Here is the article Great North Arrow published of my article. Living with Only Three Feet Anita Atta Oliveira My daughter Leah Olivia Oliveira, has three mental illnesses. Just one was enough for Virginia Woolf, Kurt Cobain, and Vincent van Gogh to commit suicide. I suppose that may mean Leah is three times as likely to kill herself? She sure hit the jackpot having Bi Polar 2 (involving depression) and Anxiety Disorder. She was diagnosed in her early twenties when stress at work caused a mental breakdown and she had to move back in with us. A bit of background on her; Leah was the kind of student where her teachers and principals made comments like, ‘If all my students were like her, I’d be out of a job.’ ‘Leah is the best student I’ve ever had in all my 25 years of teaching.’ Leah is also an animal lover and collects them like one would butterflies. She has a Jack Russell terrier named Diega (aptly meaning ‘friend’.) This dog would follow Leah everywhere and often lay on the driveway waiting patiently for her to return from school. They’d go on long walks, play catch, watch TV.; do everything together. Diega also has a disability. She was born without a foot and needs help in getting up and off on the couch among other things. Leah was very involved in her church, creating scripts, directing plays, acting, leading youth groups. Being an artist, she painted, played guitar, sang in coffee shops, wrote stories. But by her late teens she was burning both ends of the candle by being too involved in too many projects. She’d often need to sleep a whole day and miss classes. Even the attendance counselor called to complain about her constant absenteeism. I’m glad I followed my gut and let her sleep because this unknowingly was already a symptom. When she felt overwhelmed by school, I pulled her out and home schooled her. (Diega sure was happy about that!) Despite all her setbacks she still graduated as an Ontario Scholar in 2007 from Almaguin Secondary School. You will be seeing more of Leahs story (also in this edition) as we follow her life through her eyes. But this story is through mine…. Being her mother and being a mother- bear type meant that my new job was to be her main care giver. It became my calling in life. It’s been five long years of trying to find the right medications for her. To put if frankly, it’s been an ordeal. Mornings, I would often wake up from another fitful sleep and be afraid to go to our guest house to see if she were still alive. In fact, I’d often put this off till the middle or late afternoon because in my state of perpetual intense stress, a few more hours of not knowing she were dead, would mean a few more hours thinking she were still alive. I’d creep slowly into Leah’s bedroom, literally holding my breath and the first thing I’d see is Diega’s head come out from under the blankets next to Leah. Then I’d look at Leah’s face to see if she were still breathing. I knew how Leah was feeling by Diega’s behavior. If Diega did nothing but stay by her side, disinterested, I knew Leah was not doing well. On the other hand, if Leah was doing better, Diega would mirror this and be perkier and wag her tail. During the arduous times, that dog was tormented as much as Leah and I. She suffered right alongside her mistress. She’s been a constant, loving companion to Leah; a small gift from God during a slice of living hell. Maybe Diega ‘gets’ it. She has her own type of disability and this is just another thing she and her mistress have in common. I am so comforted knowing Leah has Diega as her constant companion. So many people have left her behind because of her illnesses, or perhaps they’ve just sped ahead in life while Leah’s still spinning her wheels and simply trying to get a grip. Diega is not normal in that she has only three feet. Leah is not normal in that she has three illnesses. But together in life, they not only limp along, they often run…despite their personal set backs.
Posted on: Fri, 04 Apr 2014 02:48:29 +0000
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