Bitch on Gaming

I am working on about 22 pages of ideas for this blog, but while I am at it, I want to recommend this article on Bitch: The Games We Play: Access This. It brings up some of the same thoughts I have had about gaming, and great new ones too!

Enjoy!

SmartAss Protips: Puking

Puking, vomiting, upchucking, worshiping the porcelain alter/goddess/god, driving the toilet bus, Technicolor yawn, horking, chunder, hurling, blowing chunks, ralphing, spewing, extreme anti-peristalsis, spewing, barfing, rainbow gagging, heaving, retching...

We have a lot of names for it, and none of them are nice – because vomiting is never pleasurable (outside of say, a fetishist, but that is not the topic of this post).

Here are some handy tips for those days when food just won’t stay down. This is not your standard nausea battle guide, this is stuff that has worked for me, and may work for you! I had two pregnancies that were full of fail when it came to keeping food down, and it has come up (?!?) again as a new med had me face down on a fairly frequent basis. It took two months to fix the situation: I was hesitant to call, because the pain medication was actually working, the first time I called they assumed the problem was on the other end of my digestive tract, when the medication they prescribed for that did not work I spread out my dosage more evenly through the day and eventually found dosages/times that worked for me (and still had me at or under my allotted amount per day).

Important note: I say this again later, but I want to be clear up here -- this is my own personal advice for handling a bout of puking. If you have any questions at all about why you are sick, you should talk to your medical professional, if possible. This is not meant to be a substitute for qualified medical advice!

Let's get too it!

Put your hair back – ponytail, clips, pins, whatever. My hair is long, so it is definitely a concern when I am throwing down with the porcelain.

Have a tidy bowl – if my stomach contents are already unsteady, one sure path to a speedy exit is a disgusting toilet. So, keep it tidy or ask your partner/caretaker/aid to lend a hand here.

Protect the pretties – if you wear [edit - spelling] long necklaces, consider taking them off until you feel better, or cheat like I do: tuck them into your shirt or bra straps.

Pearly whites – always brush or at least rinse afterwards. You don’t need old food or digestive juices hanging out on your teeth. Post-puke teeth are gross anyway, and you do not need that reminder hanging around while you try to hold something down.

Find your balm – some folks swear by ginger, starches, or mint. I am a shortbread girl myself. Experiment and find what works for you. Ice cream works occasionally for me. My boyfriend swears by drinking a Coke to settle his tummy. Motion sickness pills can help, too, by the way.

Be prepared – if you feel queasy, and unsure of your ability to make it to your bathroom, there is no shame in preparing ahead of time. Keep a basin, bucket, or wastebasket handy. Think about how you want to manage afterwards: are you up to cleaning it out, or would you rather double bag line it so you can tie them up and toss them?

Listen up – pay attention to what your body tells you. Do not wait until the last minute to do what you need to do. This, coupled with the above, can help prevent a lot of accidents.

Get it over with – I have found that when I am dealing with a bout of antiperistaltic movement, sometimes it is best to just get it over with, rather than fighting it tooth and nail. Your mileage may vary.

Talk it out – if you have a partner, roommate, caregiver, aid, let them know what is going on. Do you want someone to hold your hair back, or greet you with a bottle of water when you are done? Have a conversation, and do not be ashamed of things you have little or no control over, okay? Early in my relationship with my husband we both caught a stomach bug so terrible we were both prescribed anti-nausea suppositories -- as you can guess, we worked through the awkwardness then.

Watch what you eat – keep an eye out for how things may come back up when you are chowing down. I tend to stick to soft stuff: pudding, ice cream, apple sauce, flavored oatmeal. You may want to stay away from other foods: popcorn (eck! Don’t ask!), hard chips like potato or corn, spicy foods (if it stings going down, it is going to be a bad scene when it comes back), big leafy foods can be unpleasant, avoid anything that usually upsets your stomach or is uncomfortable (spicy foods at or beyond your tolerance point).

Along these lines, if you don’t already – chew your damn food! Seriously, you should do this whether you are puking or not. Take small bites, and chew thoroughly. Do you ever watch people eat? Even when there is no time constraint, many folks eat like they are in a huge hurry. But when you are nauseated, the idea that a bite could get wedged in your nose is likely to encourage you to develop this good habit.

Water, water -- stay hydrated. Seriously, no matter how frequently you are vomiting, you must stay hydrated. Dehydration is one of the big problems with vomiting as with diarrhea. 

Knowledge is power -- if you have a condition that can be worsened by vomiting (diabetes comes to mind), make sure you know if you should do anything special to keep disaster at bay.

Doctor, doctor – it is always okay to ask your doc for advice and help with this issue. I recommend it, especially if you think that it may be a sign of illness, or intolerance to a medication. Some areas have nurses you can consult by phone. Your medical professional may recommend anything from ginger to an anti-nausea ‘script. Work with them to come up with a solution you can manage.

Have any tips? Feel free to share in the comments! Have a question? Go ahead and ask! Got an opinion? Check out the comment policy, and fire away!

Wow, Folks!

Well, people, I want to thank you for getting the word out on my wheelchair etiquette piece. The response was amazing! (Also, a little scary, but I am avoidant, and we can talk about that some other time.) I am very gratified by the traffic, and by your comments, I do not know what to do or say other than to thank you.

So, thank you.

I have been alternately busy, sick, or both busy and sick lately. Okay, and a little bit of Halo: Reach in there too. Blame SLE/lupus, the Democratic party, my birthday (woot!), maybe Bungie, and definitely me. I have a bunch of stuff in the works for Patient C, but I have some juggling of priorities to do, too. Yes, a round of sighs all around. 

I promise I have some good stuff going, but some of it it is also tough -- recounting atrocious stories in order to get to the meat of various matters takes more courage than I can sometimes muster all at once.

Awkward Moments, 3

A close friend of mine and I went to an Obama campaign rally in Indianapolis. This was one of my first big events in my wheelchair and I was very nervous about it.

It was cold, and I was wearing a coat. Hoping to make things a little easier, I put the minimum amount of stuff I needed into my coat pockets. This was a terrible, bad, no good call!

We get to the event and park the car. By the time we are halfway across the state fairgrounds parking lot, I am thankful for the chair already.

We get to the entry lines, and we are shuffled over to the leftmost line, as they are handling those of us that cannot get through the regular security lines. When it gets to be my turn, I have about half my pockets emptied into my lap, and half left unfortunately to make people wait while I finish. My friend and the security staff are pretty gracious while I fumble through my stuff to put it on the scanner conveyer belt. One staffer asks me about my meditation beads and makes other conversation as I finish up. The staff has me lean up for a pat-down, and then everything is fine.

So, this one is more about me getting used to the chair than anything else. I recommend, if possible, that one of your first wheelchair outings not be at such a high security event!

Tongue Day!

Hello! This is just a quick note to apologize for taking extra time to approve comments, and for not getting a post out today as planned. I had a meeting, and then had a brush biopsy done to a small spot on my tongue. So, apologies for the inordinate delay, and things should be smoothed out by tomorrow.

Thanks for checking in!

PS: Please do not worry, this biopsy was a "just in case" measure, and I am only default-level concerned about it. I will know results in 10-12 days or so.

Cat Gargoyle Redux

Wow, people, thank you for getting the word out about PatientC. I am very excited, and very thankful! I have one more SmartAss Guide to polish up, and will get to working on some more. I also have a terrible, no good, very bad day write up that is turning into a post on identity, and I think I will work on getting it ready for the next Disability Carnival!

So, for a little treat, here is Umbra, helping out with the blog again!

When my cat, Umbra, is not perched on my back or shoulders, she sometimes seeks comfort on the arm of the couch, which is not coincidentally where I rest my arm and trackball. *sigh* This arrangement always starts out okay, but through the course of an hour or so will move towards my hand, and eventually rest her chin on my wrist or the back of my hand. As you can probably guess, this makes mousing difficult and switching to the keyboard to type nearly impossible (without upsetting one or both of us!).

My grey cat, Umbra, on the arm of the couch, sharing space with my arm and my trackball!

DC Cabs - No Rides for Service Animals

Two posts in one day! Wow! 

Anyway, first off -- animal guides are not my bailiwick. However, I saw this on Twitter (hat-tip to s.e. smith, of this ain't living, and is fantastic!) and since we had a lot of useful dialog about animal service yesterday, I thought I should post this here as well.

People with Service Animals Can't Catch a Cab in D.C.

The article includes information on a study done by the Equal Rights Center, which is both interesting and depressing, in my opinion. They also include a YouTube video in the article that shows people trying to hail cabs and being passed over in favor of people without companions. A direct link to the study is here.

Awkward Moment, 2

The other day I was in the hospital with some friends I was supporting, and since the day was long (what day in a hospital isn’t?), I spent it in my wheelchair.

I was at the corner of my friend’s bed, and pretty out of the way. A nurse came in to prep for a new patient in the room’s other bed, which is fine. She decided I was in her way, looks down at me, and says “I’m going to have to move you.” A nurse! I responded, “No, you are going to ask me to move and I will move.”

My friend saw it, even with all she was going through, and mentions it in the comments here.

Alright, I am occasionally known amongst my friends as having high expectations for other people… But I will be damned before I find it unreasonable to expect a medical professional in a hospital to know some damn wheelchair etiquette!

Would you tell an able-bodied person that you needed to move them? No. If you would not say it to a temporarily able-bodied person, then do not say it to a person in a wheelchair!

Edit: for grammar.

The SmartAss Guide to Wheelchair Etiquette

(Updated!)

Alright, this is going to consist of one solid concept and then variations on what to do with that concept. With the amount of faux paux, ignorance, and just straight up bad behavior I have seen myself, I feel like this is necessary. I do not believe that I should have to add a sarcasm warning to something with the words "smart ass" in the title, but there you go.

If you find yourself sputtering “But, but…” or getting angry or defensive – well, you will have to deal with that. There are guides out there that are more politic, nice, and cater to the discomfort that the able-bodied or temporarily able-bodied feel in these situations. I do not give a damn about that. You have been warned!

Main concept: a person in a wheelchair is just that – a person in a chair. Person. Chair. That is it. The corollary to that is this: do not do ridiculous shit. If you remember nothing else, remember this, and it should guide you well.

Editorial note: I often just say "wheelchair" as that is the scope of my experience. As far as I know, all this also applies to the users of scooters and power chairs. If I am mistaken, please let me know in the comments and I will happily make appropriate changes.

Now let’s talk about how that plays out in real life.

Watch This Space!

Heya! This is just an update post to let you know I have been back in town for a couple of days, and things are okay. I am still really fatigued, but I expected and planned for that, no worries there.

Here is a taste of the next several upcoming posts:

• I Have Politics, Get to Know Them (Me),
• The SmartAss Guide to Puking for Pros,
• An Awkward Moments post, and
• The SmartAss Guide to Wheelchair Etiquette (in which I am decidedly not a good cripple!).

And since you have been nice enough to come here and read a maintenance post, I will treat you to even more of my crip-brilliant ideas:

• Thoughts on House, MD and responsible portrayal of opiate use,
• Hospital Visits, and why people should damn-well go,
• Advanced Directives,
• More Awkward Moments,
• Disability and Sexuality,
• Caregiver Stress and ideas of what to do about it,
• My story (yeah, this one may take a while),
• Emergency Bag -- why you should have one, what should be in it, and
• The Office Visit and the Social Contract (and why you should break it!)

So, there's a little peak into my brain and my notes. Thanks for stopping by, and watch this space!