recovered from physical disability

[peaq]

WOW I am so glad I found this section!

A few years ago my right foot started to not lift up but instead drag behind and coworkers noticed it and asked if I had some kind of stroke. I said no I'm okay and brushed it off. I kept trying to "physical therapy myself" trying my best to make it work like it used to.

Because I always said if I lost my ability to walk and get around on foot I wouldn't know what to do. but it didn't keep me from working at the time so I brushed it off as it didn't hurt. fast forward 2011 my right hand started to shake a small bit on and off I was falling a lot more by then tripping over my own shadow. Still not worried still worked then fast forward... both my legs were refusing to lift I was losing what I feared most my abbility to be a physical person. My primary care got me a loaner walker until i could get into neurology at ucsd lajolla ca. I had tremors in my voice and then kind of warped I called the primary and they gave me good news that I was seeing the neuro in a week. I laughed and cried through this but kept my head up surely there was something they could do.

the Neuro diagnosed me with parkinsonism which was caused by medication for a mood stabilizer that worked very well for me. I was told to get off of it immediately!

My voice was called dysarthia. I kind of sounded like the old Katherine hepburn so had fun with that lol! even joked as seniors past me with their walkers as I was slower than a snail lol they said my arms and legs had bradykinsia due to the parkinsonism.

And now I haven't needed a walker in quite a few months I celebrate my strength returning. My right hand does at times still temor but nothing like before! I still take a low dose mood stabilizer and no side effects. I was scared to say anything on here before, not because I am ashamed i actually don't worry about it at all!

I was worried i could be denied entry into the lpn course or a job because of the mood stabilizer. Do i have to tell the school or future employers of my dx?

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

Unless you are asked point-blank for a med list and/or a health history, you really shouldn't disclose this information. It is none of the school's business. If you are asked for it, find out what the data is to be used for and who will have access to it. Too often people don't question the need for this very private information, and that's how schools (and employers) get around HIPAA.

I also don't think it's a good idea to share your diagnosis with anyone, especially other students. It's a shame that mental illness is still so stigmatized in our culture, but it is, and as long as your condition is managed it's really nobody else's concern. It could cause some difficulties when you apply for a license; it depends on the state you live in as to whether you have to disclose your condition on your application. You can check with your state's Board of Nursing about this.

Other than that, it's entirely possible for you to become a successful nurse. Take a good look around this site; there are a number of nurses, myself included, who have, or have had, great careers in this field despite having psychiatric issues. Wishing you the best of luck.

[peaq]

Generally I don't tell most people. I do however take it in stride when famnily members goof on me as I am not overly sensitive and make light as well. I think it turns the wise cracks around. I would never tell another student as you stated due to the stigma and I am sure like everywhere else that would be another reason to bully. Also i get a kick out of those who believe once I got this diagnosis that somehow my intellect went down the tubes lol! Oh the condescending remarks lol! that is another reason I am not revealing to family that I am going to pursue the lpn course. I find it funny that I am the "crazy one" in my family but have a broader sense of humor, and am not easily offended as many of them I just roll my eyes and laugh my butt off!

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

I'm with you there. I don't know how anyone who lives with mental illness can get through life without a sense of humor! And no, we did not lose 50 points off our IQ when we got our diagnosis.....although my own disease (and the meds I take to treat it) have done my intellectual capacities no good whatsoever.

That creates a good number of comic moments though, like the time I lost my car in a parking lot, thought it was stolen, and called the police. (They found it right away....in the exact same place I'd parked it. ) I also have mild tremors in my hands from anti-psychotic use, which once caused me to squirt the contents of a fish-oil capsule all over my med cart and my scrub top, which instantly made the entire hall smell like a seal. Hey, if you don't laugh at this stuff, you'll cry because it's all sort of pathetic. I prefer to laugh about it.

[peaq]

That is too funny! Lmao!

Also wanted to add some also get the idea that because I am mentally ill I am somehow a push over or thin skinned and they can break who I am! Ha jokes on them because I have gotten stronger and thicker skinned due to my illness! lol!