OAMC#27 - The Last 5 Years or so...

Organizing a Million Cards #27 - The Last 5 Years or so...

I was thinking about this and I realized most of the people who see this blog don't know what has been happening in the background. So, here's a recap of what has been happening. It will explain why trades have been off and I have been on again/off again with Twitter and logging the collection.

Roughly about 5 years ago, before CoVID hit, I was working at a non-profit that supplied apartments for elderly and disabled people at a lowered rate. The work was not difficult for the most part. I wasn't doing any manual labor and had a desk indoors. I enjoyed the job as I consistently made friends with the tenants. 

It was during this time that things started to go downhill--more than before.

In 2012, I was medically retired from the Army. At the time, I was on several medications which proved to make my life difficult. I was a walking Zombie on them. (I even spent a year in Afghanistan like that.) I worked for Gulfstream Aerospace for a while and then returned to the Army as a civilian in my old job--and off all of the meds. In February of 2013 the government shutdown came and all of us new hires were let go. A few months later I moved to Washington. 

But I will get back to that.

Anyway, it's roughly 2020 and I am starting to have some weird things happen. They have been on and off since I got out of the Army, but they seem to be amplifying. It started with the disequilibrium. Disequilibrium is that sensation of standing on a flat surface and feeling like you are on a boat in choppy water. Needless to say, driving is out of the question when it happens and it happened nearly every morning. This was coupled with my heart rate going up throughout the day and some random memory loss.

So, I went to the VA. I was put on blood pressure meds and had cut my caffeine intake by 7/8ths. (I used to drink 1 or 2 Energy Drinks a day plus coffee and sodas. Energy drinks will freaking kill you if you're not careful.) The blood pressure meds did nothing for me. My new doc then tried anti-anxiety meds which leveled out my BP but did nothing for the morning disequilibrium. 

Over the first year or so, I was subject to a barrage of tests and scans. I was also late to work a lot. I provided documentation from the VA, which is more than you are required to do and was at work every day during CoVID--even though I might be in a compromised state. I also stayed later to make up for lost time.

The second year sent me to more tests and eventually surgery on my nose to alleviate my constricted airways. This did not help the main issue.

Bare in mind, I also have 8 bulging discs, walked with a cane for a while, 2 bad knees and a number of other issues between the physical and mental areas.

Finally, I was sent to see the leading Doctor on MS in the VA. (I neatly fit the checklist of symptoms for MS.) I was scanned, poked, prodded and sat in dark rooms watching lights. They tested me for Alzheimer's, MS, Fibromyalgia, Parkinson's, etc.

With all of that testing, they found--nothing.

The neurologist decided to try a med for migraines. It stopped the disequilibrium but made many other things terrible. So we switched meds. A few times....  

In the middle of this, I was fired by my job for the lateness. This was right before I was given the meds from Neurology that stopped the disequilibrium. I was mad. I went to EEOC and opened a case against my former employer. In the end, they settled with me as you can't fire someone for a medical condition. This allowed my wife and I to look for a way to North Carolina.

As we were planning this move, Neurology gave me a new med--and everything changed. There was a minor hiccup though--the meds fought with my other meds. So I stopped the anxiety medication. I was apparently going through something called Serotonin Syndrome--which can be fatal. We caught it early, so no real damage occurred.

I was able to plan, pack and function better than I had in years. Which was good because we would move again 9 months after getting to NC.

As of 2 days ago, we have upped my meds for the second time. 

I am in a better place now than I have been in years. The upping of a meds is always a weird and sometimes frustrating process, but I am able to function better. However there are issues with even having this level of functionality. As I am still not convinced that I don't have something more than Chronic Severe Migraines, I am requesting more scans when I see neurology later this year. 

This struggle was worse in Washington as I am affected by air pressure changes which can sideline me for hours. North Carolina has been kinder to me and this recent change in my meds is helping me sleep. 

I am telling you all this, because I'm not ignoring your messages and I do want to start trading again. The last few years have been a struggle with this as I have logged cards, forgotten where they are, found things I set aside, and then lost count. Now, I have a card room in a house that we own and can really start to track the cards and put them away as I do. I am also going through multiple therapies to help with the memory issues and other things. 

I may not be great,  I may not be on every stack sale or break, I may not jump on trades and I may not post a giveaway every week but I am already planning multiple packages for people in the hobby and slowly getting the cards I have logged on TCDB. 

I am getting there. I hope that the future will be less hazardous to my health.

Just know that if you are struggling with medical issues, you're not alone.

Also, thank you to all of the people who have continually checked on me when I disappeared. It means a lot.

TOTALS:

• Main Collection: 6,780
• For Trade/Doubles - 639
• 1991 Topps Glow Backs - 0
• Mattingly Doubles - 0
• Total Cards Logged - 7419
• Complete Sets - 3
• Insert Sets/Errors - 2
• Percentage of Collection Logged - 00.74%

Joe

(Vonnegut37 on TCDB)