dorothycolleen's blog

My struggle with dysphoria

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So today was not the best day. I had just crawled out of my worst depression in decades, and then I got hit with a nasty bout of dysphoria

Once more, the simple reality that I will never be "pretty", never even get SRS, hit me right in the heart, and yet, because Mom and I were doing errands I had to keep pretending I was okay.

Sighs . . .

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a pretty uneventful Easter

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A couple of days ago my aunt Terry asked if we wanted to join her for Easter dinner, and we accepted.

So after I came home from Easter service at my church, we picked up another one of my aunts, and went over to Terry's place.

What we hadn't realized that her ex husband and her adult kids were also going to be there, and I don't think I've seen them since I started my transition in earnest.

So there I was, in my best Easter dress, sitting with a bunch of guys.

And nothing bad happened.

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I have the strangest dreams

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Okay I really have to share the dream I had last night.

I was working in a store that was getting ready for Christmas, as huge amounts of stuff came in that we needed to find room for.

Suddenly, I realized there was something wrong - we were apparently stuck in a time loop, doing the same stuff over and over again.
Not only did I figure this out, I figured out how to get us out of it.

The store's Santa had to pick a particular item as a present.

I told him of it, he picked the right package, and the loop was broken.

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on my manic state

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Since I'm currently in a manic state, I figured I would talk about what being manic does to me.

See, unlike the depression part of my cycle, which is always kind of the same, each time I'm manic seems a bit different from the last.

Sometimes, when I'm manic, I become giggly like I had taken a serious hit of pot. (Its also when my girly girl side comes out most. That, of course, is Jaci's fault).

But sometimes, instead of that, I become irrationally angry at everything and everyone.

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one sick Dot

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so for the last week, I've been dealing with a rather nasty flu, mostly settling into my nose and throat.

So when I tried to talk on Discord or on the phone, I basically had no voice at all.ge

Then yesterday, things managed to get worse.

I broke out in hives all over my back and belly.

I called the local health line, and they told me getting an allergic reaction to a flu virus does happen, and the best I can do is treat the symptoms until my immune system kicks out the flu causing the trouble.

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my time as the Ugandan ambassador to the (model) UN.

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I don't know if I have ever told the story of how I became the Ugandan ambassador to my school's model UN.

I had signed up, because I was fascinated by the idea, until the random generator said I was to represent Uganda.

If you've seen pictures of the people of Uganda, they are mostly black, and if you've seen pictures of me, I am most definitely not black.

So being the nerd I was, I came up with a backstory to explain why I was picked as the ambassador, even though nobody but me seemed to take the model UN thing terribly seriously.

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Where has Dot been ?

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Okay, so last night Jaci called me, and told me some people on Discord were rather concerned about me, since I hadn't been on in a while, nor had a posted a blog here.

I told her and the others I had gotten super focused on a stupid D&D thing I had been working on, and just kind of tuned everything else out.

But having had a night to think about it, that was only partially true.

See, last Thursday, a 16 year old boy killed 2 police officers, seriously wounded his own mother, and then took his own life here in Edmonton.

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got my PTSD triggered, need hugs

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So a couple of days ago, while in Walmart, I saw what looked like a book that looked like a novel with a cute romantic comedy vibe, so I picked it up.
At the start, the book delivered on that vibe, as it told the story of an ordinary man and a witch who fall for each other.

They met, he somehow defeated the glamor on her house (which is supposed to make people forget it and the residents) to remember her, they had a meet cute, they had a misunderstanding, it was all going pretty much the way I expected.

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I'm going to have Sam twice a week

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So because Sharon has been unable to get a caregiver for Sam, she's going to have to come here twice a week on the days Sharon works.

On the one hand, I love seeing Sam, and I'm sure she's not unhappy to spend time with me and mom.

On the other hand, this means me getting 1 mental health day a week is going to be impossible, and I worry I am not going to be able to provide the activity level she needs.

I think she needs someone who can keep up with her, not a crippled Dad.

Well, we'll just have to do our best.

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has my life gotten too good for me to write?

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In order to tell the story I want to, I have to tell a different one first.

A long time ago there was a TV show, called "Love, American Style".

The show was an anthology, each week presenting a different story about the perils and joys of being in love.

And on this show there was an episode where a singer known for his sad songs about heartbreak and loneliness found a girl, and then discovered he couldn't write sad songs, or indeed any songs.

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I had a mixed day yesterday

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So I had a mixed day yesterday.

I got some good news from my endo doc, as I'm losing weight, and my blood pressure is really good.

Sadly I am still struggling with my blood sugar so he's going to tweak my meds to see if we can make some progress there.

Then we took Sharon and Sam out for a bit, and its still a joy to see Sam talking and laughing again.

But then my knee tweaked, and I was in serious pain with only a Tylenol to try and dull it.

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In leu of therapy, I went swimming

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Since I can't afford therapy, today I went swimming instead.

2 hours in a pool probably did as much good to my state of mind, and much more good to my body, than rehashing the endless cycle that is my mental health with someone would have.

Maybe even more . . .

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Doggie Day

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So we had Sam today, and were able to go over to my aunt's and let Sam play with her new dog.

A top 10 day, for all of us.

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had a self-care day

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Okay so I took a self-care day today.

First, I shaved my face, a task which can be difficult for me, as I get caught in a catch 22 - I hate shaving, but I hate the facial hair too.

Then I went to a local pool and swam for about an hour and a half.

Then mom and I went out for brunch, and after brunch I got my hair cut.

Its shorter, but I think it still looks feminine and kind of cute, actually.

So that was my self-care day.

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sometimes, you have to know when to pick your battles

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So tomorrow morning, my mom is going out for breakfast with one of my uncles.

I've made the choice to not come with, because he apparently has a problem with trans people.

And as he is almost 90, and dying of cancer, I think I'll skip making a scene.

Sometimes, you got to know when to pick your battles - and when its best to withdraw

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had a bit of a breakdown last night

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Okay so last night at about 2 AM, the building's fire alarm went off, and while this has happened several times since we move in, most of the time it turns out to be nothing.

Not this time.

We could actually smell smoke, and as the elevators were out of service mom and I carefully made our way down the stairs to the lobby.

By the time we got there, the firefighters had gotten out the fire, and were taking someone to the hospital, possibly due to smoke inhalation.

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Sam is showing signs of improvement

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So we went out to help Sharon and Sam get some stuff done, and Sam was clearly doing better.

She took my mom's arm when they went into the grocery store, she laughed and smiled at one of my dad jokes, and she waved and used a kind of sign language to communicate.

I hope this improvement continues.

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got a boost from a four-legged friend

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Okay so the last couple of days I have really been struggling with depression and also having stomach issues, and it was getting to be a bit much.

Then today we went over to my aunt Terry's house, and met her new dog, a retriever mix named Rocky.

And he turned my day around.

gave lots of kisses, wanted to be petted often, just the thing I needed.

I am grateful for these moments.

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starting the new year right?

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So this morning, I felt the need to start the new year off right, and so I showered, shaved, and brushed my teeth - all activities that I have struggled with.

And then I looked at my calendar and realized the new year starts tomorrow . . .

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Stress and grace

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So going into yesterday I was looking at having a ton of "to do" things on my schedule until the end of the year, and I was getting kind of stressed about it.

Then life added another item to the list.

One of the tires on my car started losing air.

After frantically phoning around, I was getting to the point where I was wondering how I would get anything done if I couldn't get the tire fixed.

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I've submitted a couple of pieces to a magazine

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So I have submitted "the girl with the scars in her eyes", and "Gibraltar falls" to a Canadian magazine.

I will know if they accept it sometime in the next 6-8 weeks.

Keep your fingers crossed for me, okay?

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I found an award-wining (runner up) trans story

Okay so the last time I was over at Mike and Carol's they were packing up their books, and I took one that was a collection of the Nebula award winners from 1966. (The Nebula awards are presented by SF authors to the best stories of that year.)

One of the runners up was a cute little love story by Frederik Pohl, called Day Million.

The story is about a boy (of sorts), and a girl, and the girl was born a boy.

And the society in which they live, not only recognized her true nature, but had the ability to reshape her body to match her mind and heart.

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a mistake has caught up to me

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so I have been using a CPAP machine for a while, and it had done wonders for my sleep apnea.

Unfortunately, it was only a loaner, and I have to return it Friday.

And because of mistakes I made trying to get Alberta Disabled support to cover me for one, I am going to be without one for the foreseeable

There have been a lot of times, I've made massive errors, and somehow avoided consequences, so if this time I am going to pay for my mistakes, so I can't kick too hard.

Still, its gonna suck not having the machine considering how bad my apnea is.

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