My Situation

Currently (as of August 2017):

• Now that I am done with college, my main focuses are taking care of my parents and working. My job for the past three years has been taking care of a disabled cousin of mine. His name is Matthew, he’s 19, and has Chromosome 18q deletion syndrome. He is on Medicaid so I get paid through a managed care organization. My aunt and uncle are self-employed and extremely busy so they need caregivers around the clock, except overnight. Matthew has two other caregivers besides me, one of them being his sister, MariAshley. Taking care of Matthew is a job I love, and it is also incredibly convenient. They live only minutes up the street from my house, so if mom ever needs anything I can head home with no difficulty. I love being around my family, and I also love gaining more caregiving experience while being able to observe Matthew and attempt to get him to grow mentally.
• I have been looking for a full-time job (one that coincides with my degree, has insurance, etc.), but with how severe mom’s been lately I don’t see me becoming a “real adult” anytime soon.
• I don’t anticipate moving out of my parents house anytime soon either, and I see no shame in that.
• I am debating whether or not I should go back to college and pursue a Bachelor’s Degree. Of course I would have to do it online. I know that a higher degree would benefit me more down the line, but as of right now, our money is too scarce and my stress level is too high. I am thinking about completing an EMT course or a CNA course in the meantime.
• Lately, my dad’s speech and cognitive ability has been faltering a bit in comparison to previous months. For those who don’t know, my dad suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury in 2013. I will be writing a blog post detailing what happened, his recovery, etc. soon.
• Over the past couple of months I’ve been feeling…off. My sleep schedule has become something of a sick game. No matter what I do I can’t seem to fall asleep before 2am and unless I have to work an early shift, I can never seem to wake up before 10am no matter how many alarms I set. I’ve been stuttering a lot, forgetting words, and losing my train of thought when I talk. My depth perception seems thrown off a bit. Driving’s become a little more difficult for me, the other day I almost fell down my stairs because for some reason I didn’t register that I had four steps left so I skipped all of them, I’ve become more clumsy, running into things more, and I’m also having trouble picking up and grasping things. I’m hoping it’s just stress, but I am going to go to my doctor soon. Some of these symptoms are symptoms my mom experienced before her MS diagnosis.