GGMel's Page

Age

72

City

Phoenix

State

Arizona

About me

I am originally from Chicago, but made a good decision when my late husband and I decided to move to Phoenix. Loved the Windy City, but being young helps make it easier to live there;) I welcome being invited to join WEGO Health, and feel this site is going to be very positive for all of us. My first indication of having Dystonia was when my Mother was dying and my neck would tend to be unsteady when I would go to bed at night. I blamed this on stress, as I am an only child and was going through my Mother's death by myself. After Mom passed, I realized I needed to see a doctor about the mild but uncontrollable movement of my neck. I was immediately diagnosed with Cervical Dystonia, yet it was in the beginning stages of development. As time went on, I put myself in the care of a wonderful Neurologist in Scottsdale, Az and he did every possible test on me that he could do. Final diagnosis was mild Dystonia. He gave me a scrip for Klonopin, and I didn't have it filled for a year, as I was in denial of what was happening to my body, and it was a frightening experience. Once Dystonia and I became acquainted, I decided to give in and take my meds, as prescribed. From that time on, I remained as having a mild Dystonia, but in 1995 I fell off of a stage and fractured my shoulder and hit my head hard enough to split it open near the brow area. This accident put me into a different stage of Dystonia, and after a short period of time, I had to give in to getting Botox. Fortunately, my condition has remained about the same, yet I am more critical of myself than others. Some people are not aware that I have this disorder, but subconsiously I am fighting the symptoms 24/7. I have four children (I lost a 44 year old daughter in May 2006) due to a heart condition) and I grateful that so far, none of my other 3 children have to live with this chronic disorder. My Mother, however, suffered from Parkinson's Disease for 11 years, which eventually took her life. I know that PD and Dystonia are considered to be in the same family, so to speak, but other than that, I have no reason to believe this Neurological problem affected anyone else such as my grandparents or great grandparents. I am here to learn more about new develops, procedures or surgeries that may help others in the near future. I feel positive that sometime, perhaps not in my life time, there will be a cure for this horrible monster that we all have to live with and accept. If anyone has any questions, I would be more than happy to offer what knowledge I do have of Dystonia. Please do not hesitate to contact me, as I may just be contacting some of you:) God Bless all of Us and our Families.

My motivations for joining WEGO Health

Help more people, Get my questions answered, Connect with other health activists (vigorous advocates health care specialists nonprofit leaders experienced community members), Learning how to take advantage of social media tools like Blogs Twitter and YouTube

My primary blog

Have None

My MySpace profile

http://Coming Soon