UNIT 20 Disability

藝弊悝汜炾釬

My Life

by Kara Keding

I＊m 17-years-old and I feel like I＊m about twice my age. I have had a strange childhood and have gone through a lot. The reason is due to several medical conditions I have. I prefer calling them physical challenges rather than handicaps or anything like that.

I would have to say this all started when I was 11-years-old. My legs just started giving me trouble. I was having a lot of trouble doing my dancing and baton classes because my knees kept feeling like they were popping out. I ignored it for awhile, but eventually it came to be too much so I had to go see a doctor. After my exam, my doctor diagnosed me with sublexing patellas, which means my kneecaps pop out of place. This was just the beginning of my trouble.

About a year later, my muscles started to atrophy in my legs and I lost all muscle tone. I was devastated emotionally and physically. I could no longer walk, so I was put in a wheelchair. With this I lost not only my physical mobility but also my dreams of being a professional dancer. My mom stood strong and took me to see the best doctors she could find and this led me to the Shriners＊ Hospital in Montreal, Canada. Here is where I received my first ray of hope. By the time I left I was walking with a walker and then just a cane. They were like miracle workers. I slowly gained back my muscle tone, but it was a long process and sometimes I just felt like giving up. I had many supporters who helped me and gave me the strength and courage I needed.

I thought this would be an end to my medical problems, but then one summer I stopped breathing for no understandable reason. My mom revived me and then I was taken to the doctors to find out I had acquired costochronditis, which is the inflammation of the muscles near your sternum. My breathing troubles continued and they also decided to try some medications on me, but none worked, so we let things go.

Then just when I thought my life was floating back to normal for the average 13-year-old, I again encountered a new medical diagnosis. This time I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, which affects all the muscles and bones in my body and explains some of my earlier trouble. I was very confused when I was told and the doctor said it＊s something I will have to deal with forever. While explaining, he compared it to how my father died when I was a child but had to continually cope with it. I was started on some more medications, none with much help.

One day I started having seizures for no apparent reason. We were all confused and the doctor put me on anti-seizure medication. By this time I was taking between 30 and 40 pills a day. I was rarely in school and had a small social life. Then one day my body went haywire; it had enough.

I was talking to my mom on the phone when all of a sudden I stopped talking. I had a seizure and was having a medication reaction. My grandparents were supposed to pick me up that day for a doctor＊s appointment, and upon their arrival I was like a limp rag doll. My older brother immediately got me dressed and rushed me to the doctors. They told my mom that I was having a medication reaction and to take me home to sleep it off. My mom did just that when all of a sudden she had a maternal instinct. She came over to check me out and realized I was barely breathing. I was slipping away and dying on her so she immediately started to try and get me to breathe and called an ambulance. When the paramedics arrived I had to be revived. They rushed me to the hospital and I was admitted for several days, with it all being called a medication miscalculation. That night changed my life forever.

When I was released, I was like a baby. I had lost my memory and all my control over my bodily functions. I needed constant care and attention. The doctor said when I slipped away it was long enough that I had a lack of oxygen to my brain and suffered a traumatic brain injury. My mother and family worked with me every day. I had to relearn everything. I slowly worked my way back but I still have some of the complications present with my memory loss. Everything was all new to me and my subjects were a struggle. My grades dropped from my traditional straight A＊s to C＊s and D＊s. I pulled as much strength as I could from inside of me and realized I was here for a purpose.

I figured out I was here to help others. Not in any special way, but just to help them in general. This helped me get so far. I am now about as normal outside as anyone else but I still have daily troubles and barriers to overcome living with my fibromyalgia. All my scars are inside but they have helped me become the person I am today.

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蔬劼吽噪蔬詢撰笢悝