amethist
VIP Member
Today My husband is having a really good day, looks, sounds and feels better than he has done for a long while. This usually happens after a bad crisis, which he had on Wednesday and Thursday.
We talked a lot about how he is now compared to a year ago, and how he is now looking forward to the future and all that will eventually happen and mean to us both.
He talked about how selfish PTSD is to the sufferer and carer, how we both have to be selfish to survive the highs and lows of all it entails. He also explained to me how it effects him and what he does now at each level, these are levels HE has worked out for himself.
1. This is the best he can be right now, but is almost symptom free. Being able to talk as he used to, go out with me, not far but still go out. Can now decide what we will eat and cook it from scratch. can make rational if only small decisions about what he is going to do that day for himself.
2. Has a slight wobble (His word for PTSD levels). He can still function well, but needs to think more slowly and concentrate a bit more with what he is doing. Has to think a bit more about his breathing and his anxiety levels, but can do it with ease most times.
3. Feels more anxious and wobbly than he should, has difficulty doing more than the basics through the day, but can still do them when he pushes him self.
4. Anxiety levels way too high to do anything more than sit and listen to the radio and stroke our cat. Takes him time to decide if he want a cup of tea or not. Cannot even think about our evening meal, so leave it for me to decide when I get home. May need Aromatherapy oils to help him get a few hours sleep to calm his mind.
5. Takes all his effort just to get out of bed, is shaky, looks grey and drawn, is scared to be left on his own. Loosing all sense of where he is and what is going on a round him. All he can hear, is my voice bringing him back to the here and now. Can take 2 or 3 sessions with aromatherapy, over 24 hours, to calm him back to a level where he feels safe enough to be on his own again.
He understands each level and what he has to do to cope with each one, and knows the point when he cannot manage on his own, this is when he needs to call me. Which now only happens when he is passing level 4 and falling into level 5.
Even when his is having a rough day, he can open the door for fresh air, go out into the back garden, (Still struggles going into the front on his own when at level 3). He can answer the phone and talk to our next door neighbours. Can have a conversation with me, without drifting or loosing the thread of what we are talking about. LOL and can still sing along badly to the radio.
This time last year, he struggles to open the door for some fresh air, even on good days. He is also now looking forward to moving to the coast, making his own plans of what he wants to do when we do. What he wants to be included in the home we buy, as well as thinking of what I need too.
He is now feeling good with himself, a sense of achievement of how far he has come. Plus being finally able to see the difference from then to now.
The future looks good, the future is ours to share once again.
Amethist
We talked a lot about how he is now compared to a year ago, and how he is now looking forward to the future and all that will eventually happen and mean to us both.
He talked about how selfish PTSD is to the sufferer and carer, how we both have to be selfish to survive the highs and lows of all it entails. He also explained to me how it effects him and what he does now at each level, these are levels HE has worked out for himself.
1. This is the best he can be right now, but is almost symptom free. Being able to talk as he used to, go out with me, not far but still go out. Can now decide what we will eat and cook it from scratch. can make rational if only small decisions about what he is going to do that day for himself.
2. Has a slight wobble (His word for PTSD levels). He can still function well, but needs to think more slowly and concentrate a bit more with what he is doing. Has to think a bit more about his breathing and his anxiety levels, but can do it with ease most times.
3. Feels more anxious and wobbly than he should, has difficulty doing more than the basics through the day, but can still do them when he pushes him self.
4. Anxiety levels way too high to do anything more than sit and listen to the radio and stroke our cat. Takes him time to decide if he want a cup of tea or not. Cannot even think about our evening meal, so leave it for me to decide when I get home. May need Aromatherapy oils to help him get a few hours sleep to calm his mind.
5. Takes all his effort just to get out of bed, is shaky, looks grey and drawn, is scared to be left on his own. Loosing all sense of where he is and what is going on a round him. All he can hear, is my voice bringing him back to the here and now. Can take 2 or 3 sessions with aromatherapy, over 24 hours, to calm him back to a level where he feels safe enough to be on his own again.
He understands each level and what he has to do to cope with each one, and knows the point when he cannot manage on his own, this is when he needs to call me. Which now only happens when he is passing level 4 and falling into level 5.
Even when his is having a rough day, he can open the door for fresh air, go out into the back garden, (Still struggles going into the front on his own when at level 3). He can answer the phone and talk to our next door neighbours. Can have a conversation with me, without drifting or loosing the thread of what we are talking about. LOL and can still sing along badly to the radio.
This time last year, he struggles to open the door for some fresh air, even on good days. He is also now looking forward to moving to the coast, making his own plans of what he wants to do when we do. What he wants to be included in the home we buy, as well as thinking of what I need too.
He is now feeling good with himself, a sense of achievement of how far he has come. Plus being finally able to see the difference from then to now.
The future looks good, the future is ours to share once again.
Amethist
