I have not posted much on YouTube lately, but I have been posting on Rumble. Please check out my channel: https://rumble.com/user/SamuelJosephCarey
Maybe I will post a little more on my YouTube channel in the future: https://www.youtube.com/@samuelcarey4917
When living with a genetic disorder, life is very precious. We notice every little detail of our health, because it so drastically impacts the quality of life. Just seven years ago, I was able to move around in a somewhat normal fashion. Since then, my health has progressively deteriorated. Nowadays, I wonder which day will be my last.
Here I am, awake at 03:14, awake for the past couple of hours. I woke to spasms in my diaphragm, similar to hiccups, only they spasm multiple times in a row, or a constant spasm or cramp, that stops breathing. It is amazing, how fast a person wakes up from a sound sleep, when you cannot breathe! At the moment, I am waiting for the muscle relaxant to kick in. My diaphragm is still cramping, but only a few seconds at a time, so I just wait to breathe, trying desperately not to panic.
There has only been a couple times in my life where my chest and/or diaphragm has cramped for so long that I have collapsed. Fortunately, the cramp released in time for me to continue breathing, because I had no one to give me artificial respiration.
I really did not expect my health to get this bad again. It always happens when I cannot take care of myself. As others with A1AD, I also need a proper diet, lifestyle, and medication to manage the genetic disorder, and when I cannot live that way, that is when this happens. I realize I am being vaugue in my descriptions of what is happening with this genetic disorder. Perhaps, within the next few days, I will be more specific, so others may learn about the difficulty of living with this disorder.
Yesterday, we heard someone calling from our gate, so I drove down to see if I could find the guy. We have a long driveway on the ranch, so it takes a few minutes. When I got down to the gate, a neighbour pulled up and told me that some sheep were loose in his oat field, and that they had escaped where a couple trees fell across the fence. He said he had chased them back, so that was good. I told him that I would take a couple guys over there to make sure the sheep were out of his field, and resolve the situation.
As you can see, a couple trees from the neighbour's property fell down across our fence. As the sheep came up to the fallen trees, they just crossed instead of trying to negotiate so many branches. Myself and a few of our guys went and cleaned it up and put the fence back up. Even though it was the neighbour's trees and his responsibility to clean it up and repair the fence, it is good to make peace.
We also checked out the field of oats, but could only see the grass and hay at the edge of the field trampled. We could not see signs of damage done to the oats.
Okay, so what happens when it is one of your own people who unwittingly causes a concern?
We often have people trespass, do damage, steal, or just plain worry people, but how do we look at it if it is one of our guys who wanders on someone else's property?
Today, one of our people was out walking the property, because coyotes were close to our livestock, and that can be devastating. While following the coyote trail, he ended up on someone else's property. He heard a motor running and went to say hi. Unfortunately, our guy attempted to make friends and started the conversation with a joke that did not go over well. Assuming that the neighbour was out hunting, our guy said something about the motor scaring deer, and that the neighbour should be walking. That attempt at trying to make friends did not go over well, and the neighbour told our guy not to be trespassing.
So, the dad neighbour showed up to talk about what happened. It was not a happy meeting, but apologies were made and our word was given that it would not happen again. The neighbour said he accepted the apology and stated his concern again, then left.
The neighbours were just setting up their firing range, getting ready to sight in their rifles, when our guy walked onto, or near that range. Of course, the concern is that there is a danger of someone getting seriously hurt. And that is a very real concern! The neighbour did the appropriate thing, in coming to talk to us.
When I arrived at the gate, I had to calm the situation down a bit, because the neighbour was raising his voice and speaking in a degrading way to one of our guys. I was able to get the neighbour to calm down a bit, and to tell his side of the story. He refused to listen to our guy's side of the story, and just kept repeating his own version, which he was not even there in person to know. He was only going by a second hand account, told from one of his guys.
I am hired here to manage this farm, so I went and talked to our Land Owner and she immediately asked me to take her to the neighbour's house, so she could apologize for herself, and in person. It was a much more civil meeting. Our Land Owner apologized and listened to the neighbour's concern. It was nice to attempt to make peace with the neighbour.
When this land was first bought, there were a lot of trespassers. There were snowmobilers trespassing from the property immediately south of this property, so a fence was put up, along with no trespassing signs. It is strange how that trespassing has been forgotten. There have been vehicles driving across our fields, foot traffic, and some with guns. Fences have been cut and crops stolen. Even face to face threats. When I started working here, I reported things to the police, who just said they talked to the neighbours. That was it. That was the result we got back from the police. Of course the various harassment did not stop, but at least now a record exists.
The concerned neighbour made a comment that our gate was intimidating(or something like that), but things were not always so! When this land was first acquired, there were many, many trespassers and difficulties. A fence and gate became necessity to keep safe. Not to mention, there is livestock here, and a fence and gate is necessary to keep the livestock safe. So, why the comment? If the livestock gate was removed, what would be the result? Why would the neighbour say that our livestock gate was intimidating?
It is always good to make peace! Good neighbours stay on their own land!
As I have posted a few years ago, I have moved out to the countryside to live a slower life. The Alpha 1 Anti-Trypsin Deficiency certainly plays a huge role in lifestyle and career options. Accordingly, I have a job managing a farm. It is a suitable career option that allows me to take care of my lungs.
Anyway, the single lady who owns this farm has been picked on by the neighbours. There has been a lot of trespassing and stealing and slander. When about 100 acres of hay was stolen she had no choice but to ask for help. I came and called the police. The police came out and investigated; they looked at the cut fence from the field to the north and tractor tracks sunk deep into the soil. The police saw that the hay had been cut to the ground, ruining future crops. The police said they would talk to the neighbours. Days later the land owner got a call from the police saying that they talked to the neighbour. That was it! There was no reconciliation, no return of the hay. Just the police telling us that they talked to the neighbours.
Since working here, there have been many trespassers and veiled threats. But before I arrived, things here got so bad that the land owner had to move away to get away from all the harassment.
Well, today, just after 13:00, someone opened the gate and drove up the driveway, and when caught, claimed that he was from Sask Power, and that he was looking for Warren Fischer. This is the first time I have heard of that name, so unless someone new moved in, it is suspicious. The Power company employees that come out to check the meter, have maps, and know the name of the owner of each farm, so they can bill the right person. Can you imagine checking a meter and just guessing at who to bill? The truck he was driving was so dirty it was impossible to see if there was some sort of name and emblem under the dirt. When approached, he certainly did not waste any time getting back into his truck and leaving. It certainly was strange to have that degree of unprofessional behaviour. Just an all around suspicious situation.
These sorts of situations are so frequent that I should probably keep a record of it somewhere, just in case things get worse again.
Never a dull moment!
Have a great day!!
As I had mentioned in my last post, it had been a couple of weeks since I have taken my medication and been on a proper schedule to keep the A1AD in check, and now I am paying the price for that. My lungs are stinging when I breathe, my muscles have been catabolized, the tendons in my joints feel like they are tearing just from bending them normally, my eyesight has gotten worse, my hearing has drastically decreased, and of course, my cognitive function has definitely diminished!
With this type of genetic disorder, relief does not come at a single dose of medicine, or one day of being back on an adjusted lifestyle and schedule. Healing and Recovery are cumulative, and come by many weeks and months of proper diet, medication, exercise and sleep! It is cumulative; it takes time. And it must be consistent. Any interruption, even missing one day, will set healing right back to the beginning!
So please, if you know of people suffering from genetic disorders, have patience, and do not get them off their Healing regiment!!!! Do everything you can to help them stay on their programme for Recovery, please!
A couple weeks ago, my wife was worried because the baby in her womb stopped moving. It took me several times of asking her to go to the hospital, but she finally consented. And we got the worse news! The child had passed. It was almost full term, and it would be born now. It is so difficult, when you see your baby fully developed, and looking beautiful. When you hold him in your arms!
It was a horrible experience in the hospital for my wife. She was treated so horribly by the doctors and nursing staff, it was shameful for me being Canadian, for my wife to be treated so terribly. The racism and sexism was far too extreme to be believed! My wife no longer wants to live in this country.
We had the funeral recently, and are now going through the aftermath of the tragic event. It is a sad time for all of us, especially for my wife.
As for me, being A1AD, my muscles have deteriorated, my chest stings, My breathing is poor, my liver has swollen, my body is in pain, it is difficult to even focus on writing this simple post, and all the regular symptoms have returned. This stress has certainly taken it's toll.
I have all these great ideas for blogging, but the problem is, I love to work, so I do not get to blogging. Of course, I injured my leg yesterday, and now I am waiting for the swelling to go down enough, and for the leg to heal enough to get back to work. In the meantime, I can write this post.
It is raining a lot lately, and the fields are wet. It is difficult to do much of anything, but I could be working in the shop, if I did not have this injury. Now, I get to do the computer work, the part that I really do not like. Paperwork is not as much fun for me.
I am slowly going crazy....
