off. Never again did I have a bad feeling about that. I realized how fortunate I was to be alive. I appreciate life more since then. I realized that the only way to keep on going, is by being active. I’m 80 years old right now. I don’t sit around and wait for death. I make a list of things to do and do them. I do a lot of physical things around the house, feed the birds, take care of my garden, work out 3-6 times a week and continue to do the things I love. My PCP has made me talk to other older patients of his, who after an illness decide that now they have got to go home and sit. I tell them that life can go on and you can still enjoy your life. There is nothing that says that you have to stop doing what you like, you just may have to change some things around it and be more careful.
In his Buddha Garden which he tends to himself ! Happens to be one of his passions !!
One Day at a Time !
You have to take one day at a time. My mother gave me this book “The Precious Present” when I was in high school because I worried about everything. Years later in 1995 when I was diagnosed with PSC (Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis), that book really came to light and that’s what I live by now. You live the moment. You don’t look at tomorrow as what you think about tomorrow may never flourish. I was listed for a liver transplant. I got a chest x-ray before the scheduled surgery and they found metastatic colon cancer in my lungs. I had been eight years free of the cancer. I was taken off the transplant list. So there I was thinking about having the liver transplant and now had to deal with the cancer. That’s why you don’t worry about tomorrow as it may change. You take one day at a time. That’s what gives me strength.
I have also had an ileostomy. It was awful when I first had it. My husbands grandmother had one and it used to just freak me out. I hoped to never have it, though now I do. I’m handling it better than I thought I would. You’re always concerned about it though, that it may leak. I have been in situations where it has leaked. I had to empty it in an airplane seat once. I couldn’t get into the bathroom as it was too small for me to adjust. There was a young man sitting next to me. My sister explained to him what was going on. I put a blanket over my head and emptied it into the little bag they have in the airplanes that is used to vomit. I’m sure it smelt foul but you do what you got to do. The young man was fine with it. We were just laughing after. Humor is a big thing too and I do have a good amount of that.
A rational look at Life Again !
My story started as a resident when I was training to be a surgeon. I was having trouble physically and was diagnosed with lupus. By early 90’s I had a variety of problem. I was put on medical leave in 1992 after a short career in the medical field. In my world everything kind of stopped. I was very depressed. I tried a variety of things, but it just wasn’t quite the same. Eventually treatment kind of worked and I started to do little bits of things again. Then in 2002-2003 I was backed down by a car leading to multiple complications and 2 major heart surgeries. Meanwhile my arthritis had chewed up the joints in my hands. There was no way my hands could ever operate again. I started to take a rational look at life again. I looked around for something else to do. I liked animals, horses in particular. I had been riding since 12 years of age. I was happiest when I was horseback riding. So, I thought horseback riding. I had to figure out how I would be even strong enough to get up on the horse. A chance meeting with a friend led me to investigate parasports, for people with disabilities. I worked very hard, found people who believed in me, and had an unlikely horse Eric who tried very hard along with me. I finally made it to the 2012 US Paralympic Team in London and did very well. I have competed in many parasport events since. Now I cannot ride a horse due to medical limitations. Turns out, sitting in a carriage elegantly, wearing clothes like a lady should, you can drive a horse in a carriage. So, now I am embarking on my new career as a carriage driver.
With a picture of hers at the 2012 Paralympic Games !