Hola Mi Amor!

Hola Mi Amor!

Buenos días amor. ¿Cómo estás? I was in worship this morning when God brought to my remembrance some of the opportunities He made a way to bring me THROUGH! Reflecting on my journey caused me to think of our Veterans with tomorrow being a day when we honor our Vets.

The ongoing pandemic or rather our continued recovery from the pandemic remains in progress. I am one of hundreds of thousands across the world that is still receiving and expecting my full recovery in Jesus’ name. During the height of my battle for my health while being covid positive with a restaurant menu size list of symptoms I felt like an injured and abandoned soldier on the battlefield. Where were my brothers and sisters of my battalion? When will the medic arrive?

My medical background consists of working as a certified pharmacy technician in a compounding facility, EMT-B certification, 3 years in radiologic technology which believe me includes far more patient care than I ever imagined, but I loved it. Preparing to be a living organ donor in 2011 followed by having renal cell cancer in 2012, gave me completely different added perspectives about healthcare needs from the lens of a patient. Then as I fought to save my daughter’s life in January 2020 that caused me to advocate for my baby like never before! I do praise God for all of my training and because of all of my experience over the years I’ve been blessed to save 2 people’s lives- not on the job, but just out here living and working in life.

With the my medical knowledge and education I knew that there were symptoms and complications that not only remained for the entire 60 days I was covid positive, but far beyond what the CDC or any news was reporting to be “a normal recovery.” I went to my doctor who did NOT listen to me at all. I came in to his office by myself in a wheelchair, in excruciating pain and fatigue and expressed my difficulty with eating. He proceeded to give me some lidocaine injections in my traps and then only tried to push antidepressants on me. What about the other 180 issues and symptoms I’m having?! He basically didn’t “believe in covid or long covid” smh.

This had me like, “…all my life I had to fight!” NOW I can laugh about it, but dealing with my doctor until I had assistance advocating for myself over a year later, did cause me some PTSD that I had to work through in therapy. It was something I wouldn’t wish on any human being. Because of my doctor’s neglect I wouldn’t find out (and no thanks to him) until months later after losing 50 lbs. that the same kidney cancer I had 10 years prior had come back again in my left kidney.

The second major incident involved a mental health care provider. Going through cancer once again, constantly battling with long covid, and losing my mobility while still caring for my daughter’s health having us in and out of the hospital, was a LOT! So I finally got connected with behavioral health supports again after advocating for myself.

The psychiatrist I was seeing put me on a medication and then wouldn’t listen to me when I told her it made me gain 10 lbs. in a month! She played it off saying oh some people may experience that. Each month I was like yo I gained ANOTHER 10 lbs. this isn’t right! Needless to say 50 lbs. later now I was even more depressed because again I wasn’t being heard and now I’m extremely overweight!

Both of these 2 issues tried to trigger the trauma of an eating disorder I fought for 13 years. Man was this been a rollercoaster of weight and emotions during that time!!! When I got get away to Cancun, Mexico with my daughter and road the ATV and a horse through the jungle, was my first feeling of true freedom! It had been a year since I could walk, so on having the freedom of driving as fast and crazy as I wanted to through butterflies and rain- was such an incredible gift I will never forget.

Think about your family, friends or anyone you know that is or has served in any of the armed forces. [For my international readers I’m speaking of areas like our US Army, Navy etc.] How many stories have you heard of men and women that served in Vietnam, any of the world wars, Desert Storm or otherwise that either come back with health issues or develop them later down the road? I know that Veterans in our country are always fighting for their healthcare, their benefits, finding employment, behavioral health opportunities and even challenges that lead some to become unhoused.

How do we expect our brothers and sisters to literally put their lives on the line on a daily basis to protect and serve our country and then treat them as second class citizens or anything less than honored, appreciated and supported once they return home? My battles were my own and I’m not discounting them in any way- and I’m still saying, the fights that most of our Vets have experienced is beyond what I could ever imagine. It’s a complete disservice to them to be treated like they do.

So as we celebrate Veterans Day tomorrow think about ways that you can truly honor a Vet that you know or even a stranger. Yes there are various places they can receive a free meal on Monday or maybe some kind of giveaways, but what can you do- On Purpose to bless a Veteran? How can you bring someone a moment of joy and a smile to their face? Let’s be intentional about uplifting one another and to spread LOVE!

Happy Veterans Day to you and THANK YOU for your service. God bless you and God bless America! 🙏🏽🕊️🇺🇸

For any of you that may be reading this that have or are currently still fighting- don’t give up. Keep advocating for yourself and those you love. Never give up! God’s not finished with you yet and He still has a great purpose for you. Be encouraged today.

Have a blessed day- On Purpose!

Love & Blessings,

Janabee 🐝