After an Accident, but Getter Better.
Hello, everyone. Now, I know I've been long absent for a remarkably long time, and I swear there has been a good reason. Normally, I'm loathed to share my personal, medical information, but I feel if I don't share something that many won't quite get how serious things got for me over the past few months. A few months back, I was waking up with significant double vision, some muscle weakness in areas, then eye lid drooping. I didn't think it too serious at the time, because these symptoms happened a year-and-a-half ago, but went away after a few months with some rest. I thought it was eye strain and lack of sleep. Well, it wasn't getting better after a few months. It was getting worse. It all came to a head when I went to bed on a Thursday night, and woke up in a hospital bed Saturday evening with a major concession, hairline cheek bone fracture, and a few lumps and scraps on my face and head. Seems I fell down the basement steps carrying laundry up and head hit the concrete floor. If no one had heard that fall, I really don't know what could have happened. I still have no memory of that Friday or the fall. Upon being finally conscious, I could barely keep my eyelids open at all. The doctor, an expert in the field of neurology, said I very likely fell due to an autoimmune disease called Myasthenia gravis (Mg). Long story short, it causes my immune system to attack the chemicals that my nerves send to the muscles to move in several areas of the body. For me, it was affecting my eyes, arms, hands, shins, and hamstrings. The reason I had double vision, is because the muscles in my eyes were weak and the eyes were out of alignment. I spent the next two weeks in the hospital neurology ward, trapped to the bed. The doctors, nurses, and food were all really great, but the other patients with serious neurological were frequently setting off alarms as they fell from beds or other issues. I wasn't allowed out of the bed, and it would set off an alarm, if I got out. I had to call a nurse if I wanted to use the bathroom. Easily the worst sleep of my life, and after a few days my lower back was in real pain. The beds were not great, and due to the concussion was not allowed below thirty degrees. Thank goodness for my tablet and free wifi. Podcasts, audio books, and the mobile game Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes helped me keep my sanity. It gave me a simple task I could do every day. During those two weeks, I had six sessions of plasmapheresis and one of IVIG. None seemed to have the effect the doctors wanted to see. I was having very minor improvements, but they were expecting major improvement. I had four more IVIG treatments out-patient. If you followed my Instagram, you could see the picture of the neck catheter that was used to filter out my plasma and take blood samples. To describe Mg. I could barely keep my eyelids open, my limbs would move but had little tension. My arms and wrists were so weak that lifting a mug of tea felt as if it weighed 20 lbs. I could feed myself, dress, shower, and walk a bit, but standing for too long was difficult. My fingers weren't very articulate and would become less responsive the more I moved them -- thus why I haven't written much until now. I literally haven't been on my computer in months. I've been on a medication that has helped give me more mobility. It wasn't until I had an electrical nerve test done that the doctor prescribed an oral steroid for me. That's had the best results. Since getting home from the hospital, my only source of task and entertainment has been listening to podcasts (primarily Critical Role) and working on jigsaw puzzles. I couldn't play video games, due to my fingers; reading was too hard because of the double vision and frequently closing eyelids. I could do puzzles with one eye open. It wasn't until this past week that my arms have been feeling close to normal, and only two days ago I was waking up to little or no double vision. I'm even typing this message to you all with only a small bit of discomfort in one knuckle. I will get better and get my strength back. As it did last time, Mg will go into remission to give me back my normality. It could just also return some years down the line. I will be getting back to work on my artwork, once I'm strong enough. All those who've commissioned me will be getting a lot more work than they initially hired me for. I'm not sure when I can get back to making streams, because I may need to take some rests, as I'm recovering. It's so frustrating that I used to do advanced level interval training, but had been struggling to do beginner's yoga. However, I've been getting stronger nearly every day now. That's a positive sign. I have another appointment with the doctor in March. I'm hoping he'll clear me to start taking me off the steroid. I really want to apologize to everyone for my long silence. It's nice being back and feeling almost normal again.
