In honor of CP Awareness Day this year, I wanted to share my personal story of CP. I'd love for all my readers and follwers to check it out! If you have any questions please, don't hesitate to ask! The following video and music were from the iMovie program. The graphics in the presentation are both from Google, and made with Canva.com I do not own the rights to the music in this video.
I was born premature, a “micro preemie” weighing in at 1lbs, 9 oz’s (six before my first of nearly 20 related surgeries.) I began showing signs of seizure activity at the age of 2. From 2 to my early teens I was on medication to control them. I was walking on my own until the age of four. When I had a major growth spirit, that threw off my center of gravity. I never regained my center of gravity, so I then began using a wheelchair to get around.
I did try using crutches when I was around 6, 7 years old but it didn’t pan out. I have also used AFO’s (leg braces) from the time i was four until today. About 2% of people with CP also have epilepsy. (I am fortunate enough not to be one of the 2 % to have epilepsy. I am however, part of the over 80% of people with CP that does deal with chronic pain. With people who have CP, they are likely to use 3 times more energy doing typical everyday tasks. Because of this fact, our bones age a lot faster, which means that we start showing signs of arthritis at a much early age then the average abled-bodied person.
I personally was told I had arthritis in my back, hips, and legs at the age of 18. As we age the CP will start to affect us in different ways physically. For example, some issues I have are with my spastic musicles and swallowing. The physical changes affect people, children all in different ways. There have even been cases of CP diagnosed later on in a person’s life at an older age. As you can tell by my video. CP is a very complex disability. There are about 17 million world-wide diagnosed with CP.
Why do we go green for March? We go green to bring more awareness and education, basic knowledge about CP. Because there still many things that we all need to be aware of both from the medical standpoint, and the personal standpoint. Still want to know more about Cerebral Palsy? Check out this site: https://www.yourcpf.org/ There are also a wide variety of pages, groups, and advocates that can be found using any social media platform today. We have grown leaps and bounds when it comes to connecting/networking with like-minded people who share the same story as myself.
Want to connect with me personally!?
Facebook: The Abler, The Official Facebook Group Of The Abler Blog
twitter : @J4theablerblog1
Instagram: @theablerblog
You can also checkout some of my articles for The Mighty here:
I am also on Linkedin. Simply search: Jessica Niziolek, and let’s connect!
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