Being Me !!

Just Me, Melia here.

I am truly a unique person. There is no one like me and their will be no other person exactly like me again. I have several conditions that make me truly different than you. I am proud of my differences and quite frankly can't imagine living life any different than I already live it.

First of all, I have cerebral palsy. This condition happened probably at or before my birth and is due to the lack of oxygen to the left hemisphere of my brain. I have paralysis on my right side. Yes, before you ask, I can walk, I can talk, and am intelligent. I have a Master's in Social Work although at the moment I am in a place that is so rural and backwood-sy that my degree means nothing. I am a stay-at-home Mommy and love every minute (most of the time). I have two wonderful children: a boy 7, and a girl who is one.

I also have a seizure disorder that stems from my cerebral palsy. I am able to control it with use of anti-seizure medication. The last seizure I did have was due to a very long weekend when I was in graduate school and they had a marathon weekend class in April 1998. The class was a total of 15 hours and so the professor divided into two days from which we spent ten hours on Friday and five hours on Saturday and I had the seizure on Sunday. I called it my hell weekend.

I also suffer a form of depression called dysthymia that stems back from my parents divorce when I was five. They chose to play games using me as their go between kid. Both my parents had their way of pushing my buttons. The custody battle was the worst because my Dad would always tell me that he would get custody of my sister and me. He once told me that he was going to have my Mom placed in jail. My Mom's main game was to get mad every time my Dad would take me or my sister to Disneyland or Knott's Berry Farm. She would also throw a fit if he brought me home tired because I would come home grumpy.

I became even further depressed after I was raped by a long-term boyfriend. This was actually the straw that broke the camel's back in terms of me seeking help. Although, at first it was only in terms of therapy. I still had yet to convince my family that I needed more help. My Mom was very scared of the stigma that would be assigned if I went to a doctor for help. It was not until after I graduated with my Master's that I got medical treatment for my depression in 1999.

So, that is what I am all about. The true me -- the real me unmasked. Take it or leave it....