Senate Mental Health Support Thread

Welcome Sith Lord 2015. You are definitely not alone. I have anxiety first and then some depression, but have found that my medications do indeed help a lot. Before them I was having tons of problems coping.

Btw everyone, the cbd oil I am taking mostly for pain definitely seems to help my mood.

 

So I’m due to be at the hospital in 3.5 hours, and I can’t sleep, as expected. I’ve had surgeries before, but they were always internal. I didn’t look any different afterward. I’m kind of worried about how i’ll react to seeing my incisions, etc. one guy I know actually passed out when he saw his chest for the first time. Another one burst into tears. Not that i’m expecting to look like a GQ model right out of the gate or at all, it’s just that such a big change might be overwhelming.

 

Nerves are to be expected in these circumstances I would think. Everyone in your position will have been a bit scared, the doctors will be used to it. I think the important thing to remember is that you're moving your life in the direction you want, which is a very positive thing. I think you've already shown great courage in taking charge of your life, big changes are so hard to do.

 

It's going to be new, and what you're going to see will not be the final result, just you still in the process of physically healing from a major surgery with permanent consequences. It's perfectly normal to be nervous and emotional in such circumstances, and it will be okay to feel overwhelmed in the moment.

And after the moment has passed, you'll have all the decades yet to come

 

Thanks guys ... i’m Actually not all that concerned with how my body looks. I’m 46, and I’m fine with not being “hot” or anything. It’s more the way my body feels, and the way others react to me based on how it looks. If I never get another “miss” or “sweetheart” i’ll Be very happy.

 

On Wed I picked up the SW Insider: 2019 Special Edition and it is primarily about the women of Star Wars. In an article titled 'Carrie Fisher: The First Lady of SW' there is a quote from Carrie Fisher explaining bipolar disorder to a young boy at Indiana Comic Con in 2015:
It's kind of a virus of the brain. It makes you go very fast or very sad. Or both. Those are fun days. And so judgement isn't one of my big good things. But I have a good voice. I can write well. I'm not a good bicycle rider. So I'm just like anyone else - only louder, faster, and sleeps more.

 

Sooo . . . yeah. The power went out at the hospital where I'm having surgery. The surgeon is currently saying that they'll get to me today, but it could be like . . . a while. Most annoying atm is hunger and especially thirst. I'm on an IV, so I'm not actually going to dehydrate, but I wish I could put water in my mouth.

 

Holy cow >_>

Ng. Here's hoping for a speedy resolution.

 

That sucks. Hope it gets sorted out pretty quickly. I hope they have a generator to support those already in surgery or on ICU machines.

 

That's awful luck, py.

 

Hugs @poor yorick I hope power is restored quickly.

 

Ask if they'll let you swish some water around in your mouth. I've done that, pre-surgery, before.

 

Arrrrrrg whyyy! That is terrible Ben. I hope they get to you soon. I had my recent surgery at 1:30 and was so thirsty, so I get it

 

I spoke to Ben at like 4:30 in the morning when I happened to be up taking my puppy out, and he was able to get his surgery in! Says things are going well and he's probably going home today. I am sure he will post soonish but I just wanted to let the gang here know in case you were wondering.

 

That's good to hear. I'm glad he was able to get his surgery.

 

Thanks for the good news!

 

Glad to hear that pooryorick was able to get surgery going and also now for a good result with it and then he can start recovery


@LAJ_FETT - Carrie indeed was so good with words and her open nature to who she was and how she was was of course endearing and down to earth.

Was dismayed that when she passed so many were trying to make out she was not to be fondly remembered.

Don't want to go off topic but lastly,is it not those amongst us who have the heaviest health burdens that would then be likely to fall into the traps of drugs etc?

Does not make that person "bad" makes them fallible and human.

 

Thanks for all your well-wishes, folks! Surgery started 6 hours late, but went off without a hitch otherwise. I'm in minimal pain and can be more active than I expected. My family gave me this card with a treasure chest on it that says, "Congratulations on your new chest." Lol!

 

I love your family.

 

My surgery is scheduled for Wednesday morning. I arrive at 7:30, but I bet it will be an hour or so of waiting around and getting ready from there. My husband should be able to pick me up and take me home at noon. Then for 4-6 weeks I'll be on crutches, in a brace for 4 weeks. So no driving, lots of going crazy in my house. But that's not the worst part. The worst part is my F ing insurance that allows me 20 physical therapy sessions per calendar year. So they already signed me up for 11, but that only gets me until March 13th and I can't do any normalish sport activities until 12-16 weeks after surgery. So I get 0% assistance in returning to sports and I honestly know I can't do this on my own. I will go too fast. Like no matter how hard I try to hold back I'll think I'm feeling good and assume it's okay to do something I shouldn't be doing. Yea, so I am freaked out about 4 months from now, but trust me it's a totally rational fear. I want to come back at the proper pace and not get injured again. So Friday when I see my physical therapist and have to present all this to her, that's going to be "fun". I actually wrote her a letter, because I don't want her to think I'm just nuts because I'm hopped up on pills from the surgery. And I know I will cry if I talk about this and I will probably cry at this appointment anyway, so the fact that I wrote it all down in a nice typed letter before the surgery either makes me look more crazy or proves I really want help. I dunno.

 

Good luck.

 

Writing a letter to the physical therapist sounds like a good idea. That way you can tell them all your concerns and they can keep it in your file to refer back to. I'm really hoping you get what you want and need out of this next round of treatment, @Runjedirun ! Also, I totally get nervously counting down the days to surgery. I'd been doing that for months. My therapist had me listen to YouTube guided meditations toward the end, when I was really starting to freak out. I found it helpful.

 

@Runjedirun - good luck on the surgery!