Relentless & Resilient ❤️

My name is Sage, im a paraplegic due to a Motor Vehicle Accident in January 2016. Due to this I have been stuck in limbo in a nursing home in Ontario Canada. I get very lonely and miss my old life before the accident. This Tumblr is my way to express myself in my own way and also hopefully shed some light on the difficulties that we Young Residents face in Long Term Care that is made for senior citizens. I am an advocate for change in all Vulnerable Sectors (child care, senior care, adults with disabilities) I have worked with the Ontario Government to help reform the Child Welfare act, i am also a proud recipient of a Amethyst Award for Ontario Public Service. My hope is that one day we will live in a society that no young people will be institutionalized instead they will get adequate care at home in their communities.

[bob-belcher]

[docresa]

And every season we‘re thinking to ourselves: „Oh this is absurd, that would never ever all happen to one person/ nobody would ever be that stupid, completely unrealistic!“ all while Covid and/or our governments happily go: „Watch me!“

[i-am-a-melon1992]

Meh

Been fighting a “complicated UTI” for nearly a month now. The early morning of the 9th i had to plea to go to the hospital to get treatment and i was sent to one of Toronto’s worst hospitals. Not only are the nurses there notoriously rude but this hospital doesn’t have any of my medical history like the other ones that I could have attended. I arrived in their ER at around 5am and I didn’t even see anyone until 9am including a nurse. I was put in the “Acute” treatment area which is for high acuity patients. I was there for possible Renal Colic which simply means that I have a kidney stone that is causing severe pain which can get stuck in the ureter if it is greater than 5 millimetres or half a centimetre in diameter. The other thing that really got me was the way the patient transport guy spoke to me when they where assisting me onto their cot from the ER stretcher. Im a paraplegic.. which means my legs don’t hold me.. i use a wheelchair to get around and a lift to transfer. Okay so this guy asked me if I could shuffle over to their cot and i said “no i cant sorry” and he said “oh it must be because of your weight” i replied to him “no im paralyzed” and he was shocked.. his face looked like a deer in headlights. Yeah im not skinny but im not obese, I don’t need any special equipment and I weigh just slightly over 200… when i was skinny wearing size 4 Lululemon and had a size 28 jean at American Eagle i was 170lb. My face looks chunky because of my medication and because I am sick and overloaded myself in water, all of us have fat on our bodies.. people with spinal cord injuries are prone to more. I don’t care if im not the same as i was as a teenager because as a teenager I was playing competitive hockey and I was walking around everywhere and not battling chronic illnesses… so people need to learn to ask before assuming especially in healthcare… anyway so In the last week of November I was on a 5 or 7 day course of Cipro, which is a strong Broad Spectrum antibiotic for a suspected then laboratory confirmed UTI. The test the lab did was a Culture and Sensitivity (C&S) test on my urine, its the most accurate. Essentially they see if any bacteria grow in the specimen collected and they then cross it with different types of antibiotics to see what ones will kill the bacteria best. So obviously the Cipro didn’t work for me as I ended up in the hospital needing another go at antibiotics despite the C&S test so I ended up on Keflex which has yet to prove itself. My usual treatment as per my nephrologist (kidney) and urologist (urinary system for females, and urinary and prostate for males) will go for Entrapenem which is a IV antibiotic and requires me to either stay inpatient at hospital or get home care. I often prefer to stay inpatient because they can monitor my progress more than my nursing home can. I also have a urostomy so if i do pass a stone I don’t know 100% without a CT scan as ultrasound is not always able to see them as my torso is still bigger than it should be. Next time I will just go by Wheeltrans to my perfered hospital and get proper care and also be able to have my regular medications as well because they refused in the ER to give me any of them. For pain I got tylonal when im a chronic pain patient who takes strong pain meds 3 times a day. I was in agony when I was there and when I got home I took my actual pain med and ate for the first time and drifted off to sleep like a baby.

[i-am-a-melon1992]

We should be clear Monday December 13. A staff member was exposed off shift to COVID-19.

[i-am-a-melon1992]

Watch with sound

[i-am-a-melon1992]

Funny bengal cat! Use sound

[i-am-a-melon1992]

[i-am-a-melon1992]

So true it may kill someone!

[i-am-a-melon1992]

by Angela Wright 11-19-2019

I am a senior, this I know

for my body tells me so

Aches and pains to me belong

Head to toe, they hurt so long.

Yes, Advil® helps me

Yes, Gas-X® helps me

Yes, Ben Gay® helps me

My doctor tells me so.

I am a senior, that’s my stride

on a tour bus I will ride

Motels, hotels, let me in

I am ready, you say when.

Yes, aspirin helps me

Yes, Centrum® helps me

Yes, BC® helps me

My doctor tells me so.

I am a senior with gray hair,

wrinkles, age spots everywhere.

In retirement, I will spend

time with grandkids with a grin.

Yes, Clairol® helps me

Yes, fade cream helps me

Yes, Ensure® helps me

My doctor tells me so.

I am a senior, aches will stay

bladder weakens every day

I just thank God that I’m here.

When I pray, here’s what He’ll hear.

Thank you for Depends®

Thank you for my friends

Thank you for my heavenly home

I’ll be there, Lord, you know when.

[i-am-a-melon1992]

I never had a place to call my own

I never had a home

Ain't nobody callin' my phone

Where you been? Where you at? What's on your mind?

They say every life precious but nobody care about mine

I've been on the low

I been taking my time

I feel like I'm out of my mind

It feel like my life ain't mine

Who can relate?

I've been on the low

I been taking my time

I feel like I'm out of my mind

It feel like my life ain't mine

[i-am-a-melon1992]

First snowfall this Winter. November 11 2019.

[i-am-a-melon1992]

Explaining why everything must be ordered by a doctor to another resident is like trying to explain to a cat not to scratch the new leather sofa when you don’t trim their claws!

[i-am-a-melon1992]

Frozen vegan dal- Apetito hospital brand.

Has a sandlike texture to it...

I just ate my lettuce.

[lyricslife]

[i-am-a-melon1992]

Apparent unpopular opinion among other people with Urostomies is you cant possibly have both a mental health issue and a urostomy at the same time and they are never related.

Yet i beg to differ.

Imagine how life altering this surgery is not only internally but to the way that you see your body in the mirror? Not to mention the way others see you. How your life is. How you have to now worry about supplies that are not cheap and may not be covered. This stuff is not something that we anticipate. Especially in emergency surgery.

[i-am-a-melon1992]

Care conference tomorrow at the home, scared because the last one i had was a dire mess!

[i-am-a-melon1992]

cant sleep because the heat is set super high, my thermostat in my room says 23 and I don’t have my radiator on but the building heat is on and there is a industrial square vent in my room which I cannot control. I just know that it’s hotter in here than it is in the summer without humidity and fans. Hate being in my 20s in a nursing home 

[i-am-a-melon1992]