Tag: Recovery

What I Learned from Losing My Wallet

Published on by DreamingPanda2 Comments

Recently, I had the misfortune of losing my wallet. Anyone would be upset and worried about losing something that contained your credit and ATM cards, driver’s license, school ID, cash, car keys, and apartment keys. But I had another concern: as soon as you open my wallet, you can see a medical information card that gives away all kinds of personal health information.

If I were ever in an accident or had another emergency, it’s a good thing that this information is so easily accessible. But in this case, I couldn’t help but wonder who was going to read it. There’s no way whoever found my wallet wouldn’t see it. I had managed to keep my illness a complete secret from everyone but my close friends and professors, because I didn’t want to be treated differently. Would this be the day that everyone found out?

Continue reading “What I Learned from Losing My Wallet” →

How Do I Stay Positive?

Published on by DreamingPanda2 Comments

When I look back at the last few months and think about everything I’ve been through, I’m often surprised by my own resilience. What keeps me going? Why do I not give up? And I think to myself, “How in the world do I stay so positive?”

The answer? I don’t.

In our society, there’s a faulty idea that being strong and tough means holding in all emotions except the pleasant ones. We salute the people who go through terrible things and still smile and look on the bright side at the end of it all. We are forever being told that as long as we can be optimistic about life and stay positive, we’ll get through whatever comes our way. Although no one ever says so, to me it often seems like crying and grieving and expressing pain is frowned upon. Everything will be okay. Just be positive!

Continue reading “How Do I Stay Positive?” →

IVIG: Four-Month Update!

Published on by DreamingPanda6 Comments

It’s been over four months since I had IVIG—and six months since the abrupt onset of my tics and other movement problems. On the whole, I’d say I’m much better.  I’ve even started tapering off the steroids.  The way I put it with my family is that I finally feel like a person again.  I’m almost back to where I was before I started flaring two years ago—with the addition of tics, some walking issues, and hypersomnia.  It’s not all forward progress, though.  It’s really more of a two-steps-forward-one-step back process.

Continue reading “IVIG: Four-Month Update!” →

Getting Over the Trauma of OCD

Published on by DreamingPanda3 Comments

I usually say I’m mostly free from my OCD. Indeed, I no longer have to cancel out every intrusive thought that enters my mind, and I don’t have to double-check everything I say or write for a blasphemous double-meaning. Without hesitation, I can read passages of Scripture that once sent me into a full-blown panic attack. I’ve truly come a long way, but lately, I’ve been realizing that my fight isn’t over.

What I’ve been through as a result of Scrupulosity OCD was extremely traumatic. Do you know what it was like, as a devout Christian, to believe that you would be forever separated from the God you loved with your whole heart? To me, this was the worst thing that could have happened, and as far as I knew, it had happened.

The pain was real, even though the reality was totally different. The truth is, I just had a disease that manifested itself as extreme OCD that happened to take the form of religious obsessions and compulsions. No matter the content, all OCD is essentially the same. It wasn’t a “spiritual” issue any more than it was when I caught mono last year (and subsequently descended into the worst flare of my life). Continue reading “Getting Over the Trauma of OCD” →

I Run 5 Miles, but I Can’t Walk 50 Feet

Published on by DreamingPanda1 Comment

Suddenly losing the ability to walk at nineteen years old is terrifying and heartbreaking. I never thought it would happen to me, but this summer, it did. In a matter of twenty-four hours, I became unable to walk across a room without falling down multiple times.

Continue reading “I Run 5 Miles, but I Can’t Walk 50 Feet” →

3 Months Post-IVIG: A Wild Ride

Published on by DreamingPanda6 Comments

Today is the three month anniversary of my IVIG treatment. It’s hard to believe it’s already been that long, but at the same time, it seems like an eternity ago because the last three months have been such a wild and difficult ride.

So far, the main improvement I’ve seen is with the chorea and tics. I’m starting to have a lot of days where they’re barely noticeable. The chorea is usually just a slight arm or leg jerk here or there—I don’t look like I’m constantly dancing anymore. I can actually sit still!

I've ditched the cane!
I’ve ditched the cane!

Continue reading “3 Months Post-IVIG: A Wild Ride” →

What I Have to Believe…

Published on by DreamingPanda5 Comments

In the last two years, nothing has gone as planned.  I was supposed to go off to college and start my life again. I was supposed to leave behind the pain of the OCD I had seemingly conquered last year just before my freshman year. I was supposed to move away to let my career take off.  But instead, I’m sitting here about to take another nap because no matter what I do, I can’t keep my eyes open.  I never could’ve imagined that this is where I would be right now…

If I have to pick one thing that is the worst part about having PANDAS, I think it’s the fact that it makes me feel like I’m not myself anymore. I feel like I’m only a shadow of who I used to be—even of who I was a year ago. Continue reading “What I Have to Believe…” →

Image of sink representing that Pure-O OCD goes beyond hand-washing and other OCD stereotypes.

I Had OCD for 6 Years… And Didn’t Know

Published on by DreamingPanda16 Comments

This week has been OCD Awareness week. Up to this point, I haven’t discussed my OCD very much, but I think it’s time to change that. An overnight onset of OCD is the hallmark symptom of PANDAS/PANS—which I had almost eight years ago.

For six years, I concealed from my parents and psychologists the torturous obsessions that ran through my mind because I was so afraid of and ashamed of them. Continue reading “I Had OCD for 6 Years… And Didn’t Know” →

Signs of Hope

Published on by DreamingPanda4 Comments

For the first time in four months, one night, suddenly, I realized my choreiform movements were gone. When I woke up the next morning, my body felt completely different. That night, I felt a tingling session in my head and legs, as if my brain were healing itself. The next morning, I had a sense of the disease departing from me, and people were even telling me that my “energy” was different. For the first time in several months, I was enjoying my life again.

Since those wonderful two days last week, I have had some mentally rough days, although the chorea and tics continue to be quite mild. Could the IVIG actually be starting to work? Continue reading “Signs of Hope” →

Still Falling… And Getting Back Up

Published on by DreamingPandaLeave a comment

So I know it’s been awhile since the last post, but it’s been for good and bad reasons.

I had two weeks where I almost forgot I had PANDAS sometimes—days where I could get done almost everything I wanted to get done. I was walking normally and having a lot less chorea. My mind was mostly clear, and my concentration was good. I even had an almost normal amount of energy. So far, I’ve been able to make all A’s and a B+ in my classes. Even so, I haven’t had time for a social life. All I’ve been able to do is do homework and rest. On the outside, it was looking like I was doing pretty well. But then I started having more bad days…

Continue reading “Still Falling… And Getting Back Up” →