07/07/2016

When Facebook asks you: What’s on your mind?

Believe it or not, I have a lot on my mind. I really don’t know where to start…But at the same time I realized…life is short. I lost so many ❤ ones throughout my journey in life. Some young & some old. Some are family members & some are good friends. We only have limited time in this world & we are expected to live to fullest & hold nothing back. So each day is an opportunity to make a difference in someone else’s life.

Before college, I wanted to be a doctor because I wanted to cure my mom’s illness. I struggled through my first 2 years of college because I was not aware I was suffering from ADHD. So I didn’t end up saving other people’s lives as a doctor because my mind couldn’t absorb all the information passed on to me. Math classes were too difficult to process because I did know I also have a learning disability called Dyscalculia. My pre medical school science subjects were just too difficult to understand & I almost got kicked out from my university because I was failing my tests.

During my early 20s, my sister and I were given a huge responsibility to financially support our mother. Both my sister and I had to work 2 jobs & go to school at the same time. We also left our mother back home because it will be difficult to take care of her while we were working students. My sister & I made huge sacrifices so that other mother can get better. She has been suffering from a disease that has known cure since 25 years ago. She was also not taking her medications because she refused to accept that she’s sick.

I’ve missed out 25 years of my life being apart from my mom. Now, we are catching up & even though life is tough for both of us, we have each other during our times of despair & struggle. ❤ you mom

Websites & links shared for today July 7, 2016:

From Suicide Attempt to Clarity: My Adult ADHD Diagnosis

By Jeff Emmerson

Published Jan 9, 2014

My name is Jeff Emmerson, and I was diagnosed with adult ADHD after a suicide attempt at the age of 35. In 2011, I was facing an identity crisis and all-consuming battle with depression. It took my having almost given in to the despair and confusion to have finally received anADHD diagnosis from a team of professionals. Because it was a consensus from four experts — my doctor, a mental health nurse, a psychiatrist and a psychologist — I am 200 percent confident in the diagnosis, and my wife agrees. It was a shock realizing that much of my suffering was because I’d had ADHD my entire life. Since then, I’ve worked hard to understand and manage my ADHD using various treatment approaches.

Now my mission is to help raise awareness about the condition that almost caused me to end my life. A few months back, I decided to start a personal blog about my struggles. I called it “The Adult ADHD Blog.” My goal was (and is) to raise awareness through my experience to help educate and inspire others living with the internal battle that is adult ADHD. I am looking forward to helping others through tips, insight and support.

I’m excited to have a column here with Everyday Health, and I aim to give you my best in each post. I don’t know everything, so I definitely want to hear your feedback when it comes to alternative options for making the most of ADHD while minimizing the potentially destructive symptoms or “traits,” as some like to call them. This blog can improve many lives with your help! Please make sure to share with your friends on social networks and by word of mouth when an opportunity arises, and we can all have a hand in helping others going through life-altering challenges of adult ADHD.

Millions of Adults Have ADHD

Frankly, it’s about time the world became aware of adult ADHD. The sad reality is that the majority of adults who actually have this condition aren’t yet diagnosed. At least 4 percent of American adults have received an ADHD diagnosis, but because most people still think of ADHD as a childhood disorder, and a diagnosis requires a thorough and time-consuming evaluation, many adults with the disorder walk among us undiagnosed. As I continue to research these statistics and the latest in solutions for living with the condition, I will be sure to share this knowledge with you. What I won’t mention is the latest “snake-oil cure,” but rather the proven, worthwhile tips, advice, and other resources helping people on a larger scale. I want to cut straight to what absolutely works, leaving the fad science out of it.

I’ve learned that tools such as mindfulness, medication (for some), therapy, and self-insight literally change lives. In this society, we often look for a quick fix. That’s dangerous. I don’t waste time with that stuff. I demand real results, which are not induced from a magic food, pill, or single counseling session. You have to put in the effort when it comes to understanding your symptoms, minimizing them, and staying balanced every day of your life. It’s a journey whose success relies on keeping oneself open to lifelong learning. I promise you that much. Staying open and learning about my condition literally saved my life–knowledge, as they say, is power–and I”m committed to sharing the truth with others about how to live successfully with adult ADHD.

http://www.everydayhealth.com/columns/jeff-emmerson-living-with-adult-adhd/from-suicide-attempt-to-clarity-my-adult-adhd-diagnosis/

To My Family On the Day I Feel Healthy Enough to Take Care of Them for a Change

05/12/16

By Kathy Soppet

Contributor
I write aboutFibromyalgia

 

It is a quiet Saturday morning in April. Rain falls softly outside, and the streets are covered with cherry blossom petals. Though all of you are sick with a virus, it is a good day.

Today I am able to take care of you for a change. Today I feel OK. I have the strength to make you some eggs, toast and tea. I’ll bring them to you in bed, and plant a gentle kiss on your forehead.

Today I will make some of my homemade tomato sauce that you love, and its magnificent aroma will fill the air. I will bake those nut-free vanilla cupcakes you’ve been asking me to make for months. We will play Scrabble for hours since my brain is less foggy. We will cozy up on the couch and watch a great family movie.

Today I will be the mom and wife that I want to be every single day. The mom and wife that is not too sick to care for you, to cook for you, to be present for you, to explore the world with you. I will cherish this day, and pray for many more like it.

My many chronic conditions include asthma, Lyme disease, fibromyalgia, interstitial cystitis,endometriosis, anxiety and pre-menstrual dysmorphic disorder.

Any one of these conditions are enough to make life difficult to manage and cope with, but together they are often debilitating.

You see me wince with pain, so you help dry my tears. You see me tired and hungry so you bring me food. You see me unable to do chores so you help do them for me. You see me suffer, so you bring me my medicine.

What you don’t realize is that you provide the best medicine in the world. The medicine I need the most.

Love.

You provide it in daily doses of hugs, teaspoons of tenderness, and soothing scripts.

There is no better prescription for happiness. You make the tough days tolerable, the painful days palatable, and the crazy days comforting.

You are there for it all and help me get through the unavoidable rain. You rarely complain. You just want to help me feel better.

I appreciate every single thing you do for me. I appreciate all of the sacrifices you make. I appreciate your constant companionship.

It is nice to not have to feel so alone in this long journey of chronic illness. In this long journey of life.

It is nice to have all of you by my side. My sweet family. I love you more than words can say.

Today I’ll take care of you.

Today I promise to keep fighting to get better so that we will have many more days together in sickness and in health.

Today it is my turn to provide you with some comfort, warmth and unconditional love.

Rest your weary heads.

Mommy is here.

And I will be here until the last cherry blossom petals wash away.

http://themighty.com/2016/05/thank-you-letter-to-family-by-mom-with-fibromyalgia-and-lyme-disease/