Update on Deb

I apologize to whomever has been reading my blogs. I have obviously been MIA. I miss writing like crazy! Surprisingly, my writing, be it promotion or journalism, is so much easier and so much more fulfilling than my current full-time job.

For those of you who weren't aware, I had a partial complex seizure in January 2010 and was later diagnosed with gray matter heterotopia. After extensive physical therapy, I was able to walk fairly successfully with the aid of a cane. In October, I was given the go-ahead to start working again instead of claim disability.after over 2 years of unemployment, I finally found work at minimum wage taking calls as a customer service agent. Training was a breeze; however, when I moved to taking calls on my own, I began to experience a significant amount of dizziness and no doubt multiple absence seizures contributing to that dizziness. It wasn't long before I had to give up my cane and go back to using my walker again. It's been almost 90 days since I began working, and I've missed over 10 days of work. I've tried to use my cane at home, but I haven't been successful. I came home early today because I simply couldn't handle more than a few hours of calls.

Phil has definitely learned what it means to stay with me through sickness and in health, and I am so incredibly grateful for him and how he has taken care of me. I can only hope that my brain can somehow adjust to a 40-hr work week. And that I can be a full-time cane user again.

For those of you who have been following my dissertation progress, I have exhausted all of my extensions, and I will be taking the next two quarters off to work on my appeal and continue working independently on my proposal and my first few chapters. If allowed to complete my doctoral program, I will keep with my original topic looking at how the optimal learning experience changes as adolescents transition to middle school.

No matter what you believe or how you live your life, I would appreciate your good thoughts and positive vibes that we can finish 2011 on a higher note than we have these past two years.