This past month: an update

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Hi peeps,

Hope this post finds y’all well :+1:

It has been quite a rough month my side and as a result, I haven’t been around much to hang out with you all lately:

My mom recently contracted West Nile Virus and developed Viral Meningitis from a mosquito bite. She was in the hospital for around three weeks, and then wrapped up a week at a rehabilitation center afterwards.

During that time, I was basically her designated advocate and spoke to a lot of specialists and doctors, nurses and CNAs on her behalf. I spent four weeks home alone with no one but my pup, and was up at the hospital around 8 hours a day total for visits with my mom.

…Suffice to say, my limits as a human being with a mental health diagnosis have no doubt been tested.

The intrusive thoughts and voices were pretty bad for the first week— words like “deceased” popped into my brain constantly, and the voices were telling me my mom was going to die… Pretty disturbing, to say the very least.

So, in order to counteract the voices, my OCD kicked into overdrive and I was avoiding many different things and performing “rituals” to keep my mom alive.

I barely checked into the forum as a result, and stayed away from most stuff like listening to any music, watching different TV shows and movies, driving down certain streets— anything that could potentially alter my mom’s outcome.

My mom has been home since this past Friday, and she is doing much better— there are still hurdles to overcome, but my mom, myself and my family are all taking it one day at a time.

So yea, that’s kinda where I’ve been, in a nutshell.

It is a busy time in my house right now, in between taking care of daily stuff and also making sure my mom is doing alright on the road to recovery. As a result, I might not be on here regularly.

I do hope you all have been doing really well— stay up as always, please stay safe and thanks for reading :dizzy:

PS: And if you are in an area with a high risk of mosquito-borne illnesses, please get some bug spray!

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Well done on getting through all that. I’m glad things have settled down for you now.

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I’m glad your mom is doing much better now. I believe you are a great daughter for her. And a decent human beeing.

Welcome back, Tuna.

Btw I did avoid tagging you because I knew something was off. Not because I forgot about you or something. We never forget “The Tuna” in this forum! MVP imho.

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Wow I’m glad that your Mom is doing better now @Schztuna
That must have been a trying time for you

Take good care of yourself as well!

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Sending you good vibes @Schztuna

:people_hugging::blue_heart::calling:

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Wow. What a nightmare! I’m so glad she’s better now

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My brother didn’t contact me/us about my ailing father (I live with my adult bro and mother) I feel for exactly this concern.

Likely knew that there was no way, they wouldn’t tell me. Probably a mix of reasons beyond that, but I feel that’s a valid one.

I’m glad it turned out, for me personally as well for yourself.

I hope you can wind down. I recommend breathing and sitting comfortably. Try to breath and feel your breath. Imagine how the air enters your body, and this grounding technique…it can get you out of your own head. Get to feel some respite from an over active negative experience in your case. Doubts worry etc. it can help distract by focusing on your body in a positive way.

Do it for about 1minute to 5 minutes, and generally you’ll tell if you feel a physical release of tension where you’ve gotten the effect. I recommend doing it for long term when stuff like this comes out.

Emotions can express themselves in physiological ways like muscle tension, might help you really let this pass by ya for a bit, if you’re feeling really worn down.

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I’m glad your mom is better but I hope things will be better for you. Often it’s harder on the caregiver stress wise. Thanks for checking in. I hope you get a chance to unwind and get some sleep. Maybe get a mani pedi and get your hair done at a salon. Just some self care is needed rn, too.

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Thank God your Madre is okay!

Jimmy and I send you all a lot of good light and love. :hugs: Take care. :heart:

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Gosh that’s a lot to handle :cry:

Glad your mom is better

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Praying for your Mom

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I hope things get better for you soon. I’m glad your mom is doing better now.

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That must have been such a scary situation for your mom and for you. Kudos to you for spending so much time at the hospital and advocating for your mom. Now that things are settling down a bit, please remember to take some time for yourself to relax and to de-stress.

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Praying for you and your mum! :pray::heart:

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That’s lovely of you to be a good daughter and take good care of your mum.

Nice to see you back posting .:love_you_gesture:t4::slightly_smiling_face::pray:t4::two_hearts:

Sorry to hear you had such a rough time.

Hope you and your mum are both happy and well now.

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Don’t feel bad about not visiting us…family first!

Sometimes life just takes you to other places.

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Thank you @everhopeful, hope you are well :+1:

Thanks for your kind words@dreamer54, hope everything is good your side :dizzy:

Thank you @Vertigo, hope you’re doing well :+1:

Thanks a lot @anon57786250, hope you’re good :dizzy:

Thanks so much @LilyoftheValley, hope you’ve been doing well :dizzy:

Thanks for the tips @Ryanana, hope you and your dad are doing alright :+1:

Thank you @sweetpotatopie, I appreciate your suggestions and hope all is well with you :+1:

Thanks so much @Montezuma, hope you and the Jimster are doing well :dizzy:

Thank you @Turtle43, hope things are good with you :+1:

Thank you @Rainstorm, hoping you are doing well :+1:

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Thanks @anon21675834, hope you’re doing good :dizzy:

Thank you @Moonbeam, hope all is well :+1:

Thanks so much @POET, hope you’re doing well :dizzy:

Thanks so much @SacredNeigh7, hope you’re doing well :dizzy:

Thank you @Patrick, hope everything’s good with you :dizzy:

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You are doing good work for your mother. Thank you for posting an update. Sorry your symptoms are elevated.

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Thanks so much @SunLion, hope all is well :+1: