We Lead Complicated Lives...

Have you realized from reading my blog how complicated my family's lives are with their efforts to keep me physically and mentally healthy? It really is amazing the lengths mom and dad will go to help me. I guess they really do love me. A list of things they do for me...

• 2 cartons of cigarettes every ten days. I must call dad and he will go by Fat Albert's and get them. He pays for these out of his pocket and cigarettes are very expensive these days due to the state taxes imposed - the sin taxes. "You smoke too much," dad will tell me. "Smoke one every thirty minutes!" Dad is very forgiving of this addiction as he realizes a great deal of mentally ill people smoke due to the great deal of comfort it can give an unwell mind.



• 6 diet cokes a day. Mom goes to great lengths with a Nazi like tenacity to assure I get these cokes every morning and only six at a time. Dad says I will get "high" off the caffeine and it will make me mentally sick. He doesn't want me to get "off." I have trouble with moderation. I will often call mom and ask for more and she will tell me dad would get on to her.
  



• Mom buys my groceries every Wednesday because for a long time I couldn't go because of my panic attacks and social phobias. We try to stick with $40 dollars a week to help my disability allotment last through the month. I eat a lot of sandwiches, but dad, lately, has been helping me with eating healthier prepared foods.
  



• Dad comes every night religiously to give me my medications. He waits thirty minutes watching The Weather Channel to make sure I don't throw them up as I have been known to do when I get paranoid they are harming me. This, after he worked ten hours all day.
  



• Mom once was bad about giving me money from time to time. She once gave me three dollars a day, but I was using it to get high off Benadryl. A 48 pill count of Benadryl was only $1.99 at Fred's and I would take all of them in a day. She got scared that if Dad ever found out he would disown her.
  



• I am given two restaurant meals a week to vary my diet and as a treat. Mom brings these by my house on Monday and Tuesday nights.
  



• Helen cooks for me and mom on Fridays. Dad worries I don't eat enough vegetables and Helen ALWAYS cooks at least three wholesome vegetables every Friday along with a meat selection, salad, and baked bread such as biscuits. Helen's help is very expensive and she doesn't come cheap. Dad pays for this.
  


• My life is carefully monitored to assure I don't get money so as not to be tempted to drink and thus defeat the purpose of my mental illness medications. Dad even goes to such lengths as keeping my driver's license from me to make sure I am not pawning all my nice belongings at the pawn shop. You can get a lot of drinking money from pawn shops with nice things such as Nintendo Wii's and Canon digital cameras. They even buy old DVDs and CDs and I have hundreds of these, but you need valid identification to sell them.
  


• Every night, dad makes sure Maggie has fresh food and water. He will throw out the day old food Maggie doesn't eat and puts fresh food in the bowl. Maggie loves this little ritual of ours and will stand by and watch with anticipation of getting her fresh food stuff.
  


• I am escorted by dad and mom to all medical appointments to make sure I go and that I am receiving the medical attention I need. Dad will use his day off to drive me all the way to Opelika for my psychiatrist's appointment. That can't be fun when he could be sleeping in. This week, it is blood work to check my Lithium levels which must be checked every two weeks. Mom is going to take me. I wouldn't go if were of my own volition. I could care less about my Lithium levels.
  


• All my bills are paid by dad out of my checking account. There has never been a lapse in my utility bills such as power, water, or Internet due to lack of payment. Dad does this for my great aunt as well.
  


• All the many paperwork sent by Social Security is handled by mom. She makes sure I fill out all forms correctly and really frets over it. She is so afraid I will write the wrong thing and lose my disability. And they send A LOT of paperwork to fill out and send back. Mom always makes sure the paperwork has postage and is mailed back.
  


• Every two weeks, dad has a pharmacy employee of his pick me up at the house, pick up my injection, and drive me to Dr. Kamath's office to get my Risperdal Consta injection for my Schizophrenia. Tim, my father's home health care supervisor, does this and is always so kind to me about my limitations when it comes to small talk. He knows I can be awkward socially at times.
  


• And finally, Dad bought me a nice remodeled house and car. This was to make sure Maggie and I always had a home and was part of my inheritance from my deceased grandmother. I will never be homeless again.