So, I found out over the weekend that some people think I'm faking my health issues because I get to stay home and not work a traditional job. Apparently, I am taking advantage of my husband because he works hard, makes good money, and spoils the crap out of me. If it was necessary, I'd find a place to work to bring home money. I wonder, in the back of my mind, if some people are jealous that two of them work their butts off to make what our household more than brings in with one income? To these people: if you think I stay home and have a grand ole time every day, think again. Sure, right now, I'm on my ass as I'm writing this, but I've also loaded the dishwasher, wiped down the kitchen, put laundry away, washed and dried our sheets, gone to a business meeting with Joe, cleaned both bathrooms (including scrubbing the toilets), and made dinner ahead of time. So, I basically rushed around doing stuff for 6+ hours. Maybe I don't have a traditional job, but I easily spend 40 hours per week doing chores inside and out of the house. Another thing: if someone told me that I could continue feeling the way I do now and stay home, or be 100% healthy and go back to working full-time, I'd go back to work in a heartbeat. I don't stay home for fun. I stay home because this medical condition makes me look and sound drunk; I walk using the walls as support, run into doorways and hold onto surfaces to dress myself, lose my balance going down the stairs (to the point that I've accidentally stepped on my dog, have spun in to the wall to avoid falling down, etc. My voice has a lisp and I slur my words all the time now. I've been asked by people close to me, who KNOW I have a difficult time speaking, to repeat myself because they don't know what I'm saying. Writing and typing is painful and is soooo difficult. Most blog entries take a minimum of an hour because I make so many typos and my hands shake so badly. I used to type 100+ words per minute. Writing is the same thing. My handwriting is terrible and small lists and cards take me a long time to make legible. As a former Drug & Alcohol Counselor, all of the above are necessary skills to have and it's not a great look if the counselor appears intoxicated. Long story short- Google Ataxia. Educate yourselves and stop making assumptions.
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