Crippie's Back!

Ohai!

Wow, I've been a terrible blogger recently. Ugh, what can I say... pain, achy-ness and fatigue definitely got the best of me. Anyways, I missed y'all. Figured I'd give y'all an update of what I've been up to for the past two weeks (with pictures of animals to make up for my suckiness)

- It's been a month since Mama Pig's passing. The pigs and the humans are adjusting. Frida definitely misses Mama Pig. I've seen quite the personality shift with her, she's turned into the little asshole she once was, nipping Nellie and Maggie, starting fights, using faces as step-stools, etc. That being said, she is bonding more with Nellie, when she's not biting her butt that is...

See, I'm being nice to Nellie

But I miss my mommy sometimes

- Angel has recently been scratching her ears and face quite a bit (ear infection) it got to a point where we had to put her in a "cone of shame". Whenever I saw her walking around, sleeping, or doing anything with her cone of shame I couldn't help but do my best "Up" impression, shouting "CONE OF SHAMMMMEEE". She's on the mend though, gettin' better every day.

CONE OF SHAMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

CONE OF SHAMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEEEE

- Helen has spent every last waking moment of the past 2 weeks either sleeping, or barking at minorities on the TV (apparently Helen is a racist, don't know how she managed that one).

I might be cute but...

I'm probably dreaming racist dreams

- As for me, I've been trying to grin and bear whatever discomfort I've been having and am trying my best to be a social creature. I'm definitely getting better at it. I hang out with friends on the weekends sometimes, last weekend I went to a flea market with one of my friends. Got to hold a grenade, that was quite the experience. Said table looked like a scene from "The Walking Dead"... WEAPONS EVERYWHERE! If ever there is a zombie apocalypse... these people will be just fine.

I regret not buying the daggers...

- I've also driven to a few strange new places all by myself. I went to get gas in my car all by myself (which is kinda a big deal cause I hate some of those roads). Not to mention I drove on some roads with scary intersections! And I didn't have a panic attack! YAY ME! Granted I was probably screaming at other drivers more than I usually do, but whatever. I've been using the Google Maps App as a GPS, I rather enjoy it. It doesn't judge me when I miss a turn. Three cheers for progress! 

- My sciatica has been a bitch and a half recently. I've heard that exercise helps that whole problem. But the thing with exercise is that the whole "my body is riddled with tumors" thing makes it kinda painful and extremely challenging. I had to think of something I could do without injuring myself. Fun fact: Crippie is surprisingly good at Hula Hooping. I can walk while using a hula hoop, I can go up and down stairs, plus a few arm tricks. A couple of days ago I remembered that weighted hula hoops exist. I figured I could probably do that without hurting myself so I obtained one. I've been slowly starting to use it every day, just a little to start... but so far I haven't dislocated a hip or anything, so that's a plus. Even if this doesn't help the sciatica, a medication I take has made me gain a couple of pounds (nothing much, just 4 or 5 pounds) so I'll be nice to my hips and legs and try to remove that. I hate to sound like Regina George but...

So that's about it, the weather is starting to level out, and hopefully the exercise will make me feel better. Let's hope I can seriously get back to being a good little blogger.

Crippie's Tippie - If you can hula hoop, you should totally try a weighted one. It's fun AND it's exercise! 

PS - My grandma is on twitter now. Her name is @The_AltaKaka. LET'S GET HER SOME FOLLOWERS!!!

HAWMC - Vintage Crippie

Ohai

First off... my thoughts and prayers are with the people of Boston and Texas :(

Yup... weather got the best of me. I'll do a big blog post of all the prompts I missed when I have a chance (probably tomorrow)

On to today's prompt! Post a vintage photo of yourself, with a captain about the photo and where you were in terms of your health condition.

Alrighty, hard to believe it... but this picture is 14 years old.

Where was I in terms of health? Well, I couldn't walk. I had just had my first surgery and complications kept me in constant pain and I was unable to walk for about a year. Fun part about this picture is that you can't see how much pain I was in. My leg would throb and burn whenever it was down like that, and judging by the splint I'd say this is within the first week or two after surgery, when things reaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllyyyyyyy freaking hurt. So yeah... fun times...

Crippie's Tippie - If you're using a walker or crutches, Beanie Babies do not provide decent cushioning. I'd go with a towel, or me thinks that companies make gel cushions for those now. 

HAWMC - The Social Network

Ohai Y'all

Oh noes! I missed two days of posting! The weather changed again and it kicked my ass... again. Welp.  Reckon I'll save those prompts for a day when the prompt sucks, and there are a few days ahead where the prompts don't thrill me... so yay. It works out for the best!

On to tonight's prompt! Write about your favorite social network. Do you love Twitter? Facebook? Pinterest? Why?

Hmm... let me think...

I like Pinterest because I enjoy looking at pretty pictures, great place to find inspiration.

I enjoy Tumblr because I love me some moving gifs

I don't love Facebook. It's good for keeping in touch with people but I mainly use it to stalk stupid people.

Gotta say... I probably enjoy twitter the most. I don't have to worry about impressing my friends, it makes connecting with other bloggers easier, and I when I don't feel like posting anything I can just read tweets from celebrities and or one of the many parody accounts for characters in movies and television shows. My personal favorites are Voldemort and Rick Grimes.

So yeah... there ya go :)

Crippie's Tippie - My favorite none celebrity account? @mariodacat  Mary & Mario are awesome :D

HAWMC - Nobody Ever Suspects the Butterfly

YES! SIMPSONS REFERENCE!

Before I explain that reference I should probably tell y'all what today's prompt is. If your health condition was an animal, what would it be? Is it a real animal or make believe?

Well, as soon as I heard the prompt I immediately thought of this...

Once I got the Simpsons reference out of my system I actually thought about the question. I think I found a pretty accurate representation of my disability in animal form. Ladies and gentlemen I give you... THE EUSKELOSAURUS! 

RAWR it's a dinosaur! Not just any dinosaur though... this bad boy is kinda crippled. It has bowed arms and legs. It reminds me of how I usually carry my arms. For the record I can straighten my arms for the most part, it's just not terribly comfortable.

I hope I answered that question correctly. I'm not sure... but then again this prompt really doesn't make a whole lotta sense. Meh... whatever. Moral of the story... dinosaurs were also full of bowed limbed goodness.

Crippie's Tippie - If you ever get the choice to be reincarnated as animal. Become a butterfly. Nobody ever suspects the butterfly. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA

HAWMC - Say Whaaaaaaaaat

Howdy Y'all!

Hope y'all enjoyed your weekend. I had a super fun day of driving to new places and being social! Heck yeah! TAKE THAT NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS!

Moving on, we've got a fun little HAWMC blog prompt today. Say WHAT!? What’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve heard about health or your condition? Where did you hear it and what did you think?

Honestly, I don't remember where I heard most of these things... and instead of telling y'all what I thought I'm gonna use gifs.... cause gifs are awesome. Ok, HERE WE GO!

1) You're a Dwarf (I'm 5 foot 3)

2) You have Cancer and you're gonna die

3) You cannot have children 

As for what do I tell these lovely people back. I usually go for the simple...

Crippie's Tippie - You can't fix stupid so you might as well laugh at it

HAWMC - Dear MHE...

Ohai Y'all

Whoops... forgot to blog last night. It was a long day and I fell asleep pretty quickly. Oh well. On to today's prompt!

Letters - Write a letter to your condition – what do you want to get off your chest?

This should be fun! I wrote a lil' letter to my disorder, and then I turned it into a picture to make it purdy. Enjoy!

 
I think I got the point across ;) There isn't really much to say, I could write a whole big letter but this really just sums it up nicely.Oh, as promised here's a picture of the rocks I was working on :D

I'm pretty proud of the fact that I was able to reach down to paint the lower parts. YAY ME!

Time to get some sleep. I've got a busy day ahead of me, I'm driving to a new area AND I'm driving to said area in order to be social with people! Gotta love working on resolutions :)

Crippie's Tippie - Even though you might be angry with your disability at times, try not to be consumed with what you cannot change. Accept it, and work around it.

HAWMC - Way Ahead of Ya

Ello Everybody!

Today's HAWMC is super freaking easy, so I'll just get it out of the way.

Sharing Resources - Create a "care page" - a list of your best resources that someone who is newly diagnosed could go to when starting to advocate for themselves or a loved one. Remember to include sites that lead to successful self advocacy!

What a coincidence... I built a resource page into the blog. Just click on "Crippie's Resources" to check it out. See, that was super freaking easy.

Moving on, my day was very exhausting... but in a good way. Ya see I've been helping out with local drama clubs for about 8 years. Mainly painting scenery, more specifically... rocks. I am really good at painting rocks. But I had to stop painting because Fanny was s'darn painful. I definitely missed my rocks, so when someone asked if I could paint  rocks for a local production of "Peter Pan" I gleefully accepted. So I spent the day painting rocks. Lots of rocks. Crap ton of rocks. I'm tired, I'm sore, I'm in a fair amount of pain, BUT I am so freaking happy to be back in the saddle. Honestly once Fanny started growing I fully expected to never be able to paint my rocks again, thus I'm pretty stoked to be in a position where I can paint. It definitely hurts a whoooolllllleeeee lot more than it used to, but I'm not going to let that stop me.

This is one of those hobbies that I enjoy while I can because I am fully aware that I won't be able to do this forever. I probably have a few more years left in me before everything becomes too painful. But until that day arises... I AM QUEEN OF THE ROCKS!!! (I'll try and get a picture of my rocks for y'all tomorrow)

Crippie's Tippie - Enjoy what you have while you have it

HAWMC - Picture This!

Ello Everybody!

I hope everyone is enjoying their weeks thus far. My week is going relatively well, I'm starting to get back into the swing of things since the loss of Mama Pig and the weather is improving so I'm not in as much pain.

Today's HAWMC blog prompt is a relatively easy and fun one. Here we go... Wordless Wednesday - Post a picture that symbolizes your condition and your experiences.

I thought for all of 5 seconds before I thought of the perfect picture to post. It's a bit of a repost... but it's still awesome.

Yup, I went for Fanny. Why? Because she is a literal representation of my condition and experiences. One of 100's of bone tumors throughout my body. Not to mention the whole needing to have surgery in order to remove these little bastards thing. The happy face drawn on the tumor symbolizes my warped sense of humor and resilience in dealing with being a cripple.

Wow, I totally sounded like an art school student there.

Well... I reckon that's it for tonight, but... I POSTED TWO DAYS IN A ROW! YAY CRIPPIE!

Crippie's Tippie - If you're having some weird object removed from your body... BRING A CAMERA!

HAWMC - My name is MHE and I'm a Genetic Disorder

Ohai Everybody!

So I'm a day late with this "Health Activist Writer's Month Challenge" thing. Sue me. In my defense, I've discussed yesterday's prompt in the past.

Today's prompt is... "Introduce you condition to other health activists. What are 5 things you want them to know about your condition?

Okay... LET'S DO THIS! AA STYLE!

MHE - Hi, my name is Multiple Hereditary Exostoses and I'm a genetic disorder
Everyone - Hi MHE!
Crippie - Why don't you tell everyone a little about yourself
MHE - Um... ok... well... for starters I am a genetic disorder that causes benign tumors to grow on bones
Crippie - What else?
MHE - I... um... I can be very painful at times. I mean... well.. I can cause a lot of pain. I mean it started by growing on the bone, but then I was hooked! And by hooked I mean one of the tumors snagged or irritated the surrounding area causing pain.
Crippie - I see, is that all you do?
MHE - No... um... I also cause skeletal deformities. Apart from the tumors. THE TUMORS WERE JUST A GATEWAY DEFORMITY! 
Everyone - Gotta watch out for those gateways man
MHE - Before I knew it I was warping bones and causing limb length discrepancies. I'M A MONSTER! 
Crippie - Have you sought treatment?
MHE - Well, I can only be treated through surgery right now. But I guess pain medications help manage me.  
Crippie - What do you want everyone to know about the people you effect? 
MHE - That they're just like everyone else, except riddled with tumors
Crippie - Ok, thank you MHE. You may go sit down. *Everyone claps*

Yup... I just did that. GO ME! I have every intention of posting every single day this month. Let's hope I'm able to do so :)

Crippie's Tippie - People with MHE are just like you... except for that whole being riddled with tumors thing

P.S. If anyone was wondering what I thought of the Walking Dead finale... I thought it was a tad underwhelming, but everyone I hated died so I really can't complain. Plus, the cripple lives for another season! GO HERSHEL!

A Time to Laugh, A Time to Weep

Greetings,

Thank you all so much for your warm regards, they've meant a lot to me and to my family.

It's been a rough couple of days for me. It's funny, the weather was starting to improve and my pain levels were starting to decrease, I was on the up and up and then BAM... death. It doesn't hurt quite as much as it did when Emma died, purely because Emma's death was completely out of left field. She was practically healed when she went on a rapid decline and was dead within 12 hours. Not to mention she was only 3... she had so much time left. At least with Mama Pig I had those few days to brace myself for what was coming. She didn't respond to the medicine, she didn't eat, she didn't move. I'm convinced that she didn't die of the URI, but of old age. She just went on a rapid decline and she couldn't bounce back from it, regardless of how early we caught her URI (we caught it pretty early). 5 to 6 is the average lifespan for a piggie, so I don't feel completely robbed of time with her.

Regardless of how much I rationalize the situation, it still freaking sucks. Pulling out 5 treats and realizing you only need 4. Seeing 2 massive crosses in our yard (she's buried next to Emma). All that crap that reminds me that she's not here. I've been coping to the best of my abilities, watching funny youtube videos, eating lots of chocolate, fun stuff like that. It helps, I know that even though this royally sucks now, this too shall pass.

The piggies seem to be adjusting. We put new toys in now trio's cage, so that keeps them occupied. Nellie doesn't particularly seem to notice that anything is different. Maggie is to enthralled with her new hay-based to toys to notice anything. Frida on the other hand... she knows. As I said in my last post they were very close. I've been taking Frida out for lots of one on one snuggles, just put her in a bed and let her listen to her favorite musician Lady Gaga and her new other favorite Skrillex (I don't know why she likes that crap, but she does).

I was blasting Skrillex for her... she promptly fell asleep

She is showing some signs piggie depression. Mainly behavioral changes. She's turning into the asshole she once was, standing on Nellie's head, nipping Nellie's butt. Stuff like that. We'll just have to give her special attention until she adjusts. Just a friendly reminder, piggie depression is a very serious issue. Pigs can become so consumed with grief that they stop eating, become sick, and ya know... die. So be sure to take extra good care of your surviving furbabies. Supply them with goodies and treats. Their feelings are pretty easily influenced. 

I just realized that I had 2 posts about death this month... what the hell man? 

And if anyone is wondering, while yes my family normally does kinda celebrate Passover, we didn't this year. Granted, we had Matzoh Ball Soup and I've been listening to the "The Prince of Egypt" soundtrack several times a day. But no one in the house is exactly in the mood to do much for the holiday. 

So yeah... happy Passover to all my Jewish readers, and I hope all my goy readers had a lovely Good Friday

Crippie's Tippie - Seriously watch your surviving pigs like a hawk. Make sure they are entertained and well fed.