So it's been about 7 months since my last blog post. I didn't mean to completely abandon social media, but needless to say I've had a lot happen and intentionally or not it was a much needed break from the internet.
I'll start off with the fact that I was diagnosed with Hereditary Hemochromatosis. HH is an iron overload disease, to put it in the simplest terms it's practically the opposite of Anemia. At first I had to get my heart and liver checked because iron overload can cause serious organ damage or organ failure, but found all is well outside of a little fatty liver disease! Thankfully that's reversible with a little bit of dietary change. I'm currently undergoing weekly treatments that consist of blood tests one day then therapeutic phlebotomy the next. So far it's going pretty well. It was a little rocky at first, where for the first few weeks I was barely able to fill half the blood bag because of how thick my blood is and how quick it clots but the past few weeks I've filled whole bags! These treatments are also why I tend to have bruises around the inside my arms and end up in me getting weird looks from people and having to point to my medical ID so that they don't assume the worst.
Since my diagnosis I've dropped from full-time to only working part-time, more specifically only weekends. As soon as I get my health a little more under control I do plan on going back to full-time, but having weekly treatments that really tire me out just makes working really difficult for the time being. Thankfully my job has been extremely understanding of it and I'm still doing freelance work.
As for my mental health, things have been a little rocky which is initially why I disappeared from social media for a while. In November I experienced what I can only describe as a psychotic episode and was temporarily on medication for that. It got really bad, to the point that I felt unsafe driving or even leaving my house. After talking to my therapist and psychiatrist we've all come to the conclusion that it was simply stress and slightly trauma induced. It so happens that in September, the 29th to be exact, my family dog Zeus (pictured above) passed and I had been with him during the whole experience. To this day we don't exactly know why it happened, but he started having back-to-back grand mal seizures and was gone within 24 hours. It goes without saying that it impacted my entire family heavily. Though I'm no longer experiencing any psychotic symptoms, I feel as though I've been in a deep depressive episode for many months now. But I'm still pushing, at least I'm trying. I'm trying really hard.
Not everything is so negative though. We have introduced a new family member, Czar (pictured below.) He's an English Bulldog and he's a handful but he can quickly bring a smile to anyone's face. He bleps a lot and I'm convinced his tongue is too big for his face. I've also started posting on Youtube again, which I've genuinely missed. Sometimes I don't quite have the energy, but when I do it's something I enjoy so much. And I've been trying to get out and travel a bit more! While I'm undergoing treatments might not be the best time to do so but finding out you have a disease that could end up shortening your life span kind of helps put your priorities in order a little bit. I managed to make it back to Salem, MA and took Hailey this time, and I've been trying to explore my own state a bit more. I'm hoping to be able to visit a lot of cool spots in my area that I've jotted down and get some nice blog posts with photos or vlogs up.
So, I guess this is me saying that I'm back! I have a lot to share with the world, so even when I might not be in the best place I'm glad I have my own personal area of the internet like this to come to.
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