Hello everyone! Last time, I posted a guest post by fellow blogger Rae from Second Chances. I met Rae on Facebook and I loved her inspirational content! I just had to get in touch! She talks about mental illness on her blog like I do, and I was so happy when she agreed to let me share her powerful story on my blog! What an honor! And now she’s sharing my story with mental illness on her blog! To read my story click over to Rae’s blog here. Be sure to also checkout other posts on her blog. There you will find powerful stories on dealing with addiction and domestic violence. Rae shares these stories to encourage those dealing with these issues to seek help.
Author: Charli Dee
Welcome to my site! I started this site to help inspire people with my experiences. I hope that I accomplish my goal for this site even a little!
Guest Post – PTSD: Fighting back against the trauma
Picture taken from Unsplah
TRIGGER WARNING: This Post Contains content that might be hard for some to read. Please take caution and take care of yourselves.
This is a Guest post by fellow blogger Rae over at Rea’s Second Chances . I recently met her through Facebook, and was really moved and inspired by her posts. Rae’s focus on her blog and social media is encouraging people to get help with mental illness. I talk a lot about mental health on my blog, so I thought Rae and I should share our stories with mental illness on each other’s blogs. Read her powerful piece below:
I’ve been dealing with ptsd ever since I was about 7 or 8 years old. Right around the time my mom tried to kill herself I believe it started. But it wasn’t until I was older and she fell and broke her leg that I realized I was utterly afraid of losing her. I worried about it constantly, mostly out of nowhere. I’d be scared I’d come from school and she would be dead. It was very unhealthy and yet I kept it to myself for years. I will never forget the pounding sounds my heart made, how sweaty my hands would feel and the urge to vomit as we opened the door after school. It wasn’t just then,it was when she was at work or honestly anytime we were separated. Now looking back it consumed me a lot more than it should have.
What is PTSD?
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a disorder that develops in some people who have experienced a traumatic , scary, or dangerous situation. The body and even the brain can change when exposed to any kind of trauma, such as combat, accidents, domestic violence,sexually assault, and even global pandemics. Often we experience something so terrifying or stressful that our brains can’t make sense of what has happened to us. Due to us not being able to move through the second stage of processing, our brain return us to the exact same emotional and physical state as when the traumatic event occurred, especially when we are triggered.
My fears of losing my momma eventually came true in 2008 and that day forever lives in my head. For years I denied that I was still living through that day. I Denied that I could possibly have ptsd and be harming myself more by denying it was happening. I would cry and literally feel like I was drowning in grief over her. I’d cry so hard I’d hyperventilate which then caused a panic attack. The anger,denial and reliving the days leading up were complete torture. The thought of being labeled with a mental illness was frightening. So I did what most people do and I kept it to myself.
There is such a stigma on mental health issues that people don’t feel comfortable coming forward. But you have to be able to notice the symptoms and notice when it’s time to seek help. Symptoms might include feeling numb, experiencing nightmares or flashbacks, and being particularly sensitive to loud noises to name a few. Sudden outburst of Anger,sadness and hopeless are also symptoms. Living in sadness and trauma is never the answer to healing. There are options and you have to find what works best for you. Everyone isn’t the same so rather it’s talking to someone, journaling or taking medication just make sure your doing what will help heal your soul.
About Rae: Rea is a mental health blogger whose focus is on sharing her experiences with addiction and domestic violence. She uses her platform to inspire those with addiction and other mental illnesses on their journey to wellness.. Click here to visit her blog.
Call 988, The National Suicide Prevention Hotline in the United States, if you ever have thoughts of harming yourself or if you know someone who does. Please check for the number of the Crisis Prevention hotline in your country if you don’t live in the United States
Yetunde: An Ode to My Mother – Book Review
Hello everyone! Welcome back to my blog. This post will be a bit different, as i’m reviewing a book. The book is called “Yetunde: An Ode to My Mother”, and the author is an African writer named Segilola Salami. The description of the book is below:
Description:
Follow Yetunde as she narrates her mother’s ode to her grandmother. It is the Yoruba praise poetry for a mother known as Oriki Iya. Yetunde is also thrilled and delighted by the ancient Yoruba tale passed down to her by her mother about Labakẹ, a young maiden who was kidnapped to be forced to marry a warrior king. Will Iya Labakẹ save her child in time? Is Iya Labakẹ just a simple defenceless mother? Or . . . ?
This is a short story dedicated to past, present and future mothers, a perfect Mother’s day present!
The book is mostly in English and all Yoruba words are translated, so everyone can enjoy the book fully.
Review:
As mentioned in the description, “Yetunde: An Ode to My Mother” is a book about an African mother of Yuroba heritage spending time with her daughter, and even telling her daughter a traditional Yuroba story. “Yetunde: An Ode to My Mother” is told through the eyes of the small baby daughter, who is relaying to the readers what she has learned from her mother. I’ve mentioned on my blog many times that I have a genetic disorder. I wasn’t diagnosed with the disorder until I was a teenager, but I always knew something was off. I was always small for my age. Due to my size, I was often bullied. The bullying made me feel low and unattractive, but when I would think those thoughts, I would always think of my mother’s words to me: “I have no ugly children”. Segilola’s book reminded me of own my mother and her words to me, and how much strength I get from them. “Yetunde: An Ode to My Mother” beautifully shows how we are shaped by the words of our parents, as the daughter takes in every word her mother, Yetunde, says. Over all, I really enjoyed “Yetunde: An Ode to My Mother”. I believe it is a beautiful way to learn about Yuroba culture. I highly recommend the book
If you would like to read the book for yourself, it is available on Segilola Salami’s website https://www.segilolapublishing.com/product-category/ebooks/childrens-ebooks-fiction/
Sagilola can also be found on her blog, where she shares reviews of children’s books. Click here to pay Segilola a visit.
The Power of Love
I was born to Christian parents. As an adult, I’m still a Christian. Many people choose to stay in the religion they were born into for several reasons. My reason for remaining a Christian is the emphasis on “love” in Christianity. One of my favorite passages from the Bible states:
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
This passage is a good example of what it means to be a Christian, and I try to live my life by it everyday.
Another passage from the Bible that puts an. Emphasis on love is “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love,”(1 Corinthians 13:13). This passage focuses on the power of love and is the reason for the many Christian founded organizations and hospitals like The Red Cross and the Salvation Army. The Catholic Church alone runs around 18,000 clinics, 16,000 homes for the elderly and those with special needs, and over 5,000 hospitals. Love is what drives people to helps others. Without love, there would be no faith in the goodness of humanity and there would be no hope for people suffering.
Love is powerful, and Christianity proves this to me everyday.
Why is Healthcare so Expensive: Part Two
Picture taken from Pixabay
I recently watched a video by a popular YouTuber named Lauren who runs the channel Living well with Schizophrenia. On her channel, she talks about her experience living with Schizophrenia and Schizoaffective Disorder. In on particular video, Lauren talks about the cost of health care. She lives in Canada where the government is heavily involved in helping with healthcare, so she doesn’t pay a heavy amount for her medical care. However, she shared what she would be paying without help. I liked the idea, and thought I’d also give a little idea of how much my healthcare would cost me without help. You can see this video below:
As I’ve mentioned many times on my blog, I have medical condition called Turner Syndrome. I take several medications for the condition. I did a little digging, and without help, I could be spending a total of $83.00 a month for my medication.
Turner syndrome causes a lot of complications. The condition is when a woman is born with only one fully functioning X chromosome instead of the usual two. Due to this fact, the woman’s body can not create estrogen on its own. Estrogen helps to strengthen a woman’s bones. This is why some older women with low estrogen suffer from osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a common problem in Turner syndrome patients. Other complications include heart, kidney, and thyroid problems, among others. Because of all of the complications, many procedures are regularly done in order to ensure the Turner Syndrome patient remains in good health. These priced urges can include an MRI, sonogram, blood tests, and a bone density scan, among others. All together, my procedures can cost around $1,500 every time they’re done.
I have also been pretty open on my blog about my struggles with mental illness. It is no secret that mental health services can be expensive. In my case, therapy sessions without help would cost me around $2,800 each week. That’s around 14,000 a month for therapy sessions! The medication I take for my mental illness can cost around $233.00 a month.
As you can see, healthcare is pretty expensive. I didn’t even include all of my doctor visits, including the my primary care provider and specialist visits. I also did not include transportation cost. I would definitely not be able to afford the medical care I get with the good insurance I have.
The Goodness of Humanity
In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart
Anne Frank
Picture taken from Pixabay
Recently, a family member told me about a woman who wrote a book on grief for her children after their father died. It was later discovered that she herself killed him. I also read in the news about a man who killed his wife after claiming to love her during his time as a contestant on the Family Feud game show.
It seems there is nothing but bad news, and nothing but hatred in people’s hearts. Sometimes, with all the horrendous things going on, I can’t help but think the worst of humanity. But then I remember the quote above from Anne Frank. She wrote those words even though war was raging around her, even though her people were being rounded up and senselessly murdered.
I also think about the kind people who have helped me throughout my life. As a person with special needs, there have been a lot of people. I think about organizations like the Red Cross and the Salvation Army that have workers and volunteers who go all over the world spending their time helping others.
With this being said, I still believe that there are good people out there, even if sometimes they might seem very rare.
Turner Syndrome? What’s that?
What is Turner Syndrome? In this guest post, fellow blogger Seguilola Salami helps me share a little about what Turner Syndrome is and my experience with it in order to spread a little awareness. Thankyou Seguilola! You can read the guest post here. While there, be sure to also checkout other posts on Seguilola’s blog! If you are into books and love to read, her blog is for you! If you have small children and you are looking for books for them, checkout Seguilola’s blog! She has a lot of recommendations, and you’ll enjoy listening to her adorable daughter give reviews on children’s books and interview authors! Click here to checkout her blog! Enjoy!
Dear Charli: A Letter to my Younger Self
You’ll have a lot of insecurities
When you reach this age
But trust me when I say
There’s nothing you’ll want to change.
You might feel small
But even pebbles are significant
You Might not feel beautiful
But girl
you are magnificent
You might feel unlovable
But you are worthy in every way
You might make mistakes
But who is perfect anyway?
You might feel there’s nothing you’ve achieved
But let me tell you
That’s just what you believe
You’ve achieved a lot if you’d only look
If you wrote what you’ve done
You could write a book
And that’s just the beginning
There’s still a lot to accomplish
So when you reach this stage
Don’t be discouraged
Consistency and Struggles
Some may I have noticed that I’ve been pretty inconsistent with my activity on my blog. There have been periods when I’ve been pretty inactive. I was really active when I first started my blog. This is because during that time I was taking a break from school, so I had a lot of time on my hands. I enjoy writing and wanted to share my thoughts, so I decided I would like to start a blog.
The blog started going pretty well, and I was having a lot of fun. Until I had to go back to school. Everyone knows how demanding college can be. It’s particularly demanding for me, so I needed to put all of my focus into school. That meant my blog had to take a back seat. Since College can be very hard, there is no doubt I had my own specific challenges.
One particular challenge in school stood out to me. It was during a term when I was taking a writing class. The end of that term was particularly stressful. I struggled to manage preparing for exams I was supposed to take and the paper I was supposed to write for the class. By the time the paper was due, I still wasn’t ready to turn it in. I decided to go to class with an unfinished paper and ask the professor for more time.
I was nervous enough going to class with an unfinished essay, so you can just imagine how nervous I was to ask for more time to complete the essay. However, I sucked up my anxiety and pulled out the courage to approach my professor at the end of class. Unfortunately, my professor said no. I left the classroom defeated, and went into a bathroom stall for a little privacy. As soon as I stepped into the stall, a wave of emotions started crashing down on me, and I couldn’t hold back my tears. All kinds of catastrophic thoughts started flooding my head. What if I fail the class now? What if it brings down my GPA? What if I can’t get into get into the career I want because of that bad grade? I saw a string of failures ahead of me, and felt completely hopeless.
As I cried and terrible thoughts overwhelmed me, I closed eyes and prayed. When I finally managed to stop crying, I left the bathroom and ran into none other the my writing professor. I decided right then that there was nothing I could do about the situation but ask my professor what my grade would look like without the the essay. Her response surprised me.
“Take the weekend”, she said.
Relief instantly hit me. It seemed my prayer was answered. I gave my Professor a genuine and heartfelt thanks.
There are two lessons I took away from this experience. The first is that God always comes through for you. The second I learned later through therapy, and that lesson is one bad situation doesn’t mean the end of the world. Doing poorly on the final paper didn’t mean I would have failed the class, and even if I failed the class that didn’t mean I wouldn’t be able to go into the career I wanted. Plus, even if I were to have trouble getting into a particular career, there are other options. There are always options and always a solution. When one door closes, another always opens, and the door that was closed was closed shut for a reason. You weren’t meant to go through that door.
So, whatever struggle you might be going through, dear reader, know that you can and will get through it. Until next time.
Dealing with a Keloid
I have mentioned many times on my blog that I have a condition called Turner syndrome. In a recent post, I mentioned my condition eventually led to surgery. Turner syndrome can lead to a lot of complications. One of them is problems with the thyroid gland. That was an issue for me.
I recently had surgery because of issues with my thyroid gland. The surgery ended up leaving a small keloid. The suggestion was given on how to deal with a keloid was through a steroid injection. Cutting out the keloid would only cause a keloid to grow back. So I’ve been getting injections to lower the keloid for a while now.
The doctor has to put the needle right in the keloid, and yes, they hurt a lot. The first time is especially painful, because the keloid is tough. As you continue to get injections, the keloid softens and the injections become less painful. Even with the help I’m getting though, even the doctor admits there is only so much that can be done. I will still have a scar. That’s ok though, because my scar tells my story. So I’m not ashamed of it.
Life with Charli 