Quilting mends the soul - day one!

Hello, it has been a very long time since I have written anything at all. Most you are very aware of my health issues, many are not. I have decided to take this blog and make it a healing journey for myself and may be some others.

First I will give you back ground on me, then I will post I hope daily on how things are progressing, and what I am finding helps me to cope with the issues I have come against through out my life thus far. I hope you find joy, humor and help through this with me. If you have something you would like me to include shoot me an email at bloggerted69@gmail.com I will work in for sure.

Well, here we go! I am Teddy (49) male [as many have been confused over time on this]. I live in Southwestern Michigan in a small village called Sister Lakes, not very big most of the time, but summers we blow up with tourist (summer home owners). THEREFORE I like to stay inside too much traffic and noise for me.

I have a sister who is just couple years older than me, and three amazing nephews and about to have three amazing great (2) nieces and (1) nephew. They are the best ever. I come from a very large family however, my mom had (13) brothers and sisters so I have a ton of cousins, first, second and third and maybe fourth I am not sure now there are so many of us.

I was born January 2 1969 the day after my dad who was January 1 19**, he passed 9/9/09 from complications of myastenia gravis, an autoimmune disease which attacks the nerves of the vital organs mainly for him the lungs. I received my first surgery of my life at (6) weeks old for a colon issue and it has been down hill since then.

I am a licensed forensic psychologist, nurse, and social worker now retired due to health issues, I would have loved to continue on in my career but alas it was not meant to be. I even went to Law School Loyola Chicago School of law but had to leave before my third year due to stress's which made me even more sick.

So my health issues besides the first one I was born with, include: Systemic Lupus, Scleroderma, AFIB, VFIB (which I have an ICD), RA, OA, and many many others which are not pertinent to my situation now. I had my first heart attack at the age of (40), then came stints, then more stints, and then rejection and more surgery and finally the placement of my Implanted Cardiac Defibrillator. I have been on Immune Suppression (Oral Chemo) now for 4 years, steroids for over 33 years, and many other medications too many to think about, and so many I have been allergic too it is scary at times when I get a new script for something.

The first major diagnosis of Lupus came as a shock to me, and that will be what I touch on first in this series, and how I found ways to reduce my stress through creating, crafting and quilting. It is imperative to keep your stress levels under control with this disease, and at times it is just not possible so I pet fabric.

Where do I begin? Age 16 I guess. I was home and having a great deal of issues which my mother took me to many doctors over, and was even prescribed Blood Letting where I went every week for blood to be removed from me because "You have too many Red Blood Cells", yeah now I am a retired nurse I hear how ridiculous this sounds, however throughout history this was common practice preformed by Barbers first.

I started waking up blue and very stiff in the morning, and my knees would lock up and not bend at all, then it went on to give me such stomach cramps I could not stand up, then I had sinus and respiratory infections left and right. SO more doctors and more dumb ass thoughts of what it could be. {As I look back on this I know I am going to say: "What the Hell" (even more than I do now}. I learned very colorful words during this period very colorful.

Have you ever had an EMG? Well, if not I would not wish it on my worst enemy (well maybe not); it is the worst pain from very long thin needles hooked up to electrical wires that send impulsed through the muscle's they are inserted into. Yep had three of those suckers! No findings!!! WHAT! You put me through hell for nothing! That Doctor well she did not like me very much or my mother after that first one! So that was a bust!

Then more blood letting (You may have Leukemia). Really? Well my fraternal grandmother (she taught me how to quilt and sew) did have it, but we did not know it at the time it wasn't until after her death we found this out, we had the same doctor and he put two and two together and thought welllllll maybe. NOPE!

Stress levels are rising here!

I started putting more of my time into my bedroom where I could get away from noise, listen to music and write and try to draw (my sister is the artist). I slept a lot too, way more than is normal for a healthy teenager. Mood swings; well let's just say I gave Linda Blair a run for her money! I found little solace in my retreat. But I went on, I was a part of the competitive marching band, and played Concert Clarinet for almost 30 years. So I practiced as my body let me, not knowing the force of air was causing serious lung damage that would not rear it's ugly head until much later in life.

I finally went to a doctor at the age of 18 who diagnosed me, not easily but he did it via The Centers for Disease Control - yes the CDC. He sent a lot of blood samples and it came back with three possibilities and one was System Lupus, the other two were ruled out, but I do have a genetic marker for Leukemia which thankfully has never attached to a reciprocator cell and reproduced. At this age, I found more crafty things to do, things that took my mind away from my life and how much more it was going to change. This is the steroid beginning's of the rest of my life.

Life saver?

Yes!

With a lot of complications and side effects. Hair loss, weight gain, anger, stupor, fog, headaches, and well just plain flu like feelings, until one day they went away and I felt normal for the most part.

This whole time people asked me "Why you so mad"?

I wasn't it was just my face - red all the time, and I frowned due to a frenulum attachment which was all screwed up that did not let me smile. (It's that little piece of skin that attaches at the top of the middle of your lip to your gum line). It was annoying for sure. To this day I am asked the same question and that thing was removed several years ago!

So.

No I am no mad. Well not really, okay a little pissed off that my life had to change so much.

But "Quilting mends the soul", thank GOD for my grandmother being a calm and very patient teacher (she taught me without knowing as well).

Enough for this introduction - cathartic for sure. But I have a quilt on the frame to get done for one of my Aunts in Texas, and another to bind for my Aunt (second mother) in Tennessee then two more to make for my other two living aunts! So for now, you can decide do you want to follow me and learn more about me and my coping skills? Do you want to live through a panic attack with me, and know what I do to get through that? Do you want to know how I am progressing with my heart issues?

I will leave that up to you.

If you have your own stories that will inspire and help others let me know, via email at bloggerted69@gmail.com AND as always come visit my fabric shop at http://haverislanddesign.com

Peace out til next time - tomorrow probably.

Thanks for reading and listening and so on.

T