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nyshacamilo submitted a contest entry to
What are your goals for the new year? 1 years, 5 months ago
My Best Me
And like that 2023 is over, this year flew by
But isn’t that what we say every year when the end is near?
Still though time does seem to speed up annually
Does that come with age?
I’m only 23, a 2000’s baby is what I be
Last year I finally learned to love me
That along with a lot of other things
Habits are hard to change especially when taught young
Negative habits were all I knew
Being toxic unconsciously, wanting control over everything, vices to “keep” the pain awaySmoking, drinking, eating, sexing
All fake distractions that in the end, made me worse
Trust issues
But I called it individuality
The inability to listen, being stubborn and hardheaded
2024 I realize, accept, and input the facts that help me grow
It’s okay to listen, be silent, intake, and think
Not everyone is out to hurt meBalance and confidence are needed to not take everything personally
Are you a reflection or a lesson?
I go to my therapist for a session
I need to release and let go
So that way I wont feel so low2024 is where I meet sober me and face everything inside
The world is proving what’s in the dark must always come to light
But I, by myself choose whether I win that fight
To face and to conquer
Or to ignore and ignore and ignore until I blow upPhysically I must strengthen myself
When I do something I don’t want to do that strengthens my mind
When I strengthen my mind I have the ability to do anything I want
So I wake up early, work out, no eating until noon
At 7 I stop eating, meditate and give thanks to the moon
The moon illuminates my battlesBattles that no one can fight for me
I, by myself must choose my destiny
And I choose to first change my melody
From darkness to light
From anger to forgiveness
From sadness to happiness
From negativity to positivity
From irritability to patience
From assuming to asking
From quiet to loud, confidently and unapologeticallyFrom changing my melody I attract what is meant for me
From changing my melody I can accept and maintain all that is for me2024 is my year of love, light, success and peace
2024 is the year meant for my best meVoting is closed
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Nysha, WOW! I love how you ended this piece: “2024 is my year of love, light, success and peace
2024 is the year meant for my best me”It sounds like you are really facing anything and everything that hurts you or holds you back and tackling it head-on. That takes A LOT of strength and courage. You should be so proud of yourself. I am proud of…read more
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I appreciate that a lot. I really am doing everything in my power to face everything so then I can be better then my past. Thank you for seeing me.
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thegratefulmindbodycoachgmail-com submitted a contest entry to
What are your goals for the new year? 1 years, 5 months ago
This post is viewable by the Unsealed community only.
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algonzalez submitted a contest entry to
What are your goals for the new year? 1 years, 5 months ago
2024
2024 – New Year, New Me!
You know the same thing we ALWAYS say!
What makes this year so different?
My levels of Effs to give.
I’m walking into 2024 with full knowledge,
I will became the villain in a lot of peoples reality.
Honestly, that makes me feel content
Because that means I’m becoming the hero I deserve to be in my reality.
Look, it’s a bird, it’s a plane,
Nah – its Antoinette taking her power back.
I’m a mom, daughter, wife, friend and the list goes on
But most importantly – I AM ME!
I have been in a cocoon; realizing I’m embarking on an evolution.
I’m excited to spread my beautifully crafted wings wide and proudly!
My wings will bring boundaries that will lead to a limitless life!
My wings will gift me a little blue book.
My little blue book of adventure and memories!
I will break the chains placed on me from generations past.
Setting my bloodline free –
By betting on me!
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Antoinette, You are amazing! I love this line: “Look, it’s a bird, it’s a plane,
Nah – its Antoinette taking her power back.”
I totally smiled when I read that. You are changing your family’s story for sure! Thank you for sharing and thank you for being part of our little unsealed family. <3 Lauren
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delanomassey submitted a contest entry to
What are your goals for the new year? 1 years, 5 months ago
Transformed by Time: How the Last Five Years Have Readied Me for 2024
I don’t particularly focus on making resolutions at this point in life. Instead, I aim to surpass my “best self” if I am blessed enough to experience another day, let alone another year.
Lord willing, I’ll be 45 later this month, and life has life-ed enough for me to know not to take a day for granted — especially after receiving, at least, 16,425 such blessings.
As we head into 2024, I wanted to reflect on the first five years into my 40s.
Everything has changed in that time, particularly in society, but even more so in my personal experience. It’s not something I’d naturally talk about, but I think getting things out of my head and being vulnerable is good these days. It could be helpful to someone else.
For my part, 2019 marked the beginning of a transformative journey. Entering that year, I sought and anticipated more, personally and professionally, sketching a vision board to plot the future. Things I could envision, but really couldn’t control.
A mentor in a leadership program suggested adding a therapist to my personal executive board — my core group of life advisers — to strive for work-life balance, something I’m not sure we ever truly attain. Initially, I believed it would assist me in managing work-related stress, but it offered a different perspective, especially regarding self-awareness. But that would be a process.
I moved to Washington D.C. for a dream job at CNN, only to have the world disrupted by a global pandemic. This led to an unforeseen return to Chicago for lockdown, which provided me with unfettered time with my kids, a divorce, and an abrupt return home to Ohio, which seemed like an extension of isolation.
During this return, I witnessed firsthand the cruel and indifferent nature of Alzheimer’s dementia, afflicting my biggest supporter: My mother. That put things into perspective like nothing else. I helped my parents and thought it meant a career change that would keep me home, but I would have to figure that out.
Obligations increased. Expectations changed, personally and professionally. The stakes got higher, and a lot got harder. And it turns out our parents do age; they are human.
Despite managing to produce some of my most significant work during this time, from pandemic coverage to racial unrest and a consequential election that was followed by an insurrection in the Capital, I found myself burned out and just barely getting by. Life was life-ing harder than ever. My head was bloody, but unbowed.
What’s clear is this: Change is unstoppable and inevitable. In the words of Thanos, “Dread it, run from it, destiny arrives all the same.”
I wrestled with all of that, the imperfections of myself and my life. What became “my normal.” But I’ve since learned my normal doesn’t have to mirror anyone else’s. It’s not supposed to. It never has and never will. I’m not that person and never have been. I embrace that even when others don’t understand, but also know that their opinions can’t matter as much.
Therapy helped me be more vulnerable and rediscover myself. My family caught me. Friends — old and new — began asking more about, well, me. My definition of family contracted, evolved, and expanded. Some people came. Others went. I changed jobs. Things stabilized a bit and I moved to Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love, toward the end of 2022.
I’ve had it. Lost it. Got it again. Lost it and had to rebuild. I’m resilient if nothing else; even if I need a minute, that will never change.
Learning to take the bitter with the sweet is more than a notion. It’s a bittersweet serum for growth, a rite of passage into adulting, and a necessity to move forward.
I’ve sometimes felt like I’ve been spinning plates while walking on a tightrope. I’ve probably dropped a few plates trying to look back or walk too quickly, but was fortunate enough to get another plate to spin again. I am learning to move at my own pace, being present and enjoying the walk to the destination ahead. That’s all you can control.
My partner shows up for me and she loves me for all of me, including my imperfections. My chosen family — a collection of friends — does, too. I want to be a better partner for everyone who shows up for me in business and life. I’ve learned to let go of those who aren’t a part of those conversations. There’s a reason they aren’t there, even when it’s not readily apparent, it eventually will be. Their absence was needed and later welcomed.
At 45, my life looks nothing like I thought it would. I’ve racked up more miles than I imagined on planes, trains, and automobiles, traveling on this continent and venturing into two others. It adds to the list of blessings and experiences that have shaped me.
And, in many ways, I am doing the things I set out to do.
When I was editor-in-chief of The Buchtelite, the University of Akron’s student-run newspaper, I always aspired to be an executive running a newsroom. It was clear to me that I wanted to ascend the ranks of leadership and be able to make coverage decisions that benefited the larger community. In my role as the managing editor of Axios Local, I’m helping lead a newsroom across 30 markets. I graduate from Poynter’s executive training program next week.
However, the course of my life and career has necessitated eight relocations over the past two decades, primarily in the Midwest and now on the East Coast. This diverse journey has provided me with a unique perspective, shaped not only by my experiences in the newsroom but also by the lessons learned outside of it.
The reality is this: There aren’t too many individuals at this level who look like me, and even fewer who could replicate the unique experiences I’ve encountered as both a journalist and a Black man—embracing both successes and failures. My aspiration to continually improve is my superpower.
All of these experiences have broadened my perspective on life, shifting from a microscope, which hones in and fixates on one item, to a kaleidoscope, which allows more light and vibrant colors to come into focus.
I’m embracing an even longer list of things to learn, which involves scaling back on certain obligations, empowering others, and acknowledging my self-worth. There are still things I need to release, but that’s why therapy matters.
As each day unfolds, I increasingly appreciate the worth of time, our most precious commodity. In 2024, I intend to cherish every day I’m given, surrounding myself with the love of those who share this journey with me.
There’s still work ahead, and I aim to contribute each day in ways that make a positive impact, whether through a conversation, a thought, or a piece of content that assists others in navigating their journeys.
———
What I’ve learned over the past five years:
* Trust God’s plan
* Waking up is the bare minimum; what you do with the rest of the day matters most.
* Life never stops doling out lessons — so be a more attentive student.
* Know that sometimes it just … is.
* It’s OK to not be OK. Take a minute to care for yourself.
* Being alone gives you time to think, but avoid rabbit holes.
* Remember that sometimes the right abbit holes lead to creativity; just know which one you’re diving into.
* Everyone is right from their vantage point and, sometimes, it just has to be that.
* Think about what it’s like on the other side of me.
* What obstacles might they be facing that are contributing to an issue?
* Not everyone is for you, and you’re not for everyone. And some people who say they’re for you are more concerned with what you can do for them.
* To embrace those who consistently show up for you — those who pour into you when you need them. And do the same for them.
* It’s OK to grieve the loss of people, even when they’re still walking this earth. They depart for their journey, and you must go on yours.
* Write more
* Don’t ever stop dreaming. I am doing what I said I would do over 20 years ago.Voting is closed
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I love how you were very vulnerable in your writing. Discussing therapy and open about it is huge for minority men. God bless you got that! Watching a loved one go through Alzheimer’s is heartbreaking. Yes, trust Gods plan and being alone gives you time to think. Great story!
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Ditto what @jjoshua said. This piece is amazing and I love how honest and vulnerable you are. I love this line “My aspiration to continually improve is my superpower.” 🙂 But this whole piece is so real, insightful and inspiring (and obviously well-written). Thank you for your willingness to share your heart and mind with others. I admire all you…read more
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malakkc submitted a contest entry to
What are your goals for the new year? 1 years, 5 months ago
React to Darkness
The world runs around and bucks you
Of your trajectory with minutiea that drive you
Up a wall, and down into darkness which blinds
Your senses that either gives adrenaline or freezes
You into a statue that’s blind, deaf, and dumb.Your vision turns into bright starts that short-
Circuit your mind with blinding light whose sport
Is to suppress your logic, embracing emotions
That turn you deaf to all evidence against your passions.
Those then steal your ability to speak your mind.As the world moves round and round, like a merry
Go round, so do you try to stave off the shocks that ferry
You into dismay as experiences are disillusioningly
Petrifying, with their obstacles and demands
On your taking a stand outside your comfort zones.Stay the course.
Stand tall.
Savor each experience.
Strengthen your faith with failure or success.
Sever negative relationships,And let your self-confidence emerge
A snow white pigeon of peace and verve of life.©️ Malak kalmoni chehab ©️
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I could really picture the merry go round you described in this piece, but I love the ending:
“Stay the course.
Stand tall.
Savor each experience.
Strengthen your faith with failure or success.
Sever negative relationships,And let your self-confidence emerge
A snow white pigeon of peace and verve of life.”Love how you ended it. Thank you for…read more
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deecabee submitted a contest entry to
What are your goals for the new year? 1 years, 5 months ago
Forever changed
Hide the light out of fright
Now I will shine bright
For the darkness
Comes the light
2024 with all my might
I have become the light
for all that is right
Casting light on the darkness
I will never loose sightVoting is closed
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Donna, this piece is short but very powerful. I love it. It’s insightful and well written. Thank you for sharing. <3 Lauren
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Thank you Lauren for the kind words 🌟
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vickitrusselliart submitted a contest entry to
What are your goals for the new year? 1 years, 6 months ago
MY SUBTLE, BUT IMPORTANT 2024 GOALS
Dear Unsealed,
My goals for 2024 are somewhat different that in 1990 or 2007. I am 74 years old. I know my goals are different apparently because I am older and the fact, I survived long covid and the effects on my body and major surgery. I almost died April 2022. However, I am alive. I am a Virgo, Leo moon rising, born on the cusp of Libra. I shall talk about more subtle goals than I would have at 20, 30, 40, 50, 0r 60.
My goals are:
1. To remain healthy as possible.
2. To remain alive.
3. To continue my freelance writing and photography.
4. To continue to spread love and light.
5. To perhaps make a little extra money to help with bills.
6. To always see my doctor.
7. To continue my gluten free, lactose free diet as much as possible.
8. To walk more, swim if the weather permits.
9. To continue my meditation practices.
10. To analyze what I am doing and what another person means with their words as they speak to me or other people.
11. To cut back on clothes, shoe spending on Wish and Temu.
12. Be kind but not vulnerable the full 12 months of 2024.
I will wake up every morning to the sound of music playing through Google Mini or Alexa. I will remember my vivid dreams of people, places, things to write down the specifics of my dreams to create stories of inspiration, but to not forget that inspiration is a part of a negative experience to be brought out into the light. I will take care of my health and continue to think young. I will continue my political activist positions regarding human rights, women’s rights, LBGTQ rights, voting rights and democracy for all.
My goal to spread light, love and peace may sound repetitive to some people, but to me it is my most important goal for 2024 and beyond. Without peace, love, and light there would be continuous wars and evil wrongdoing in our society. So, there needs to be more people involved in this goal. Equality and human rights are not political as they are a humanitarian society procedure, not political.
I will spread light and love through my writing and photography with periodic checks of analyzing the good, the bad, the ugly in all facets of life on Earth.Sincerely,
Vicki Lawana Trusselli
December 21, 2023Voting is closed
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First off, I hope you are feeling better from long covid. Secondly, I think your goals are beautiful. Just by sharing this piece, you are adding love and light to the world. Thank you for sharing and thank you for being part of our Unsealed family. <3 Lauren
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gorilladna submitted a contest entry to
What are your goals for the new year? 1 years, 6 months ago
NEW YEAR RESOLVE
Living in shadows of my past
Roaming hallways of my mind
Afraid to turn corners too fast
And the memories I would find
Resolved to pause and change my stance
And shake the past’s dust off my shoes
I will give next year a chance
To see in color instead of blues
Those old walls become withdrawn
As fresh grass grows beneath my feet
This old year has come and gone
My new self I prepare to meet
This New Year I have a choice
My liberty comes with it’s dawn
A small change in my mind’s voice
To a positive antiphon
My New Year’s dreams are made of light
Washing tears and sorrow away
All I did was adjust my sight
To view a better, brighter day
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Aww Ricardo, I love your poems. They are all so sweet. I love the positive bright perspective. I can’t wait to see how the new year unfolds for you. Thank you for sharing and thank you for being part of The Unsealed family. <3 Lauren
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Thanks for the kind words, Lauren! Writing (poetry) for me has been a lifesaver, as I am sure it has been for others here on The Unsealed. Thank you for creating a place where we can share the little voice within us for others to enjoy.
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Victoria Bjorklund shared a letter in the
Health, Wellness and Chronic Conditions group 1 years, 6 months ago
To: Everyone who has ever been a caregiver or care receiver
I have been happily married for 51 years to a former New York Jets professional football player turned lawyer and educator, my husband Hank. We met and married young in my sophomore year in college. I was a pioneering woman student in the first 4-year class of women admitted to Princeton University. Being married in no way slowed down my academic ambitions: I graduated Phi Beta Kappa in three years from Princeton, where I was also a founding member of the women’s varsity basketball team and the Medieval Society of Princeton. I went on to earn a Ph.D. in Medieval Studies at Yale University and a law degree at Columbia University School of Law. I was among the first women to make partner at my international law firm in its New York City office. There I founded and headed the firm’s Exempt Organizations group representing charities, their boards, and their donors. Among my clients were the Louvre Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natural History, the Robin Hood Foundation, and Doctors Without Borders USA, of which I was the founding American director and where I still chair the Board of Advisors. I also taught the law of nonprofits at Harvard Law School for 9 years.
My husband and I have led an exciting personal, educational, professional, and recreational life together. That great life was turned upside down on April 18, 2016, when Hank collapsed at the gym and was rushed by ambulance to the hospital. After many examinations and tests, doctors determined a problem with his brain. Now, almost 8 years later and after having seen more than 70 doctors and specialists, we still do not have a diagnosis for my husband’s brain condition. We do, however, suspect that the brain challenges that he fights every day are attributable to the 16 years of his life spent playing tackle football from Pop Warner to the pros. Recent studies by the Boston University UNITE Brain Bank and the Concussion Legacy Foundation show that the risk of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (“CTE”) increases with every year of tackle football played. Development of CTE is correlated with number of years played, number of sub-concussive hits received, and the force of each hit. Unfortunately CTE cannot yet be diagnosed during life. Hank has joined thousands of athletes and their families in pledging his brain to the UNITE Brain Bank after his death. Although he does not exhibit any of the typical symptoms of CTE, we wonder whether the disruptions of his autonomic nervous system that he now lives with are an atypical presentation of CTE.
When my husband was stricken in 2016, he was suddenly debilitated, unable to walk more than a few steps without using a wheelchair. For a man who considered himself a 65-year-old stud, this was a shock and very depressing. In an instant, our favorite activities of mountain climbing in Europe, snow-shoeing in New England, and trekking in Scandinavia were over for us. Everyday living was so challenging that we had to move out of our house to the home we had bought for my Mother where we might live on a single level.
Thinking my husband was dying, we decided in 2016 that I should see a ”widowhood counselor” to help me deal with the sudden changes in our lives. The counselor asked me one day, “What in your earlier life made you so extraordinarily capable of coping with challenges?” That question stopped me in my tracks. I hadn’t analyzed capability. I was just a doer—somebody who got things done by putting one foot in front of the other, solving complex problems step-by-step with clear intellect and determination. Where did that life approach come from?
When I was 16, my parents announced to my older sister, younger brother and me that they wanted to have another baby. My older sister was married and moved to the west coast a few months after my mother gave birth to my younger sister during my junior year of high school. Unfortunately, my Mother experienced afterbirth bleeding and was repeatedly hospitalized for surgery, even having a near-death experience. My Father was so stressed with this, he had a heart attack and was hospitalized in a different hospital. I found myself at home with a precious infant sister, a younger brother to feed and get to and from school, household scheduling and tasks, and visiting my parents in their respective hospitals. This was a formative coping experience for me, yet one that I know confronts many other young people all over the country and the world. Over the years, my Father had multiple additional health issues that required my involvement including managing my parents’ affairs. After my Father’s death, my husband and I moved my Mother across the street from us so that we could be more deeply involved in her Alzheimer’s care. We managed her medical care, her finances, and spent hours with her every day enjoying her company and supporting her aides. In fact, my husband’s 2016 collapse came at the same time that my Mother’s dementia significantly worsened requiring more of my daily involvement as she stopped walking and needed to be moved in and out of bed several times a day with a Hoyer lift requiring two people.
In my academic life, being in the first class of women at Princeton had presented its own challenges. Many male students and alumni were openly hostile to women. A professor organized a shunning incident against me in a course where I was the only woman student, which only motivated me to work harder. I earned an A+ in that course and an apology from the professor. Only recently did I realize that I never had a woman professor at Princeton, at Yale Graduate School, or at Columbia Law School. Dealing with men and their conscious or unconscious biases was par for the course. Sports were no exception. As the former captain of my high school varsity basketball team, I suited up my first week at Princeton and went to the gym to shoot baskets, hoping to get into a pick-up game. When I asked for a basketball at the equipment room, I was told by the several cross-armed equipment men that there were no basketballs for “girls”. When I asked about the 4 racks of basketballs behind them, I was told those were only for “men.” My efforts to win over the equipment men failed but I was not about to accept that treatment. So I went through the building until I found the new women’s athletic director and explained my problem. She rolled her eyes at the equipment men’s recalcitrance and told me to walk back slowly and ask for a ball again. By the time I got back downstairs to the equipment room, one rack of basketballs had been rolled to the side and bore a hand-lettered sign saying “Girls.” I went back to the gym every day for many days to shoot baskets with balls from that rack. I was the only girl asking. The “men” never let me join a pick-up game, but the women’s athletic director did watch me every day. The next fall she called me and said, “I’ve decided to form a women’s varsity basketball team and my first call is to you!” I was glad to join. And by the time later that year that I married the big football star, the equipment men who had once denied me a basketball were such my close buddies that they offered to throw me a bridal shower.
In graduate school, I was the only woman Ph.D. in my graduating group along with 6 men. The head of my department said, “I’ll place the men in their jobs first and then I’ll get to you.” My reaction? “The hell with this! I’m getting my own job.” And I did. That infuriated the department head, who believed it was his right to place graduate students. When I decided to apply to law school several years later, he refused to provide any paperwork documenting my Ph.D. Rather than fight with an older aggrieved man, I contacted the head of the Yale Graduate School. He said, “Well, I could direct him to write for you but who knows what he might say. I would prefer to write for you myself.” Thus, I ended up with a much better letter of recommendation than I would otherwise have received. I was accepted at both of the law schools to which I applied. When I graduated as an honors scholar from Columbia Law School, I was advised that I had 3 strikes against me: I had a Ph.D., I was married, and I was a woman. A senior professor advised me to “Go be a big fish in a little pond.” I told him “But I want to be a big fish in a big pond” and so I accepted the offer of a top-10 international law firm in New York City. After working at the firm for over 30 years, I was honored to receive a trophy as a “Trailblazer” being the first woman in the Firm’s more than 140-year history to have “run the table” from summer associate to partner to senior partner/group head to retirement.
The late Rosalynn Carter famously said “There are only four kinds of people in the world: Those who have been caregivers, those who currently are caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who will need caregivers.” Managing my husband’s healthcare at the same time I was managing my Mother’s care during her last years was incredibly stressful. Nonetheless, I know that I am incredibly privileged having had supportive family, friends, aides and health insurance to help me bear this load. I have turned my intellect to learning as much as I can about brain health and supporting Hank with medical appointments, tests, physical therapy, neuropsychological therapy, nutrition and sleep. In addition, I have sought out opportunities for my husband to replace his past sports activities with intellectual activities that help him cope with the grief of losing his former life while stimulating his brain. The main activities Hank turned to were writing poetry and singing his poems. In a caregivers group I participate in at our local Glen Cove Hospital, I was asked to share with the group an activity that my husband could manage. When I said that Hank had taken up poetry to help him cope, the caregiver sitting next to me piped up, “Well, I am the Poet Laureate of Nassau County, and I teach poetry.” I literally ran after this woman at the end of the meeting and cornered her in the hospital hallway. “May I bring my husband to your class, please?” She replied, “Yes, but you can’t just bring him. If you come, you have to write too.”
So that is how Hank and I started working with now-former Poet Laureate Evelyn Kandel, who is also an Unsealed Writer. We have spent hours and hours preparing for and with Evelyn and our new classmates in her weekly classes over the past several years. She encouraged Hank to write a book about his football and brain experiences, which he mustered the effort and courage to do. His 2022 book, entitled “Head Hits I Remember: Football, Dysautonomia, and my Brain” is a very honest exploration of his athleticism and brain challenges. Our poems are also included in the new anthology of Evelyn’s students entitled “13 Poets From Long Island” published in September 2023. So from having to “give up” many activities Hank and I did for decades before, we have now elected to invest our time and energies in our “new normal” which includes poetry and singing alongside daily exercise, nutrition and healthy sleep. I am thrilled to report that Hank has made huge strides in recovery, vastly improving his physical stamina and walking ability. We have also met and enjoyed the company of a new set of friends whom we now regularly see via Zoom poetry meetings.
Ironically, on October 15, 2023, in a simple trip-and-fall, I managed to break my knee cap into three pieces requiring surgery, three weeks in the hospital, and wearing a cumbersome Bledsoe Brace. Now I am on the cusp of starting outpatient physical therapy to regain my normal walking gait. What a turnabout in our lives! In an instant, I was transformed from the perennial care-giver to the care-receiver. We quickly learned several lessons. First, thank goodness for the family and friends who jumped in to help us—his sister and my sister dropping off food for Hank and having him for dinner, for instance. Remember the precious infant sister I cared for? She is now my health-care proxy actively engaged in my recovery. Second, Hank actually benefitted from swapping roles. He found strength to drive himself to and from the hospital to visit me and the confidence to manage household chores in my absence. Third, we were reminded again that life circumstances are never static; they ebb and flow constantly. Despite my feeling incredibly fit and stable, one day-dreaming step looking up at the sky through beautiful willows had proved otherwise. None of us is invincible. I am not invincible.
Equally as important, I, a caregiver for so long, have had to relax into being the care-receiver, asking for and accepting support from my family and community of friends. I am extremely grateful to all of them, including my “new” friends and colleagues in poetry. Many public libraries and adult-education programs offer classes in poetry, in journaling, in writing. I encourage anyone needing to jump-start a change in outlook to give them a try.
Check out my poem in the book “13 Poets From Long Island” on Amazon – It is free for those with Kindle Unlimited.
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@rengle3 She will be on our show tonight. I hope you come! I am sending an email out about it now. She will love you !
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kiddbixx submitted a contest entry to
What are you going to achieve or do in the new year? 1 years, 6 months ago
My Dearest Little One
Dearest little one-
We have lived in such agony for far to long
Dearest little one-
Don’t you miss-
Miss the feeling of solace that we are loved-
That we are enough?
The way sun kissed blue skies sparkle in our eyes?
The little things we used to share like the sound of gentle summer rains?
The little things we used to share like the euphoria of simple existence?Dearest little one-
We have spent so much time loving others.
Loving others that could never love us.
Just so we could avoid ourselves existing in the same plane.Dearest little one-
We’ve made so many empty promises to each other.
We’ve made so many harsh and unforgiving choices.
No more little one.
This year-
This year we have special achievements to uphold.
To love ourselves whole heartedly.
To do away with the passive aggressive malice to one another.
To no longer drown each other under the turbulent waters of our emotions.Dearest little one-
This year our mission is growth.
To grow from the cracks left from our past.
Hold my hand little one and stand with me a while- so together we may mend our cracks with gold.Voting is closed
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Alexis, this piece is so beautifully written – soulful! As Traveled through it I found myself hugging my inner child, then my mother, then my own children. The versatility of you piece is remarkable!
Xoxo
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This is absolutely beautiful! It was a pleasure to read your work!
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Alexis, what a sweet and beautiful piece. May you grab the hand of your younger self and live the life you both deserve. Love yourself and live for yourself. Thank you for sharing and thank you for being part of The Unsealed family. <3 Lauren
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aimeevc submitted a contest entry to
What are you going to achieve or do in the new year? 1 years, 6 months ago
Let my fire burn
Your fire is what I admire, what I desire. You light a fire in my soul and fill the bowl in my chest with passion my mind can’t even ration. I must be in a daze or maze, trying to run and hide but every corner I turn your fire still burns. I crash into wall after wall getting burned and even then I wouldn’t want to return. Because a life without passion is something most people lack in. Even if you burn me to ashes and leave me with unhealed gashes i would still run into your maze, even on my saddest of days. I hope you never lose your fire and allow it to burn bright even on the darkest of nights, when you wanna give up the fight. Because once you start to touch people with that flame it’ll catch like match, batch after batch and soon the whole world will be on fire just like the girl I’ve always admired.
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Aimee, This is super creative piece and a beautiful message. I know this year you will light the world on fire with your magic. Thank you for sharing and thank you for being part of The Unsealed family <3 Lauren
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kayliehilliker submitted a contest entry to
What are you going to achieve or do in the new year? 1 years, 6 months ago
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jaselynnv submitted a contest entry to
What are you going to achieve or do in the new year? 1 years, 7 months ago
The Year of Present Moments
Often times when we think of a new year resolution or new year goals for the upcoming year we usually have a big goal we want to accomplish like getting a new job, a new house, to meet a partner if we are single, have a child, buy a new car, but what if we were to change our mindset and also see smaller goals just as big as the big ones.
This upcoming year I am dedicating myself to look forward to the smaller things like finding peace, doing the things that make your heart feel whole like sharing a laugh with loved ones, taking a walk outside and breathing the fresh air, or maybe even making time for a hobby that you neglected due to being so busy with work and your personal life.
My ultimate goal for next year is to be PRESENT. Life is often so fast-paced that sometimes we may forget to be present in the moment and take every moment in. I want to be present with everything that I do. Even the simplest smallest things like cooking a meal and sharing a meal with friends or family or even by yourself. Taking in that specific moment that you can never get back in time and have the blessing to do so is something I want to take in and be present with. I want to be able to be present and really taking everything in life in. A goal of mine is to be present with myself. Taking the time to do things that make me feel a spark, like writing a poem, reading a book, meditating with music that makes the soul feel good.
Although I want to continue to blossom in my career as a Marketing Specialist and want my business to blossom, most of all I want to continue to grow into the person that I am meant to be and continue to find my purpose. The person that I am right now in this moment, writing this letter about what I am most excited about for the next year, will be a different person reading this the same time next year. Which is why I am so focused on being present every day. I am excited to see the Woman that I am going to become next year, the peace I will continue to find in myself, my loved ones, and places. The laughs I will be able to share with loved ones. The meals I will be able to eat. The new people I am going to meet. I am most excited to see my life change transform and prosper. I am so excited to see how much my relationship with God is going to flourish. Every year there is a new version of yourself, you are never the same person each year, you go through joy and pain, different transformations that make you a wiser person.
Next year I dedicate time for myself to find a spark in me that I never knew I had, to move and flow through life with good intentions, better environments, intentional friendships, intellectual individuals, creative people, broken people, joyful people. Take every negative and turn it into a positive and have more faith over fear.
This upcoming year I am dedicating myself to nourish who I am, love who I am, and be present and sit with myself and appreciate everything that I have and never take a second for granted. Perhaps when you are reading this, it may seem like a person letter to myself, maybe it seems to fit more to my future self then what I am most excited about, but this year was a year of self-realization that happened at the speed of light. Next year I am most excited to live in the PRESENT moment every day.
Cheers to a year of living in the present moments!!
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Jaselynn, this is so beautiful. I love the idea of being present. That is not an easy thing to do but it is so meaningful and so powerful. It sounds like you are a self-aware and thoughtful person, and your purpose will reveal itself. I’m excited for what’s to come for you and happy you have the type of mindset that will allow you to enjoy the…read more
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gorilladna shared a letter in the
Health, Wellness and Chronic Conditions group 1 years, 7 months ago
UNANNOUNCED
Should Sadness visit unannounced
And you wonder “why?”
Greet them at your door
Have them come inside
Offer them a drink
Ask them why they’re here
Pull open the shades
So Sunlight will appear
Politely and gently
Listen to concerns
Kindly end the chat
Ask them never to return
But if Sadness reappears
And their shadow mars your Zen
Rely upon your Feng Shui
And close your door on them again
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I love this! Close the door on sadness <3 Thank you for sharing your heart. <3 Lauren
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vizo2123 submitted a contest entry to
Write about what you are most excited for in the new year 1 years, 7 months ago
Joy
Endless Smiles
Heart unbroken
Life looking up for you
Looking at the girl of your dreams
Doing what you love
Writing more
It’s your passion
Spread your voice
Let them hear you
It’s okay
Don’t be scared anymore
To let it show how talented you are
Express
I’m sure it’ll have them impressed
But again you’re not doing it for them
You write for you
It brings such joy
Puts an instant smile on your face
Lets Embrace
No more hiding in the shadows
This is our year to show who we really are
Not what others want to believe
Protect your peace
Go with the flow
Let it be
We are truly smiling againVoting is closed
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Love, love, love this!!
“Don’t be scared anymore
To let it show how talented you are
Express
I’m sure it’ll have them impressed”You have already impressed so many. Keep writing and living for you. And keep smiling. Thank you for sharing and thank you for being part of The Unsealed family. <3 Lauren
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Thank youuu so so much!!!
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Jake shared a letter in the
Health, Wellness and Chronic Conditions group 1 years, 11 months ago
More Than a Ramp
This is a ramp; at first, I took a picture to post on my social media platform to credit Buffalo Wild Wings for having this ‘assistant’ for people like myself who need an alternative to reach their destination. Don’t get me wrong; I appreciate not having to worry I might have ‘egg on my face’ before I enter the establishment or my cheeks being red, not because I had spicy wings, but because I fell.
Having two letters attached to my name is hard. These letters are CP. If I wanted to take the ‘steps’ — in my case, the longer route, I would say cerebral palsy, but my parents call me Jake instead of Jacob for a reason, right? Yes, my jokes are making this longer.
As I thought about posting this picture to social media, I pondered, “How could I post this phenomenal demonstration of universal design and make it universally understood?”
As I muddled for an answer, my subconscious blatantly interjected, “Your fudging kidding me, Jake? You know better; this is about your valid desire and craving for others to comprehend your sometimes paralyzing negative thoughts when ‘boxed’ or thinking you are ‘boxed’ because of two letters, CP.
So…after all of that stewing over, I realized the ramp served as a reminder, “I do not only need a ramp for physical assistance; I also need it for mental assistance! Fortunately, I do, and I hope you all do too! Keep unsealing your stories; this UNSEALED family has you!!
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Aww Jake this is so sweet. I hope The Unsealed can be that “ramp” for you and others, showing everyone we care, and helping everyone to get through the difficult moments and emotions in their lives. Thank you so much for sharing. <3Lauren
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The Unsealed definitely serves that purpose for me. I hope it does for others as well. The group certainly is a nonjudgmental space to UNSEAL the “drink” that is emotion!
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This is so true. You’re so right about The Unsealed and I’m glad you’re loving this community and the opportunity to share with others and inspire with your words.
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Crystal Mulligan shared a letter in the
Health, Wellness and Chronic Conditions group 2 years ago
Growing up with migraine
I grew up with migraine, it was like another member of the family. Always there, sometimes quiet, sometimes not but, always pretty need.
I spent my childhood in waiting rooms; chiropractors, neurologists, nutritionists all for my 4 year old brother who was getting daily attacks. As a child there were times this was fun. I would get to miss school to come to the neurologist in Manhattan. I got to know the man at the pizzeria next to the chiropractor so well that he let me put on whatever I wanted on the TV while my little brother was next door getting adjustments on his spine. As a child there were also many times this made me mad and annoyed at my brother. When we had to leave a party or family function because of his attacks, when we didn’t have chocolate in the house because he was on an elimination diet, when I was put in charge of taking care of him when we were are friends houses and their parents didn’t know what to do.
When I wasn’t in waiting rooms I could be found on the other side of a dark bedroom door wishing my mom could come play with me or help me with my homework. Or waiting on the outside of the bathroom or at the top of the stairs while my mother vomit from one of her episodic attacks. I was never allowed to wear perfume because it could trigger an attack for my mom.
When headaches became part of my daily life I didn’t think anything of it. When my vision blurred, I broke out in sweat and it felt like a knife was stabbing behind my eye I didn’t panic, I knew what it was. As I began my career as an occupational therapist my anxiety and depression worsened and I began mental health therapy for this. I casually mentioned my daily pain and my therapist seemed shocked. This was the first time I realized not everyone gets headaches, it’s not part of everyone’s life.
It had always been part of mine and I genuinely didn’t realize it wasn’t part of everyone’s. When these attacks began to worsen and increase in frequency I visited my PCP and asked if I should see a neurologist. Her response “no, you’re young, here’s this medication”. A medication I later found out can make attacks worse when I finally saw a migraine specialist. My good friend a fellow warrior pressed me and advocated to me and after months of the attacks becoming more severe I finally began my journey on living with chronic migraine and not letting it control me.
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You are so strong. It may not have been fair for you growing up but you had to live with such a painful condition that hardly fazed you. Thank you for sharing
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Wow Crystal, that’s a deep story and I’m sorry you deal with this. I wish your PCP was more mindful of the medication you were taking and was willing to send you to a doctor who could help you better. I know it must be hard to manage something that you can’t control. I’m glad you don’t let it affect your daily life and I wish you happiness, health…read more
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Antoinette Gonzalez shared a letter in the
Health, Wellness and Chronic Conditions group 2 years, 1 months ago
Darkness of Death with Diverticulitis
Its was Thursday, May 11th, 2022, my husband agreed to go to urgent care because he had the pain that of a kidney stone, which he’s prone too. Results of the urine analysis showed traces of blood, consistent with a kidney stone trying to pass. The doctor sent us on our way with meds and a script for an MRI if the stone had not passed in 24 hours. That night my husband tossed and turned, waking me as he got out of bed at like 3 in the morning to go to the bathroom. When I awoke I could see him holding his lower left abdomen, his pain visible by the light in the hall hitting his face as he opened the door, and even more so in his hobbled out of the room. My husband is one of those manly men, he wont show he has anything wrong with him, which is why I became on high alert. I allowed him space in that moment.
I woke up the next morning to hurdle the kids off to school. I texted him on my way to drop the kids off – “Good Morning baby. Get ready, when I get home we are going to the ER to get your MRI.” I had already call the insurance company to see where we could go and was told it was a 45 day approval process for a nonemergency MRI. We were not waiting that long! I could feel the darkness looming, unsure of what the energy was, but heeding the warning it presented. We didn’t even get breakfast because I knew if we did we wouldn’t make it to the ER. My husband highly dislikes doctors let alone hospitals. Also, he had already talked me out of taking him to the ER the two previous days.
My husband was taken back, he explained he had a script for an MRI for the kidney stones but the insurance wouldn’t cover it unless it was emergency or preapproved. He did an MRI and then I was let back to wait for the results with him in his ER room. He was so visibly uncomfortable he sat in a chair rather than the bed. When the doctor entered the room, the darkness was still present and a bit stronger, he explained to us that my husband was being admitted and put on IV antibiotics due to a majorly inflamed bowel of his left side. Its important to note you could see a bulge on his abdomen even through his clothing.
He was immediately administered 2 bags of antibiotics plus a bag of fluids. Once transferred to his admitted room, we realized he was on the surgical ward. In that room is where I found myself face to face with the darkness. This wasn’t just any energy, this energy was death and it was here for my husbands life. I watched for three days as my husband became more and more ill. His skin wasn’t that of the beautiful caramel, white chocolate mix anymore, instead he was yellowish green. His eyes became sunken in and every night I laid in that hospital bed I prayed it was not my last night with him. I could feel me becoming a widow. I could see snippets of my future being a single mom again, carrying my mother in law through the grief of her baby boy. I could see myself being her history repeating itself. I was helpless, powerless! It was as if I had concrete around my feet keeping me in this place of darkness, wrapped in the dark coldness of death.
I vividly remember having to go home and deliver this news to my Mother in law. She doesn’t speak English so I had to go get my niece to translate for me. I gave my niece a small debriefing, I’m so grateful for her receiving the information and not succumbing to the possibility she was going to lose not just her uncle but her god father as well. As soon as my niece and I walked in the house I could see it on my mother in laws face she knew there was grave danger lurking. It was the hardest news I’ve had to deliver. However, I’m beyond grateful for her holding down our home while I tended to our love.
At one point I felt like I was losing my mind! Between being by my husband and children’s fathers side in the hospital, updating his employers, maintaining calm, cool and collected for our three beautiful children, and not having answers for my concerned mother in law and all of my husbands siblings, I was literally running on fumes. I would run to the lobby and eat turkey slim jims for breakfast, lunch and dinner; sometimes not eating at all. My husband wasn’t allowed to eat and I wanted to spend as much time as possible with him because I knew if I didn’t I would never forgive myself for not being with him in his final hours.
On Sunday, I ran home to prepare the kids and house for Monday so I could take the kids to school in the morning. Shortly there after I arrived at the hospital to a voice message from our daughter crying. All I understood out of the message was that our son was out. I called our oldest daughter to find out what was happening. Our dog got out while she was feeding him. I ran to my car to run home and find the dog. As I ran passed the nurses station I heard the voice of death – “You must choose.” I immediately ignored it, as it has no place in our lives to dictate anything. As I went through the back streets looking for our pup before arriving home the voice returned – “Your dog or your husband?” I answered aloud this time; “I will not choose! You have no place here! Nobody will die!” I later found out, simultaneously my husband and mother in law had a similar encounter. My husband was asked “Your mothers life or yours?” My mother in law was asked “Your life or your sons?”
When I arrived home, my mother in law already had found the dog so I went back to the hospital. When I arrived and parked I remember I have my own healing and cleansing abilities and right now we are fighting for my husbands life! Why not do everything possible? I ran back home and grabbed my needed supplies. I ran to my car with everything and hurried off with all my witchcraft to heal my husband! When I arrived my husband informed me he was waiting on discharge papers and we could leave. The most relieving words I’ve ever heard leave my husband tongue.
When we arrived home, everyone rejoiced! The darkness was subsiding, and quickly. My husband started to regain his strength. It was beautiful to pay witness as my husband went from the frail state he was in not to long before in the hospital. To be home with my husband and not be a widow was the greatest gift I could have ever received for mothers day. In the end my husband was diagnosed with Diverticulitis. I am not a widow. My mother in law didn’t have to bury her baby boy. Our children get to live life with Papi by their side. Most of all, our family made it through this life altering event and we made it without life repeating history.
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Al, the experience you and your husband went through is both heartbreaking and inspiring. The darkness that loomed over you, threatening your husband’s life, must have been overwhelming. Your strength and determination to fight for his health and well-being are admirable. I’m glad to hear that he recovered and that your family made it through this…read more
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Kanani shared a letter in the
Health, Wellness and Chronic Conditions group 2 years, 4 months ago
This post is viewable by the Unsealed community only.
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Antoinette Gonzalez shared a letter in the
Health, Wellness and Chronic Conditions group 2 years, 5 months ago
How My Teeth Saved My Life!
The year 2022 was a year that gave me the most hope and reminded me the value of my own life. It, like others, gave me high highs and some scary low lows. One of my highs was that I was able to spend the time and money to begin my journey to fixing my teeth again. I found the perfect dentist and I spent majority of the year with her working on perfecting my smile. It was painful at times and even more so draining. However, my confidence and self esteem sored through the entire universe. Another high is how my teeth journey saved my life!
I received a root canal on the tooth behind my K-9 tooth on the bottom right side. This was a Wednesday and I was sent home with antibiotics and Motrin 800. By Friday I was back in the office with slight swelling and lots of pain. My dentist gave me Tylenol 3, prescription strength Tylenol that had Oxycodone mixed with it, and was told if the pain persists or swelling worsens to go to the hospital. Saturday, I was still in bed with the pain and my husband begged me to go in to the Emergency room. I hate hospitals! After hours of procrastination, I settled for the urgent care.
I have been to the urgent care once before for sever tooth pain and they were able to give me a shot of Tylenol that take effect immediately. But even more so, I knew I needed a stronger antibiotic because there was no way this wasn’t a sever infection with the amount of pain I was in and the meds I was already on. When I was explaining to the urgent care doctor what had happened throughout the week he looked at me and said, “I do not give narcotics for tooth aches.” To which I responded, “I do not need narcotics, nor do I want them. I have Tylenol 3 that isn’t working. I need a stronger antibiotic.” I also asked to have my ear looked at due to it being in pain. He prescribed me a much stronger antibiotic, gave me the shot. Then sat with me to gave me an exact schedule on how to take my meds to keep the pain at bay. I had full relief for a few hours and then over the course of the day the pain came back.
Sunday rolled around and now I am not just in pain but I’m also sleep deprived because the pain didn’t allow me to rest. When I looked in the mirror I saw the swelling was no longer in the isolated space on my jawline, where the root canal took place. There was literally no definition between my jaw and neck with the swelling. After seeing this, I asked my husband to drive me to the hospital. I explained to the doctor everything that had transpired from the root canal to the urgent care to this day. Again I was met with “We don’t treat dental work. All I can do is give you a CT and some Motrin.”
At this point I now have pain in my right cheek bone, right nostril, my neck, my jaw, my right ear. I also was experiencing extreme pressure behind my right eye, a migraine that covered the entire right side of my head, and the swelling was so bad that I could not turn my head. While my nurse was doing his intake on me, the imaging technician came to do my CT. While waiting for my nurse to finish up I could see him looking at me and at his paperwork in his hand, slightly confused. Just then he interrupts to ask “Are you having pain in your neck as well?” I responded to him “Yes. I’m having pain all through here,” and I used my hand to show him my entire right side of my head, face and neck. He then walked away in the direction of my doctor.
When he came back the nurse was done and he took me to get my CT. While on our way I learned despite my complaints and visible swelling the doctor requested a CT of ONLY my jawline. The imaging tech asked the doctor to change it to my entire head and neck as well. My husband and I waited patiently for the results, hoping I would leave with some sort of relief. The doctor came back and explained to me that the CT showed I had Sphenoid Sinusitis and I would need to follow up with an ENT (Ear, Nose & Throat Specialist). She explained the migraines are the toughest there are because its from the sinus. She said the good thing is there was no abscesses, which I knew because I’ve had abscesses in my mouth before when I was a child, and that was my response when she said that. The doctor sent me on my way with the recommendation to see an ENT.
I want to make it clear, when we were given this information there was absolutely no sense of urgency from the doctor. While on our way home we looked up what this Sphenoid Sinusitis was and it scared me a bit. Then I remember I jump to worst case scenario in these situations and I didn’t want to go through that. I called my mom the next day to tell her, she explained the ENT would put a camera in my nose and flush my sinuses through my nose and immediately I was like “NOPE!” Over the course of the next couple of weeks I avoided the topic and even attempting to find an ENT like the plague.
However, this was a huge mistake that I didn’t realize would literally effect my life terminally! Soon I was sick all the time with a head cold I just couldn’t shake. I had gotten to the point where I was just a vessel moving through my day to day life the best I could. It took every ounce of energy to get up and take the kids to school. For a month my routine became; get up, take the kids to school, come home and sleep, get up to pick the kids up from school (I slept in the car while waiting for them to get out) then go home and sleep. My family became progressively more concerned for me and honestly I did too. With the little bit of energy I had while laying in bed between naps, I began reading up more on Sphenoid Sinusitis and learned the following:
Sphenoid Sinusitis is a rare disease with potentially devastating complications such as cranial nerve involvement, brain abscess, and meningitis. It occurs at an incidence of about 2.7% of all sinus infections. Although headache is the most common presentation symptom, there is no typical headache pattern. Common symptoms of Sphenoid Sinusitis include but are not limited to; headaches, earaches, neck pain, pain behind the eyes and around the temples, post nasal drip, sinus congestion and sore throat. Sphenoid Sinusitis can cause severe complications that are potentially fatal and therefore must never be underestimated.Then I found an article of the severity of this disease in its worst state and I realized I had all of these symptoms. The weakness, lack of energy, sleeping all the time, this was my body being over taken by the disease. I knew I needed help and I needed it immediately! When I found my ENT, due to the hospital I got my diagnoses from he wasn’t fully sure it was this so he ran lots of tests. One of which was a breathing test, I scored a 29, the lowest, normal rate should be 78. As soon as he saw this he gave me a breathing treatment in office. He sent me for a blood allergy test. I was put on an inhaler twice per day, an emergency inhaler, an allergy pill once a day, a nasal steroid, an oral steroid and an antibiotic and was instructed to come back in a month for a follow up and results review. When I went back a month later, I was sick again with the same symptoms minus the excessive sleeping. I did feel the best I had felt in months. I did another breathing test and a follow up CT. He found that my Sphenoid sinus cavity was still half full with infection. I got sent home with my second round of steroids, third round of antibiotics and another follow up for a month later.
A month later I walked into his office and I thought I was cured. I still got a cold again, at this rate I was getting it once a month but it wasn’t lasting as long. The follow up CT for this appointment showed that my Sphenoid sinus cavity was only 25% filled with infection and he wanted it gone. So, a third round of steroid and a fourth of antibiotics, but this time a different, stronger one and another follow up a month later.
One month later, no cold, full of life and no infection in my sphenoid sinus cavity gave me the almost all clear. Doc wanted to see how I did for a month without all the meds. I went a month only using my allergy pill. This follow up CT showed no infection! I was cured! But, I wasn’t. I never truly will be. I will live with this for life. Every time I get any type of cold I have to be put on steroid and antibiotics to ensure this never gets out of control and takes my life.
Last year, I felt my body giving up. I felt the life draining from me with every cold, every sniffle, every nap. I genuinely feared I wouldn’t wake up one day. I am a mother, a wife, a daughter, an aunt and so much more. A lot of people will hurt and be lost if I had not been working on my teeth! My mother would have out lived her youngest child. My husband would have been a widower and would have had to raise our children without me! My children motherless! I’m incredibly grateful I began my journey to fix my teeth, for if I had not I may have not found this in a time where it was fixable.
My teeth literally saved my life!*The Sphenoid Sinus Cavity is a sinus cavity that is within your brain. When it is completely full of infection this can causethe infection to overflow to your brain.
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OMG!! I am so sorry you went through all of this. It sounds absolutely terrible but I am glad they were able to diagnose and treat you and your feeling better. <3 Lauren
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You are so strong to think that a person can go through something like this and continues to stay in their right mind amazes me. I would wish to have as much strength as you had going through this process. Thank you for sharing your store to us mand teaching us about The Sphenoid Sinus Cavity.
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That sounds like it was horrible. I’m so glad that you are feeling better. Thank you for sharing your story and educating us on what you went through. <3
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