: I call this feature of my neurology/mind The Involuntary Calculator, and I also discuss its processes very broadly. It all makes perfect sense to me. Others often, however, call it unserious, chaotic, etc., though they don't mind when the end result appears.
Humans are weird, and I've learned to live with it.
#AspieLife #neurallyatypical #actuallyautistic #residentalien #theweirdkid
@Agatha @thedisasterautist
That's why I put *polymath* in my bio. I have a history of brain injuries so want to keep sharp and keep learning new things. Plus it's fun!
If I'm not doing, reading, researching, SOMETHING, it drives me nuts. Mom and her sister developed dementia pretty early. Doing what I can to stave that off for as long as possible.
@Agatha @thedisasterautist
Yep, same. My dad had strokes/vascular dementia. Mom is showing mild cognitive decline at age 79. Her parents had dementia(gma) and Lewy Body Dementia(gpa). I've already got some sleep and emotional lability problems at age 52. It's scary!
That's awful! It's so hard to not know if we got The Gene. Mom started showing signs in her 50s. It was obvious in her 60s and she was diagnosed. She died at age 82. But she also had diabetes, heart disease, hydrocephalus, and no hobbies for her brain to engage in.
@Agatha @thedisasterautist
Oof. I had 4 concussions in 2011, a fall off the roof in 2002, a MVA in 2018, and a craniotomy to clip an unruptured aneurysm in 2015. So lots going on!
We need to wrap you in bubble wrap!
@Agatha @thedisasterautist
No joke! I've had 20+ surgeries. 10 on my crappy ears alone (Far North folks have different skull shape/inner ear disorders). October I had my gallbladder out/SBO the following week. 6 weeks ago I had a left knee total replacement surgery with complications. 4 weeks ago I had an emergency appendectomy. I'm running out of extra organs to take out! ๐คฏ
I've said the same thing to doctors! ๐ I can't count all the ENT surgeries I've had. (I can blame my Scandinavian blood for my wonky eustation tubes?? ๐)
Then there was the 80 gallstones followed by a hasty surgery while 19 years old and 6 months pregnant. Total hysterectomy. Thyroid gone thanks to cancer. Cataract surgery last year. Arthritis everywhere... I feel like an old car.
When I met my husband I asked if he had a problem with scars...
@Agatha
Ya I think you can blame your northern ancestors for the ears! Apparently we have eustachian tube disorder (among other things). I also got my bowed legs from my Alaskan Native heritage--thanks Dad! My right knee was replaced almost 2 yrs to the day before my left one this February.
This is what my gallbladder looked like when it got removed last October! Fortunately I only had diffuse achiness prior to surgery.
๐คฎ ๐
I don't even know what mine looked like. I just remember my doc saying I should have been the color of a pumpkin from jaundice, but I wasn't. I had EXTREME pain. By the time they decided I wasn't drug seeking (3 ER visits, 3 doctors, 2 hospitals & all brushed me off), it'd been 3 months & it was on the verge of rupture. No food or drink - not even brushing my teeth - for 3 days while they got a surgical team together (bc I was pregnant they went in via 6" incision).
@Agatha
Wow! That sucks! I'm so sorry to hear how they all neglected you, medically. With my small bowel obstruction I only had "chips and sips" the first day. Then the Gastrogafrin clean out the second day (basically an industrial-strength laxative). It was not fun. I was afraid I had another SBO 4 weeks ago too. No obstruction but CT showed appendicitis with emergency surgery hours later. It was surreal! I caught it early so didn't have a lot of pain that time either. I got lucky.
My sis got lucky w/her appendicitis. They removed it & found colon cancer in that spot, & that probably triggered the appendicitis. Our aunt died from colon cancer. They caught my sis' so early she didn't need chemo.
My hus has Crohn's. We knew he had a stricture, & last year it closed up for good. They discovered it was abt 6" long w/abscesses & a nasty fistula that had formed between the large & small intestine in a really weird place.
But I still have more scars than him. ๐ ๐ป๐
@Agatha
The thing about ear surgery scars is you can't really see them! My brain surgery scar is right at my hairline so it's hidden too. Of course concussions aren't visible either. I *look* fine but that's not the whole story! ๐ค
I have a kind of hearing loss in one ear, from all the damage, that isn't a volume issue. It's a clarity issue. But I'm not "deaf" and my hearing tests are normal. But if you're on that side of me while you're speaking, assume I'm going to ask, "What?" a lot. And my sense of smell is shot, so that's a whole different kettle of worms.
Definitely the issues others can't see aren't appreciated the way outwardly visible issues are.
@Agatha
Ya I have a lot of scar tissue on my eardrums especially the left one. I had to change majors in college (music to psych) as my hearing test during Christmas Break showed I needed a hearing aid. But I haven't worn them since the pandemic started. My last hearing test was stable compared to previous years. Both my mom and I have our good/bad ear sides so we always have to walk on each other's "good ear" side if we want to communicate while out and about!
@Agatha
One ENT told me that far north people have eustachian tubes that stay shallow/don't descend to drain as we grow. So we get lots of infections etc as a result. My ENT heard about a similar doctor who was able to retire early as he made so much $$ treating Alaskan Native kids in AK. It's wild!
Yeah, my eustachian tubes didn't drop (but zero "New World" DNA in me). But it does run in my family. Mom had horrific issues. My sister. My son.
@Agatha
I was so relieved when I heard that my niece didn't get the Crappy Ear genes! I still don't really know how to swim. Wearing earplugs (even in the shower) prevents learning in swim lessons. My brother escaped the dreaded gene, too, so he got to take several levels of swim lessons. Not I!
@thedisasterautist
Definitely normal in my world. ๐คท๐ปโโ๏ธ