A Fighting Chance

 "I look forward to working with you on this matter," is how the attorney representing IHC closes her email to me. Is she patronizing?

-Left hand tremor especially prevalent, evidence of TBI misdiagnosis, that named parties dismissed and ignored- 

It makes me shaky inside and out as I know, from my experiences thus far, that this attorney is really saying, "I look forward to destroying you"

and she might just as well add, "while collecting every penny and then some that should be provided to as reparation for the careless and then malicious malpractice." 

Of course, me being me, I hope this is not so and I wish to give her the benefit of the doubt, but my insides know better 

and this attorney and her firm will make unknown times more than I finally asked IHC to refund me when it became evident that I could not trust the services I had paid them for and would need to pay significantly more to actually determine what really was going on with my brain that was the subject of their malpractice. 

That gut, that instinct, coming from my experiences with them, that is what makes me shaky and, yes, I'll admit it, a bit scared, because experience has taught me that she is going to come after me like a blood thirsty hyena with no regard for what is true, fair, just, or that will help me in anyway. My insides know she intends to contribute to and increase further harm caused by my ex-medical providers -that nearly cost me my life and caused many other forms of harm to me and my family. I do not want to assume, but I also know I need to be prepared both mentally and physically for the worst and I suspect she will be just as ruthless and possibly more so than those I am trying to stand up to. 

So why bother with proceeding, you may be asking? 

Because sometimes you have do what is hard because it is the right thing to do. It does not happen very often in life to be truly faced with the opportunity and/or responsibility to do the right thing, but when it does, you cannot escape it. 

I have learned that too. 

One way or another, you have to choose and if you choose to ignore it, avoid it, escape it, "just let it go" etc, it will eat at you like cancer, destroying you slowly until you either choose to stand up for yourself and/or what you know to be right or it destroys you and most, if not all, of what you care about. A cancer that will eventually take your life one way or another through death or by turning you into the cancer that you will then cause to spread to others in ways similar to how it was spread to you. So when you are faced with one of those rare opportunities to do the right thing you have to choose or decay and death will choose for you.  

This is also how you know when you are doing the right thing and if it really matters. 

And clearly I am not alone, or this law firm (that I have been warned intends to destroy me) would not be in business, especially considering just how stacked the laws are in favor of said medical providers. 

It's going to wear on me. It's going to take a toll and I know it. It's going to be harder than I know and I have been warned by other providers about how ruthless they will be... I have already experienced it.

But that is literally why I am fighting this. Causing harm, then hiding it, then deliberately trying to destroy a person to cover up mistakes you made that caused harm to that person is the exact opposite of fair/ethical treatment and justice that our systems are supposed to be offering and protecting. The form and level of bullying and dishonesty that is coming from our medical providers, educational institutions, and legal systems is egregious. The misrepresentation and unfair treatment of people like me is archaic and exhausting. It is exhausting to watch, it is exhausting to experience, and it is exhausting to see it ignored, excused, justified, dismissed, etc. again and again and again. 

It is also heartbreaking.

Which is where I end. Both literally and figuratively. 

This fight will eventually get the best of me and I know it. My heart will eventually fail me and I know it because I feel it. But that is also why I fight- it fails either way but at least fighting, I might just make a difference and help others along the way as well- and maybe, just maybe, they will listen and my heart will be spared, even saved. 

Or maybe it will be good strength training for my heart and I will build its strength up so well that I may live longer with a higher quality of life. 

Maybe, through this, I will strengthen it enough to be able to fight for others whose hearts are still broken and being broken.  Suicide is on the rise and it is no wonder why. We need stronger hearts and our systems that are supposed to be helping need to be fixed. 

So, Dear Attorney, I will not lie or patronize thus I admit, I do not look forward to working with you but I do look forward to working on this matter and I will offer the benefit of the doubt, hoping that your words are sincere instead of patronizing

-because TBI survivor lives matter, people with bipolar matter, patients matter, justice and fairness matter, honesty matters, ethical and fair treatment of all patients matters, mental health and protecting it matters,  and I matter too. 

Sincerely,

Me

At least, not without a Fight.

 So much to do in so little time. Statutes of limitations are rarely fair for the victim. 

There are many problems with our courts, laws, governing bodies, and people and institutions in power. 

Many.

What I don't like most about them right now is the effects it has on my physiology. 

The other day my husband told me that few people are genuinely brave and that I am one of those few people. 

It's not always true. I am not always strong enough to be brave. ...but overall, I suppose it is. 

How long bravery can hold is the real question. How many beatings can the boxer take before he cries out "in his anger and his shame 'I am leaving I am leaving...'" 

..."But the fighter 

Still remains..." 

and that's where I am at. The fighter knows what happened was as wrong as it can be and that the fight needs to be fought because of it. Not just for the sake of self....

It is very hard to be brave sometimes. It is very hard to know what to do and how to fight when the fight is not a straightforward clean fight...and sometimes you have to wait until you are physically and mentally strong enough to be brave again. Brave gets you nowhere when you are too week or too injured to withstand the blows of the offenders. 

It has been a very dirty fight, this has. Fraud used to cover misconduct. Which is why I know I have to settle this once and for all. I have to stand up for myself appropriately proportionate to the opposing levels of misconduct. I won't fight dirty like they have, but my conscience and body tells me I have to fight as much and as hard as I can because of how dirty they have fought me when there should not have been a fight at all; when the focus should have been on health and healing and improving knowledge and practices. 

I also fight because I have to accept the reality of the situations that brought me here. I have to accept the reality of what happened to me and my body and the misconduct and bad practices, ethics, values, morals, etc. that broke me so horribly and then kept breaking me, again and again and again, with reckless disregard, every time I asked for no fight, but understanding and fair treatment....

I am letting whatever comes out come out right now as my body is struggling to maintain the stability we have worked so hard for... 

I do not like, at all, the way my body now responds to stresses and circumstances.

I do not like how it responds to problems that need to be faced, addressed, and fixed. 

I do not like the toll it takes to face Goliaths and groomers...

"I do not do well with blurred boundaries," he says as he breaks and blurs his boundaries and then accuses me for it. 

"I do not have blurred boundaries," I say, "They just look different than others. But they are solid and I know it because I check them and test them, much the same way a rancher tests their fences."

And when a boundary is broken, they fix it... to protect their assets? Or is it for the safety and wellbeing of all parties? Because cows wandering on highways is very dangerous... 

Breaking boundaries, brains, hearts, and souls. Getting other people to go along with it. Going along with the instructions to do and/or increase the breaking. Fraudulently covering misconduct... That is when people need to be stopped. 

I wish it weren't so, but it is. and I won't be sit by when I know there are parties that wage wars on humanity and bravery because they are too cowardice to admit they made mistakes or so deviant that they manipulate others into playing their Nazi-esque games -Followers then following the leader where ever they may go without knowing why or simply because they fear what will happen to them if they take a stand themselves by saying, "stop, there is something not right happening here and I won't go along with it."

Systems are supposed to be in place to prevent this in our civilized world but they are NOT functioning as they should. 

Brave.  

The thing that bothers me the most is how so many people treat this like a game. This is not a game. I am not their toy to play with how they wish. My health and wellbeing is not a game. I know TBI. I now more fully know and understand bipolar. I know what they are all pretending to understand, be experts on, and and to be working to figure out -what they have paid thousands and years to learn. This is not a game for those of us who live with the reality and affects of these conditions. 

Do not try to make me out to be, or into, things that I am not for your amusement, pride, pleasure, ego, fear, or fallacies. 

Learn from me and learn with me but do not try to define me by your limited understanding. Your universities, studies, PhD's and organizations are decades behind. Do not try to destroy me or silence me to hide this. 

Do not try to destroy me to hide your failures, ignorance, deviance, bigotry and misdeeds or to stroke your pride and your egos. 

I will not be your victim.

"Do you think I have been here playing games with you this whole time?" I ask. His silence confirming that he had.

 

Emotional Distress- now how do you calculate damages for that?

 I did it. Today I did it. I filed the Notices of Claims against USU and Cache County Prosecutor's office.

Because I am determined not to allow them to destroy me and I am determined to beat the harm, past present and perpetual, that it is causing me, I am learning a lot on this journey through our legal and judicial systems. For the most part it is not fun and it has been very stressful and distressing. The infliction of emotional distress is very real and it manifested itself today as I hand delivered the Notices Of Claims to the appropriate persons. I opted for that to ensure they were delivered and so I could obtain receipt of delivery immediately. I was not going to gamble with the mysteries and mishaps of electronic or mail deliveries. 

So first I took my notice to the county. It was not the office or department I am standing up to that I had to deliver to. Which is probably a good thing for both them and me because it was hard enough being nice to the non-offending receiving department. I did my best and overall I think it went well but they could clearly sense my tension and I felt as though I must have been staring daggers with how on edge they all seemed. It was comical when the man I am obligated to send the notice to was telling me the best way to ensure delivery is to submit it electronically as he was holding the notice in his hand. I tried to relieve the tension with comedy by commenting on my observation of that fact. I am not sure if it did or if it just made him embarrassed. He was nice though and I was glad for it. 

Next it was to the University. The Office of Legal Affairs/General Counsel. They were not as fun. The lady was sweet the whole time but the friendly bubbly young attorney was not as friendly as he was presenting and at one point he actually told me to chill out. Which was especially disrespectful and condescending considering how damn good of a job I was doing at maintaining my composure in this lions' den of the  Goliath I am trying to take on and that has been playing very nasty games with me and my life for the past year plus. I did not appreciate his comment. 

I did however appreciate that Utah Attorney General Assistant that issued the biased report was there so I could address him personally. I was told I would now have to go through various channels because I filed a Notice of Claim, but I at least got to say, "you assumed things about me that aren't true," ask him why he never bothered to consult with/interview me (when he said his decisions were based on what was presented to him), and I got to tell him that his report had many errors and misrepresentations. I told him to read the part of his report where he explains what the officers job was, because that was exactly my complaint: the officer did not do those things- "but then you dismissed my complaint" I reminded him. This attorney was much more professional and seemed more genuinely nice. I appreciated him for listening and explaining things politely, and even taking some time to respectfully listen. I was still mad at him for his part in all of this, but I felt some respect for him. 

Then I left and thought of all the things I wish I had said... but that's the thing about intentionally and/or negligently inflicted emotional distress; it comes out and can be hard to contain. I wish I had been on my game and been able to say in that moment to the snarky young attorney, "you see, that's one of the problems for us TBI survivors, its a lot harder to hide our emotional distress. Especially from those people and institutions who have caused it. Now how about you document your witnessing it. Thanks." 

I also wish I would have remembered to tell them that while it may be a game to them, they are messing with peoples lives and livelihoods. And USU has been screwing with mine (and my kids) in egregious ways for the past year plus. This is not a game to me. 

I maybe would have also liked to have said "Yes, I am and will be representing myself because despite so many University employees' false beliefs about me, I am competent and intelligent enough to do so." but my blood was boiling to much to reply so cleverly when the arrogant young attorney asked if I had an attorney.  

I hope they read this so they can hear those things that needed to be said.  But I did not beat myself up for not saying them. I won't let them have that power over me and when I left I was actually quite relieved and it felt good. A weight had lifted and I felt a soft tingling wave of pride, peace, and hope wash over me as I drove away and allowed myself to feel whatever it was that I needed to feel in that moment.  It was nice.

A confirmation that I am doing the right thing. 

So I fight because Goliath does not scare me and I am fighting for so much more than just me and for financial reparation. 

Keeping Busy

 I have been keeping busy by substitute teaching. I'm currently in the midst of a 3-4 week longterm sub job teaching a group of "challenging" 6th graders. It has been challenging, but teaching always is. 

Even when it is not. 

One of the reasons I accepted this job was to test my limits. I want to see if my now-deficient-brain is capable of handling teaching full time. So far the answer is yes and no. It is possible that I technically could do it... but thus far, two weeks in, it is not getting easier as far as my body is concerned. It is getting harder to get up in the morning when I hoped the consistency would make it easier. By the second half of the day the kids are loosing their steam and focus. Which leads to much more noise and off task-ness. In addition to that my brain is becoming more fatigued. It makes it very difficult to remember things and to teach math, which is what this teacher has scheduled for the second half of the day. I also find myself taking things more personally. I try not to let that show, because logically I know, their rowdy kid ways have little to do with me, but I have observed this internal struggle a bit. 

... These are few things I have noticed. I still know what I am doing and am often able to get through to the kids but the depletion is real and if I am being fully honest I do not think my body would be happy with me if I had the additional stresses and time demands of teaching full time...

Which is sad, because, overall, I am a good teacher.

But could I even get a job if I wanted to with that black mark on my record now? The black mark of being criminally charged for my son trying to stand up for me when I was being poorly treated by a disability-discriminating professor?

It's a major stressor. And I have emails about it waiting to be read that are coming from people and institutions I already know I cannot trust. It's more than I want to put my body through right now and it is very unfair. Yet I have their 10 day deadline I am obligated to meet. How convenient for them that they get drag things out for so long, cause so much stress and then put rigid and rather quick deadlines on things. 

I don't have the energy or stamina to read them right now. I don't want to push my body chemistry again when I have so many challenging kids to take care of... so I am instead on here trying to blog it out in order build my courage and strength to faces these things I need to keep fighting. 

And why do I need to keep fighting? https://www.cbs58.com/news/10-year-old-utah-black-and-autistic-student-dies-by-suicide-weeks-after-scathing-doj-report-on-school-district

Bullying is a huge problem in Utah and this is exactly what has been happening with me; bullying. How can we expect kids to stop bullying when the adults in positions of power are bullying as much and as egregiously as they are and nobody that is supposed to does anything to stop it? 

When universities, professors, Office's of Equities, police, prosecuting attorneys/ our justice courts, and even Utah Attorney Generals are bullying and/or ignoring bullying, then how the hell can we expect our kids to stop bullying? 

When our medical providers and their institutions are bullying and ostracizing how can ever hope to end these issues?

It trickles down, all the way to kids. Suicidal thoughts are a symptom and sometimes they are a symptom of being ignored, disregarded, discriminated against, bullied, dismissed, and despised by those we are supposed to trust and those whose job it is to protect us and to educate. 

The story of the little girl breaks my heart on so many levels. 

He and Heh

 I am facilitating an Emotional Resilience group meeting coarse for the next few months. During this time we have action partners that we check in with during the week. The facilitator is involved the same way as the rest of the group. Because we had an unbalanced mix of men and women we decided to make our action partners a trio instead of doubles. Initially the group wanted to switch partner-trios every week but after the first week they all wanted to stick with the same trio for longer. I am not surprised and was fine with the change. However we had to split the family dynamic of my group so we had to rearrange the groups... and I somehow landed in the group with the one person I absolutely did not want to be grouped with.

But it is only because his first name is the same as ex-neuropsych, Dr. He, and it is spelled the same. It seems so ridiculous that this would bother me and I think I am just being silly. It will be fine.

But I am pretty sure there is some PTS happening that may be Disordering me. He, in the group, started the text between me and the other lady. That's great, takes the pressure off of me. But Other Lady does not reciprocate the check in... She reports how she is doing but doesn't ask how we are doing.... It's silly and I know it, so I sit down to text, "and how are you doing with your goals this week He?" It makes me cry seeing "He" like this on my phone. Talking to He. 

I covered my bases by keeping it very impersonal by asking specifically about his goals, not about how he is doing or how his week is going. I feel like I have to direct the message at him to include him... But I can't do it. I can't send the message. So I delete his name and retype, intentionally misspelling it to the more commonly used and more benign form of the name. He with an h- Heh (ha). It's enough of a safeguard and I am then able to hit send. Can I keep this up? Is it okay to intentionally misspell his name to avoid that trigger? Should I tell He this? 

I don't know. But it kind of sucks just how much Dr. He, with the help of his Institution, screwed me up... 

I'm so much better and still improving but sometimes it is still too much... which is probably why I came here next. To process, publish, and move on again. 

Knowing when to fight and when to sleep

 It was so nice to get away and be able to entirely focus on my book. Coming back I went straight to substitute teaching for next three days for a teacher that appreciates me and recognizes my value as a teacher and a person. The kids are great and I have good report with them as well. So that was nice. The weekend I spent with my husband and son and that was nice. 

But now it is back to all the realities looming. Including those that are still unresolved in regards to my academic potential...

I have insurance companies to deal with, attorneys to talk to and to try to talk to and even to take back to court to collet against. I have issues to report in regards to the looming and increasingly perpetuated problems of discrimination, bias, and "intentional infliction of emotional distress" by Utah State University, etc. 

Now really I don't have to try to keep fighting to be heard and treated fairly by USU, I can just move on... But then I have to grieve the loss of my potential, accept/allow egregious forms of prejudice and discrimination, and so much more...

No matter what I do it is hard and not okay and this is all causing me to feel sad and low. I am sad and low and I find myself struggling to do anything... Too many heavy burdens that people don't care to care about.

Discrimination is stifling and so degrading. It is why blacks are still fighting against it. Because they are still be psychologically, socially, emotionally, crushed by it. Sure it might not be as bad and as obvious as it used to be, but it is still there and still too prevalent. It can be messy and hard to discern when it is discrimination or just people being jack asses. It is a far heavier burden and psychological mess to navigate than you will ever know if you haven't experienced it. I feel for the other minorities and marginalized populations.

I feel for me too. I have to. Because it's not fair to expect myself to be okay with all the shit that has and continues to go on and I will never be okay by accepting that I am the shit people are treating me to be. Because I am not. I am more and I know it. 

And this is how I turn it around. How I stay okay and how I keep moving forward no matter how slow and heavy my feet and legs are; no matter how much my brain begs me to allow it to go back to sleep. I will keep moving and I will keep going, even when tears are streaming or just blurring my vision, I won't give in and give up. I will not accept what I have been degraded to and how I have been misrepresented and miss-presented. 

I fight. 

Even if sleep wins again. 

Happy Halloween from Utah State University

 "I will never check myself into a mental health hospital," I tell Dr. She after she reminds me of the option. 

This conversation took place more than a year ago. It was had when I was still stabilizing with the help of accurate diagnosis, medication and my new medical team. I was not entirely in the clear and would still feel push back from my chemistry that had been surging out of control for months. I will admit there were times when I wished to be hospitalized and it would have been wise for my medical providers to have suggested it, even demanded it, and I technically needed it. 

But, as I have said, I am not likely to ever willingly check myself into any kind of mental institution or hospital. Why?

Parable time: Insane Asylums do not have the place they have in creepy, terrifying US Halloween culture for no reason. There are plenty of reasons. But the cold, hard, truth of the matter is, it was not the mentally ill patients that made the asylums terrifying. They may have made them uncomfortable, weird, bizarre, interesting, etc. but not terrifying. What made Asylums and mental institutions truly terrifying is how the  medical providers and staff -those who were regarded as sane, trustworthy and responsible- treated the mentally ill patients. The terror is in how the "stable" and "sane" treated the vulnerable and marginalized people who were as inflicted and in need of help, compassion, and treatment as any person in any regular medical hospital.

The problem I have with "mental" or "behavioral" hospitals, is that I have heard far too many horror stories of how people are treated currently by those who are considered and even highly regarded as stable, sane, and ethical.  So many bad experiences from people when they are broken and at their most vulnerable, injured, and in need of help. I have a heard some good stories but those are few and far between and seem to only be coming from patients who have significant financial resources.

It is a very sad reality I have been reminded of this Halloween season. 

It's even more tragic knowing the horrors USU psychology department, police department, Students services, even the Office of Equities and Disability Resource Center, etc has so needlessly inflicted on my family; the exact people who should, can, and are even paid to know better. Tragic and terrifying that we still allow this kind of crap.