I am mentally ill not stupid. I would question that statement after the scare that I put my family and friends through a couple of weeks a go. I was doing really well at managing symptoms. In fact I wasn't having any urges at all. I was focused on school and my new love of volunteering at the humane society. Then one Wednesday night after school I was really depressed and was struggling with cutting urges. Thursday I went and bought a blade, cut and went to the emergency room. The clinician just talked to me and sent me home. Friday I got worse. I had thoughts of suicide. I called the crisis line around 9:30PM told him what was going on and we made a contract for safety and that I would take my meds and go to bed. I still didn't feel safe, so I called the on call clinician, she said the same thing and said "call her in the morning." So I took my bed time meds and went to bed and woke up at 7:30AM Saturday. I really don't know what motivated me to do what I did next, except that I was tired of having urges and didn't care if I lived or died. I went into the bathroom were my meds are kept and counted out 10 2mg Adivan and 5 2mg Lunesta and then down the hatch. I then went and called the clinician like I was supposed. It was Brad. I said "Hi Brad this Kathi I took 10 Adivan and 5 Lunesta you might want to call 911" and hung up. At least that is what I think I said. Because I don't remember anything until I woke up at 8AM on Sunday. I was in ICU with a one on one nurse.
I was then transferred to the mental health unit.were I was treated by Dr Palmer. She is a okay Doc. I tried to explain to her I just wanted my head to shut up. She tried to explain to me that I am borderline. I only stayed Monday they let me out Tuesday. One thing that really bothered me though was they took me off one of my medications with out talking to me and wouldn't give me a reason. Luckily I had an appointment with my own Doc on Wednesday when I got out. I got back on it.
Today I deal with the shame and guilt of going through this. What I put my family and friends through. I still have these thoughts and urges. My therapist says to call bullshit on them they are just thoughts. But I tell you they feel so real and overwhelming. I have to continue looking at the things that I am grateful for. Keep making goals that are obtainable. Keep my heart light and full of laughter. I feel like I have a terminal illness. I don't. They are just thoughts I don't have to entertain them. I can choose which thoughts play with. It just takes a lot of work, but nothing great comes easy. I know in my heart I want to live.
Monday, December 6, 2010
It Has Been Three Weeks
November1 I haven't been admitted to the hospital in three weeks, nor have I gone to the emergency room. I did call the crisis line one night because I was having urges, but I talked to Patrick and worked through them. Usually this time of year I am in the hospital. I think that I have been so busy with school and volunteering that I haven't had the idle time when the urges can take over and become overwhelming. I have been managing school really well. I do it in little chunks. I make a list out on Monday evening of everything that I have to do and split it up over the week. I make sure I finish at 8:30PM. No more 3AM marathons. After 8:30PM I go play chess with my friend Robert who lives in the apartment complex. I am getting better at playing. In fact I actually can get him in check. We have a lot of fun.
Having fun I am finding out is very important in managing my urges. I can't just do school. My volunteer work at the humane society is a great outlet. It is really stress-less. There is no commitment on day or time. I just call up the day before and say I am going to be there at 11AM. The bus gets me there at 10:50AM. I always play with the cats. It is up to me how long I want to stay. Sometimes I stay for fifteen minutes, but there has been time when time has flew by and I stayed for a full hour. I have a blast, especially with the kittens. They are full of energy. They love feathers. Attack and roll. Then they crawl up my pant leg and purr in my ear. There is usually six to attend to. This is how I met Launa the kitten I have now. I wanted a male kitten, but she is doing well at home.
Launa is my stress release at home. She is very playful. She gets into everything. Except she minds herp's andq's around the garbage which I am grateful for. Yesterday I heard her crying. I couldn't find her any where in the apartment. I didn't realize she was outside in the hallway until I heard her scratching at the door. That little booger. She must of gone outside when i was doing laundry. She was sure happy when I opened the door. Pretty smart kitten to know where home was. I gave her lots of lovin.
I am still not smoking. It has been three weeks. A lot has changed. I don't stink. I have money in my pocket. I am breathing a lot better and I am starting to see myself as a nonsmoker. If I can only start seeing myself as someone who doesn't self harm. I will be making progress. I guess if I was to ask myself "Do I want to cut today?" I would say "no." So maybe there is hope.
Having fun I am finding out is very important in managing my urges. I can't just do school. My volunteer work at the humane society is a great outlet. It is really stress-less. There is no commitment on day or time. I just call up the day before and say I am going to be there at 11AM. The bus gets me there at 10:50AM. I always play with the cats. It is up to me how long I want to stay. Sometimes I stay for fifteen minutes, but there has been time when time has flew by and I stayed for a full hour. I have a blast, especially with the kittens. They are full of energy. They love feathers. Attack and roll. Then they crawl up my pant leg and purr in my ear. There is usually six to attend to. This is how I met Launa the kitten I have now. I wanted a male kitten, but she is doing well at home.
Launa is my stress release at home. She is very playful. She gets into everything. Except she minds herp's andq's around the garbage which I am grateful for. Yesterday I heard her crying. I couldn't find her any where in the apartment. I didn't realize she was outside in the hallway until I heard her scratching at the door. That little booger. She must of gone outside when i was doing laundry. She was sure happy when I opened the door. Pretty smart kitten to know where home was. I gave her lots of lovin.
I am still not smoking. It has been three weeks. A lot has changed. I don't stink. I have money in my pocket. I am breathing a lot better and I am starting to see myself as a nonsmoker. If I can only start seeing myself as someone who doesn't self harm. I will be making progress. I guess if I was to ask myself "Do I want to cut today?" I would say "no." So maybe there is hope.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Mom and Dad Had Wierd T.V. Habits
I come from a very hard working family. My Mom had many jobs from teacher, librarian, and real estate agent. Plus raising three daughters. My Dad was an agricultural economist. The number of jobs and types of jobs was numerous. He worked for the state of Hawaii doing experiments with papayas with one job when I was little. When I was older he was only home one month out of the year while he was in Egypt working on super farms. But one thing for sure when my folks were at home they were in their easy chairs in front of the T.V. watching their favorite television shows.
In our house at 6PM everything had to be quiet like a mouse because the 6o'clock news was on. I can vividly remember my sisters and I when I was six years old laying on the king size bed that my sister Lisa and I shared. We were giggling and laughing having a sweet time. Dad yelled "quiet the news is on." We giggled louder. He stomped into the bedroom screaming profanities and proceeded to smack my sister Lauri on the ass. Then came me. I closed my eyes. Smack! Then Lisa, oh poor Lisa, she got the worst of it. Smack! "Now! Damn it be quiet! Understand!" Dad stomped out of the room and went to his easy chair. So, from then on I learned not to bug Dad while he is watching T.V.
Mom on the other hand didn't have the upper hand except when it came to Wheel of Fortune. The whole world stopped for this show. Don't you dare stand in front of the T.V. or words that should not be heard would come out of my mothers mouth. One thing that I don't know if I am supposed to believe my parents or not. They believed that if you turned your T.V. off it would break. Something about turning your T.V. off and on repeatedly burns out the tube. So needless to say Mom and Dad had their television on 24/7. Funny thing is my Uncle who is a television repairman does the same thing and so does my older sister Lauri. I turn mine off.
I am trying to decide if I want cable. I just got a brand new 32 inch flat screen. I can be happy with just DVD's an VHS. There is so much in life to do then just watch T.V. and get all weird.
In our house at 6PM everything had to be quiet like a mouse because the 6o'clock news was on. I can vividly remember my sisters and I when I was six years old laying on the king size bed that my sister Lisa and I shared. We were giggling and laughing having a sweet time. Dad yelled "quiet the news is on." We giggled louder. He stomped into the bedroom screaming profanities and proceeded to smack my sister Lauri on the ass. Then came me. I closed my eyes. Smack! Then Lisa, oh poor Lisa, she got the worst of it. Smack! "Now! Damn it be quiet! Understand!" Dad stomped out of the room and went to his easy chair. So, from then on I learned not to bug Dad while he is watching T.V.
Mom on the other hand didn't have the upper hand except when it came to Wheel of Fortune. The whole world stopped for this show. Don't you dare stand in front of the T.V. or words that should not be heard would come out of my mothers mouth. One thing that I don't know if I am supposed to believe my parents or not. They believed that if you turned your T.V. off it would break. Something about turning your T.V. off and on repeatedly burns out the tube. So needless to say Mom and Dad had their television on 24/7. Funny thing is my Uncle who is a television repairman does the same thing and so does my older sister Lauri. I turn mine off.
I am trying to decide if I want cable. I just got a brand new 32 inch flat screen. I can be happy with just DVD's an VHS. There is so much in life to do then just watch T.V. and get all weird.
When I Was Six
I was at kindergarten today and we were learning the hula. We had grass skirt and everything. It was funny. I felt really weird shaking my hips in the skirts. After school we went swimmimng in the pool down the street. It is a really big pool with a diving boad and everything. My sister Lauri who is 15 and my sister Lisa who I think is 11 went with me. Mom just dropped us off. There were a lot of peope; Lauri said "I dare Kathi to jump off the high dive!"
"I bet I can do it."
"No you can't, you better not you are to litte you will get hurt." Lauri thinking twice about her dare.
I was off to the high dive. It was about fifteen feet off the ground. I don't know if I can do this? I am a big kid! No Fear. As I waited in line I was shaking; there were about six kid in front of me. They climbed up the ladder like they had done it before. They got to the top; they don't look scared; they just run and jump. I can do this. It is my turn now. My hands were sweaty. My swim swuit was going up my butt; I pulled it out. I liked my pink stripped swim suit I thought I was pretty cute.
As I climbed the stairs I realized I had an audience. People were watching me-a five year old girl on a high dive. I could hear Lauri and Lisa cheer me on. I waved a princess wave. I looked out at the blue water as I made my way down the center of the diving board. I could see the black stripes in the pool looking back at me. My throat is dry. My knees were shaking. No Fear . I take in a deep breath and run for the edge and leap and I was in the air like a bird. I flew and then I hit the water like a rock. It stungs so bad I couldn't breath. I struggled for the service doing the dog paddle. The only stroke I knew. The sun broke through the surface of the water. When my head bobbed to the surface a gasped for air and paddle my self to the edge where I was met with smiles and and cheers from Lauri and Lisa and new respect in the family ladder.
"I bet I can do it."
"No you can't, you better not you are to litte you will get hurt." Lauri thinking twice about her dare.
I was off to the high dive. It was about fifteen feet off the ground. I don't know if I can do this? I am a big kid! No Fear. As I waited in line I was shaking; there were about six kid in front of me. They climbed up the ladder like they had done it before. They got to the top; they don't look scared; they just run and jump. I can do this. It is my turn now. My hands were sweaty. My swim swuit was going up my butt; I pulled it out. I liked my pink stripped swim suit I thought I was pretty cute.
As I climbed the stairs I realized I had an audience. People were watching me-a five year old girl on a high dive. I could hear Lauri and Lisa cheer me on. I waved a princess wave. I looked out at the blue water as I made my way down the center of the diving board. I could see the black stripes in the pool looking back at me. My throat is dry. My knees were shaking. No Fear . I take in a deep breath and run for the edge and leap and I was in the air like a bird. I flew and then I hit the water like a rock. It stungs so bad I couldn't breath. I struggled for the service doing the dog paddle. The only stroke I knew. The sun broke through the surface of the water. When my head bobbed to the surface a gasped for air and paddle my self to the edge where I was met with smiles and and cheers from Lauri and Lisa and new respect in the family ladder.
Hair Controversy
I was at the pharmacist waiting for some meds the other day when we got tinto a conversation about my hair. Lately my hair seems to be on the list of many topics of conversations. You see there aren't vert many middle age, overweight, white women that run around with a Mohawk on their head. The pharmacist just couldn't phathom me shaving my head when he has spent most of his life using Rogaine to keep hair on his head. I was in my substanabuse counselor's office the other day and one of the counselors confronted me with "Okay Kathi what's up with the dew. What it really going on?"
"There isn't anything going on I just like the Mohawk, give me a break." But I kept thinking about it. Why do I have a Mohawk? 1. It is easy to care for. 2.When I was sixteen I wanted one and the closet I got was a bob cut. I hated it. 3. For someone who is 45yrs old and has been told by the doctors that they will never work again. Fuck it cut away. I finally don't have to worry about who the hell cares what I look like. I know people giggle and out right laugh behind my back. That is okay laughter is good for the soul and you know what I am crazy. I am legally crazy that is why I get the big bucks on SSI. Real Big bucks like $226.00.
Hair is hair. It is definitely over rated. Ask any cancer patient. My Mohawk is a statement of my personal freedom. It also is a great boundry setter for me. If you don't like me because of my hair then you have deeper issues that I don't want to get to know about. It is like having a different skin color. So my hair is my issue. I love my Mohawk. I wear it proudly.
"There isn't anything going on I just like the Mohawk, give me a break." But I kept thinking about it. Why do I have a Mohawk? 1. It is easy to care for. 2.When I was sixteen I wanted one and the closet I got was a bob cut. I hated it. 3. For someone who is 45yrs old and has been told by the doctors that they will never work again. Fuck it cut away. I finally don't have to worry about who the hell cares what I look like. I know people giggle and out right laugh behind my back. That is okay laughter is good for the soul and you know what I am crazy. I am legally crazy that is why I get the big bucks on SSI. Real Big bucks like $226.00.
Hair is hair. It is definitely over rated. Ask any cancer patient. My Mohawk is a statement of my personal freedom. It also is a great boundry setter for me. If you don't like me because of my hair then you have deeper issues that I don't want to get to know about. It is like having a different skin color. So my hair is my issue. I love my Mohawk. I wear it proudly.
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