Anniversaries and Updates
So, it's been a while since I posted. It's been even longer since I first joined, but the friends I have made here have been good ones, so I decided to revisit the old account.
I'm in a new job at my new job, new since I last posted.
After almost a year of unemployment I started working for UPS.
After 5 years of working as a driver I was injured and was off work (or on Modified Duty) for almost two years. (More on that later).
I'm now at a new position in my new job, working in the centre, rather than on the road and although the hours and pay aren't as much as it used to be, it's much safer for me, and I'm happier. It's given me more time to write and look after my health. It's also much less stressful. (Except for the COVID-19 part, but that's another story).
Two years ago I fell off a platform and hit my head, nearly severing my ear, and leaving me with a concussion and hearing loss. I have a hearing aid to cope with the loss of hearing, but the concussion recovery is ongoing. See I'm one of those unlucky minority of people who can't shrug off a concussion after a few days. I get to keep it.
After two years of physiotherapy I can stand or walk on my own - for short distances. I can resume many of my previous activities, and I can drive again - for short distances - and I can enjoy films again. The main problem is one of endurance. I only have so much mental energy per day (or week) and when it's used up it's used up.
I can walk because I've retrained my "software" to run with the missing balance input. When my brain battery runs low, I get wobbly.
I have tinnitus, which I can ignore most of the time, but filtering sensory input requires energy. When my brain battery runs low, it gets louder. It's usually the first symptom I notice, the first warning sign to ignore at my peril.
The nausea or headaches follow. Sometimes it gets really bad and I need assistance to walk.
And it often carries over to the next day or two, sometimes if I've been pushing my limits for a week, I feel shitty for a week or more afterwards, what we call "brain debt".
It's a whole new world. The good/bad news is I have a guide. wraithgirl hit her head and gave herself a permanent concussion just a couple of years before I did, so she knows what to do, how to cope, and can spot when I'm running low before anyone. We help each other. We each have slightly different triggers. Some things bother her that don't bother me, and vice versa, so if we're in a situation where something is triggering one of us, the other can help.
On the plus side, I have a transmitter attached to the TV so I can hear it directly through my hearing aid. If I want to watch TV late at night and not disturb the rest of the family, I just turn the sound down and I don't have to worry about whether it has subtitles. Hearing aids aren't what they used to be. It's got Bluetooth, so I can control it with an app on my iPhone, and switch software when the need arises. ("restaurant" or "speech in noise" come in handy often, for instance.). It's like I have a bionic ear just like Jaime Sommers! Now if I only had her bionic strength too! ;)
Although I'm working a different division, I'm still part of the union, with the same benefits, vacation time, and the rest, just not the same pay rate. So there will have to be some adjustments. But I'm still alive, and being careful.