Quality of Life statement
Aug. 30th, 2011 09:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hypatia42My lawyer has asked me to fill this out and sit on it for a couple of days. Then come back and share it with friends and family. This is me sharing with friends and family. I'm not done with my portion yet but if you have any insights or things I should add please comment and I will copy them into the document.
1) Limitations or problems in:
a. social and recreational
-fire spinning
-swimming
-walking
-reading
-knitting
-ice/roller skating
-bicycling
-standing
-cocktail parties were a no go for some time because of the painkillers I was taking
-any activity that required me to be in the cold or wet was not possible because cold and damp increased the amount of pain I was in.
b. household activities-
-carrying groceries inside the house,
-cleaning of any kind was impossible
-cooking- standing for food prep and using my arms for the amount of time it took to cook something was exhausting. We completely changed the way we eat to accommodate my infirmity.
-carrying, washing folding, or putting away laundry
-gardening and weeding
-household maintenance- I was supposed to put up the curtain rods and curtains I had purchased just before the accident and ended up having to get someone in to do it for me because I could not lift my arms and use the drill. Also, before the accident I helped my husband maintain our rental unit and I was no longer able to do that.
c. Vocational
-I was restricted from working as a massage therapist for about three months at which point I began the process of building up my muscles so I could work again, this also took months and is not yet completely recovered.
-At my part time job as a wine seller for Old Vine Wine and Spirits my duties included working the wine tasting pouring samples for 4-5 hours at a time, vacuuming, and pulling bottles out of the racks to dust. After the accident I couldn’t do any of these things. They had to assign me strictly to customer service and even then I had to be allowed to have frequent breaks to sit and rest.
d. Interpersonal
-my relationship with my husband was severely strained because of all of the things he was having to pick up and do that I had been doing before. Usually we have a pretty cooperative sharing type set up and that was just not possible.
-My ability to communicate was severely jangled. I was mixing up words and getting panicked because I couldn’t find the right one I needed. Noticing after I finished a sentence that I used the complete wrong word, “I see you put your junk mail in the fridge.” It had to be pointed out to me that I was standing in front of the fireplace and just called it a fridge for me to recognize that I used the wrong word. This happened while typing as well.
-My memory was swiss cheese, couldn’t hold onto information and process it correctly.
-My ability to follow conversations and pay attention was damaged to the point where I would find myself saying, “Was I just in the middle of a sentence there?”
e. Other
-I would wake up every time the pain killers wore off for several months
-I got severely depressed in waves.
-Crying at the drop of a hat
-freaking out at loud percussive sounds,
-couldn’t ride in a car in traffic without panicking
-I wrote in my journal on May 8th that I started crying because I couldn’t even bend over and kiss my husband.
-I gave up hope that I would ever live normally again
-driving a car was exhausting and painful because of having to hold up my head and support my arms in front of me.
-could not open a door for a long time, had to use handicap entrances because I lacked the strength and core stability to do it
2) how things are now in the above categories, things you cannot do, etc. how often you engaged in those prior to accident. Is there anything you don’t do anymore because of fear of injury
a. social and recreational
I used to go bowling with friends. Now I am afraid to do so because of the persistent weakness, I worry that I won’t be able to work after handling an object that heavy.
b. household activities
-my husband still has to carry the laundry up and down the steps though I am finally able to help fold and put it away again without pain.
c. Vocational
-I no longer do onsite massage because I would have to carry my table and supplies and set everything up at which point I would not have the energy to perform massage.
d. Interpersonal
-several relationships ended and the other persons specifically named the changes in me because of/since the accident as major factors in the split.
e. other
3) identify those things you do now but with limitation and or pain
1) Limitations or problems in:
a. social and recreational
-fire spinning
-swimming
-walking
-reading
-knitting
-ice/roller skating
-bicycling
-standing
-cocktail parties were a no go for some time because of the painkillers I was taking
-any activity that required me to be in the cold or wet was not possible because cold and damp increased the amount of pain I was in.
b. household activities-
-carrying groceries inside the house,
-cleaning of any kind was impossible
-cooking- standing for food prep and using my arms for the amount of time it took to cook something was exhausting. We completely changed the way we eat to accommodate my infirmity.
-carrying, washing folding, or putting away laundry
-gardening and weeding
-household maintenance- I was supposed to put up the curtain rods and curtains I had purchased just before the accident and ended up having to get someone in to do it for me because I could not lift my arms and use the drill. Also, before the accident I helped my husband maintain our rental unit and I was no longer able to do that.
c. Vocational
-I was restricted from working as a massage therapist for about three months at which point I began the process of building up my muscles so I could work again, this also took months and is not yet completely recovered.
-At my part time job as a wine seller for Old Vine Wine and Spirits my duties included working the wine tasting pouring samples for 4-5 hours at a time, vacuuming, and pulling bottles out of the racks to dust. After the accident I couldn’t do any of these things. They had to assign me strictly to customer service and even then I had to be allowed to have frequent breaks to sit and rest.
d. Interpersonal
-my relationship with my husband was severely strained because of all of the things he was having to pick up and do that I had been doing before. Usually we have a pretty cooperative sharing type set up and that was just not possible.
-My ability to communicate was severely jangled. I was mixing up words and getting panicked because I couldn’t find the right one I needed. Noticing after I finished a sentence that I used the complete wrong word, “I see you put your junk mail in the fridge.” It had to be pointed out to me that I was standing in front of the fireplace and just called it a fridge for me to recognize that I used the wrong word. This happened while typing as well.
-My memory was swiss cheese, couldn’t hold onto information and process it correctly.
-My ability to follow conversations and pay attention was damaged to the point where I would find myself saying, “Was I just in the middle of a sentence there?”
e. Other
-I would wake up every time the pain killers wore off for several months
-I got severely depressed in waves.
-Crying at the drop of a hat
-freaking out at loud percussive sounds,
-couldn’t ride in a car in traffic without panicking
-I wrote in my journal on May 8th that I started crying because I couldn’t even bend over and kiss my husband.
-I gave up hope that I would ever live normally again
-driving a car was exhausting and painful because of having to hold up my head and support my arms in front of me.
-could not open a door for a long time, had to use handicap entrances because I lacked the strength and core stability to do it
2) how things are now in the above categories, things you cannot do, etc. how often you engaged in those prior to accident. Is there anything you don’t do anymore because of fear of injury
a. social and recreational
I used to go bowling with friends. Now I am afraid to do so because of the persistent weakness, I worry that I won’t be able to work after handling an object that heavy.
b. household activities
-my husband still has to carry the laundry up and down the steps though I am finally able to help fold and put it away again without pain.
c. Vocational
-I no longer do onsite massage because I would have to carry my table and supplies and set everything up at which point I would not have the energy to perform massage.
d. Interpersonal
-several relationships ended and the other persons specifically named the changes in me because of/since the accident as major factors in the split.
e. other
3) identify those things you do now but with limitation and or pain