Mixed Updates

In the last blog entry that I'd written yesterday I forgot to mention that when I'd gone through the mail that I'd recently received this past weekend I'd received something from the post office saying that my address change had gone through just fine. However I was too impatient at the time to actually read exactly what my address had been changed to. In the last blog entry that I'd written yesterday I also forgot to mention that Monday I felt like being nosy and looking into whether my stepdad Abel still had his own clinic so I looked up what I'd thought said clinic's name was. And when I'd searched for what I'd thought said clinic's name was I didn't find my stepdad's clinic under said name. However I did find that my stepdad's clinic's name had been changed which I thought was interesting. And upon discovering that my stepdad's clinic's name had changed I browsed the clinic's new website. And upon reading the biography that's on my stepdad's clinic's website I discovered that my stepdad's biography said something like "Dr. Munoz loves spending time with his kids and wife." Reading that particular thing made me feel angry in a way because it was confirmation that he doesn't hold me out as one of his kids. And to be honest I'm fine with that. I don't want anything from him nor do I want his family to know anything about me. At the same time though reading that my stepdad doesn't hold me out as one of his kids gave me the closure I've longed to have for years. Like, there's absolutely no reason now that I have to think about my mom and her side of the family ever again. It feels good to finally have that closure. In the last blog entry that I'd written yesterday I also forgot to mention that ever since I've been in contact with local NFB people in the state I live in I've felt really happy. Like, it feels wonderful to know that the things I want to happen for myself are happening now...even though at times it seems like things are moving slowly to me. So in discussing that things are moving along in my life one thing I also want to mention is that I've asked the president of the statewide NFB to look into if there are any NFB chapters near where I currently live. And he's looked into that for me but unfortunately there are no NFB chapters close enough to me that I could go to such meetings on a regular basis. So instead what I'm probably going to do is participate in conference calls that are held by an NFB chapter that's in the same state as I am. That way I'll be able to be an active NFB member in the way that I want to be. Early yesterday morning I woke up from having a weird dream about some family members on my dad's side of the family. In the dream I'd had, one of my aunts on my dad's side of the family had gotten divorced and become a lesbian. In that particular dream I also remember that one of my cousins on my dad's side of the family told me that she wasn't getting married to the guy she'd dated for years because he'd left her for someone else. In that same dream I also remember that my older female cousin had told me that one of my male cousins on my dad's side of the family was no longer Christian and that that particular cousin was labeled by my dad's side of the family as being weird because he no longer followed in that side of the family's footsteps where religion was concerned. Those are all the details that I remember from having that particular dream. And maybe me having that particular dream was simply my brain trying to process the truth: that I'm no longer in contact with anyone on my dad's side of the family. And come to think of it I haven't had any awful dreams about my mom and her side of the family for a while which is great. I hope this positive pattern continues as well as that said positive pattern spills over into the weird dreams about my dad's side of the family eventually going away completely. When I woke up for good yesterday morning I checked the T-Mobile Tuesdays app as I've always done since I've had that particular app. And fortunately that particular time of me checking said app was great because I claimed a gift where T-Mobile pays for $3 of my next Starbucks beverage or item at Starbucks. Shortly after I'd redeemed that particular gift from T-Mobile I looked up YouTube videos. As I was looking up various YouTube videos I accidentally turned VO's speech off...and I didn't know how to turn VO's speech back on. So I texted back and forth with a friend of mine who's also a Mac user and fortunately he was able to help me get VO's speech back by telling me to double-tap on the Mac's trackpad with three of my fingers. I wouldn't have known about that particular gesture because when I learned how to use the Mac when I was a student at World Services for the Blind (WSB) I didn't learn how to use the Mac's trackpad. Needless to say I'm glad that I'd thought to ask this particular friend for help with this particular Mac issue. Shortly after I'd gotten that particular Mack issue resolved I received an email from Amazon Music saying that my Amazon Music Unlimited subscription had been canceled. Getting that particular email was weird because I'd thought that I'd taken care of said subscription before its cancelation. Obviously I didn't though since I'd received that particular email notification from Amazon Music Unlimited. So once I'd seen that particular email I logged onto Amazon's website to renew my Amazon Music Unlimited subscription. Then I told alexa to "enable Amazon Music Unlimited" and that was the step that I'd forgotten to do last time. And once Alexa had enabled Amazon Music Unlimited then I was good to go. Shortly after I'd taken care of that particular thing I called the number that I'd thought was the cab company's number that's scheduled to pick me up at my place on Thursday morning. Unfortunately though I'd dialed the wrong number. So after I'd disconnected from that particular phone call I sent an email to my VRC asking him if he'd provide the cab company's number to me in an email. A little while after I'd sent that particular email to my VRC I received an email from him that contained the cab company's phone number. A little while after I'd read that particular email from my VRC I entered the cab company's phone number into my phone's contacts so that I wouldn't have to ask my VRC what the number was anymore. And shortly after I'd added that particular cab company's number to my phone's contacts I called that particular cab company. I asked the lady I spoke with at said business to check whether a trip had been scheduled for me to use said cab company Thursday. Fortunately the lady I spoke with said that the trip had been scheduled for me successfully. Shortly after I'd gotten off the phone with that particular lady I emailed my VRC to let him know that my trip was all set up for Thursday. After I'd sent said email to my VRC I downloaded the Starbucks app onto my phone. I also signed up with a Starbucks Rewards Card since I go to Starbucks quite a bit. I even tried to add the balance of the Starbucks gift that I'd claimed from T-Mobile to my Starbucks Rewards Card. But unfortunately I was unable to add the $3 to my Starbucks Rewards Card either because VO didn't read me some text or because it is not possible to add money to a Starbucks card when said money comes from a gift card that's from another company. A while after I'd played around with the Starbucks app for a bit I went through the mail that I'd received. It turned out that I'd received my high school transcripts. Shortly after I'd put my high school transcripts in my backpack a friend of mine helped me pack my things so that I'd be ready to go to the place I currently rent a room from the following day. Fortunately it didn't take the two of us too long to pack my stuff. This morning my friend asked me if I was going to go to school with him since I'd received my high school transcripts the previous day. However I told him that I thought it would be best for me to wait until I receive my state ID to go to the college I'm going to be attending. Because that way I'll be officially in this state in every sense once I receive my ID. Well actually I still won't be considered a resident of this state until I've lived in said state for a year. But in terms of having all of my documents up-to-date, that part will be taken care of once I receive my state ID card. A little while after I'd told my friend that I wasn't going to go to school with him today someone from the college I'm going to be attending called me. I honestly didn't want to answer the person's phone call because I suspected that the person calling me was someone from the college's financial aid department. And I was right. When I'd answered the college's phone call it turned out that the person calling me was someone from the college's financial aid department. The lady I spoke with wanted to make sure that I knew that the college would not be able to process any of the paperwork that I'd given that particular department until I provided said department with an ID as well as my high school transcripts. So of course I immediately told the lady I spoke with at the college's financial aid department that I'd go to the college with everything that the financial aid department has told me said department needs as soon as I receive my state ID card. A few hours after I'd gotten off the phone with the lady at the college's financial aid department a friend and I gathered all of my things and got ready to leave his apartment. Once we'd called an Uber to come pick the two of us up from his place though the Uber driver who was on her way to pick us up was someone that we'd both had before...that we both could not stand!! So I canceled that trip and waited a few minutes to schedule Uber again in the hopes that I'd get a different Uber driver. However I got the same shitty lady. And as my friend and I were on our way outside I called her to make sure she knew where to go once she'd come into the gait. However right as my friend had put all of my things outside anticipating her arrival she canceled the trip on me. In a way that particular thing frustrated the crap out of me because I had plans and I didn't have a lot of time to dick around. So having to call another Uber driver really messed up how I'd originally planned for my day to go which for a blind person is a huge deal. The reason it's a huge deal for a blind person's plans to switch like that is because as blind people who are independent we have to plan things we do to the minute. Whereas sighted people don't have to plan things in that way because he or she can just get in his or her car and go wherever the hell he or she pleases any time of day or night that he or she wants to. So because I as an independent blind person had already planned out my day from leaving my friend's apartment, to going to the post office to check my mail, to getting the two of us food, to dropping my things off at my place and ultimately going to my doctor's appointment I couldn't change any part of my plans. How I'd planned things to go though didn't happen in the way I'd planned since the first Uber driver that had taken my trip canceled on me. So once another Uber driver had taken my trip and my friend and I'd left his apartment we went straight to the post office. I told my friend that I'd like to put him on the list of people who could check my mail for me just in case I ever need him to do so. When we'd arrived at the post office though I stayed in the Uber vehicle in the hopes that my friend would be able to get my mail quickly. However the post office workers told him that they needed to physically see me in order to put him on the list of people who could check my mail for me. So I went inside of the post office. And right as I'd walked inside the post office's building I realized my friend and I'd be there for a few minutes because said business was packed. When a lady finally called us up to be helped though I told her that I'd like for her to get me my mail as well as that I'd like to put my friend on the list of people who could check my mail for me. She said in a rude tone of voice "Well you know, Chelsea, the last time you were here you decided that you didn't want anyone to be able to check your mail." I replied firmly "Yes, that was what I'd decided then. However I'm telling you now that I'm changing my mind. I want my friend here to be able to check my mail for me if need be." Once I'd told her that, she filled out whatever paperwork needed to be completed for my friend to be a designated mail picker-upper. She then told me that I had mail as well as an actual package which I became super excited about. Once she'd taken care of those things for me she grabbed my mail. Then my friend and I left the post office and went directly to the place I'm renting a room at to drop off all of my things. My friend was able to help me unpack and set up my shower chair which was great. Said friend and I then went through my mail using an app called SeeingAI. Thankfully I didn't have too much mail to go through. I received some things from the insurance company that's no longer my secondary insurance plan so I threw those things in the trash. I also received my state ID card which is awesome. I'm officially legally no longer bound to Texas in any way!! Words cannot even begin to express how happy that makes me. I'd also received some things from the insurance company that I chose to have as my secondary insurance plan but I can't recall exactly what those things were. Oh and the package I'd gotten that I was soooooo excited about? The package I'd gotten was a print phonebook. Who the hell even uses print phonebooks anymore? LOL. How ridiculous! Anyway once my friend and I'd finished sorting through what we could sort of the mail I'd received, the two of us left my place. Our destination? My doctor's appointment. And what a doctor's appointment it was!! LOL. So the Uber driver that my friend and I'd had when the two of us left my place was pretty quiet. That was fine with me because I had a lot of things on my mind. Mostly I was nervous about how my doctor's appointment would go...and as it turned out I had nothing to worry about. So when my friend and I'd arrived at my doctor's office the two of us asked someone for directions to get inside the building. Fortunately the building was easy to find and once we'd gotten inside just to be safe we asked someone to tell us where the line was. Fortunately we found the line quickly and from there we didn't have to wait long for me to be seen. The lady who'd checked me in at the front desk made sure that an employee of the clinic helped me complete the necessary paperwork that was required for me to become a patient at said clinic. Once I'd completed the registration paperwork I had to wait a little while to be seen by a medical assistant. Fortunately though when a medical assistant called my name and asked me to go to the back he also asked whether I'd like to take his arm. And I decided that I would take his arm so that I could move at a quicker pace than I would move if I were just walking with my canes. Before I go any further though the reason that I walk at a slow pace when I'm only using my canes is because the leg braces that I currently wear are painful. Like, for some reason my leg braces dig into my heals...which as you can probably imagine, is far from comfortable. So anyway when I walked to the back of the clinic with a medical assistant I told said medical assistant that I was at the clinic to establish care. And in addition to telling him why I was there he took my vital signs. He informed me that my blood pressure was a little high but I blamed said blood pressure result on the fact I'd been stressed out all day because I'd been moving and on the go for several hours by that point. He understood where I was coming from. And once he'd taken my vital signs I gave him all of my doctors information from my Primary Care Physician (PCP) to my neurologist, to my neurosurgeon, to my OBGYN, to my eye doctor, to the therapists that I used to see. Because each doctor is a part of my story. Each doctor has shaped who I am in one way or another. And I felt and still feel nervous about how my new doctors are going to react to my records from Texas when they receive them. Yet I know that I just have to keep working through my worries in my head because good doctors are there to help their patients. Good doctors do not negatively judge their patients. And when you as a patient have the chance to make a fresh start for yourself as I've done, a fresh start can be incredibly empowering. It sure has been empowering for me. I mean, to be able to sit in a doctor's office today and tell the employees who work at said clinic my whole story, the true story of my life thus far, not only felt freeing but also felt...honest. Like, even though I initially felt awkward about telling the whole truth to people about the abuse and neglect I'd suffered at the hands of my mom and her side of the family, I reminded myself that my truth was just that, MY truth!! But it was like, this whole mental struggle in my head between "Ooh, don't answer these questions that these strangers are asking you about trauma, Chelsea" and "Yes, Chelsea, answer these questions that these people are asking you about trauma because although the trauma you've endured IS NOT you, said trauma IS part of your story, a HUGE part of your story." Obviously the part of my brain that encouraged me to tell MY truth was the part of my brain that won that time. I'm proud of me for that. And because of this recent experience I remain hopeful that the people who are now on my medical team and the people who will be on my medical team in the future will take me seriously all the time. Because as a patient of theirs I don't care about doctor's being friendly and chatty. I want my doctors to value me as the grown adult that I am because I deserve to be treated like the queen that I am. And on that note I'm going to go to bed for the first night in the place I'm renting a room at. I have an early day tomorrow because tomorrow is the day that I'm going to look at all kinds of Assistive Technology (AT). And once I go see the different kinds of AT that are available to me, that visit will determine what kinds of AT I want my state VRC to get for me. And from that point I probably won't write too much about how that particular visit goes until I actually start receiving equipment from my VRC. That way I'll be able to write about things in greater detail. But who knows, something may inspire me to write in great detail about the AT assessment that's being done for me tomorrow.