My tendency to lose jackets/sweaters as a kid..

I have a hoodie that I've been wearing for about 7 years now, and until last year it was the only one that I wore for that period of time. I bought it for about 50 dollars at Hot Topic and it was made by Tripp NYC clothing. It resembles their pants that were still popular with the "modern goth" crowd at the time. It's black, with green fabric on it with a zippers and chains hanging off it. It's pretty torn up now which is one of the reasons I stopped wearing it as much as I used to. My point is that it's by far the longest I've ever had any kind of sweater or jacket. I had a few that I grew out of, but with most I would end up losing them. Some years I ended up going through 2 or 3 of them in one school year because I kept on losing them. I would lose school supplies too among other things. Most often what I lost would be gone by the time I got back. Part of the problem is that I wouldn't notice that it's gone until at night or even the next morning. In the back of my mind I figured it had to do with Hydrocephalus, and I knew that there wasn't much I could do to help it. But I had a really hard time trying to convince others of that. I was always thought of to have behavior problems instead of neurological/memory problems even if I clearly struggled with other problems that had to do with Hydrocephalus and a medical device that goes until my brain. 

I still forget things on a somewhat regular basis but it's usually at work in my department's backroom so depending on what I left behind, it's usually still there when I come back. If I do lose something and not be able to get it back, it's usually something I can replace without it being anyone else's problem. I've also figured out a couple techniques to help me stop myself from losing stuff as often. If I'm going to be sitting down and will be putting something down I'll either make it a point to put it on my lap or at eye level. If I'm at work I usually stash my jacket or whatever I have with me right away so if I do leave it behind, it will be in a place that not's likely to be seen so it's not as likely to be stolen. 

I'm still not positive what causes me to lose things more often than others, and I definitely cant remember when I had different circumstances when I was growing up. There were periods of time where I was definitely more stressed out, but I don't remember if I lost more stuff when I was going through those hard times. Something that I've discovered has a effect on me when it comes to Hydrocephalus related problems in general is weather. It's different for everyone but it usually has to do with weather mainly rainstorms, allergies or weather shifts in general, and the moon. The purpose of this topic is to help other people with neurological disorders, and their loved ones. I hope to help others, especially youth to be understood when they get a tendency  to misplace things. Thanks for reading.

neuro side effects at work

Today I'm going to talk more about the neurological side effects of hydrocephalus and brain damage/injury in general.For more info read my last blog entry http://timothy-landry.blogspot.com/2012/01/neurological-side-effects-of-brain.html .I'm going to focus more on the ones that I've struggled with the most on how they've effected me at the different jobs I've had,hopefully in some way helping others. The ones I've struggled with the most are speech,vision,muscle strength,memory problems,balance,coordination,organization skills,keeping/breaking habits,and clumsiness.Out of these few of them have really made a impact on my work,but it's differents for everyone.I recently found out that alot of people with multi task for example but that's something I've personally never have had trouble with,it's actually something that I've been good at.

The ones out of these that I've struggled with the most while working is memory problems,organization,and not being able to keep a habit.Other than the ones listed above I've also struggled with are ataxia,the inability to focus,and also my emotions usually having to do with anger.It's hard to find info about what emotions has to with hydrocephalus online,unless it's about kids and adults dealing with emotions after or before surgery.The only reason that I know it has something to do with hydrocephalus is because of others with the condition that I've spoken to online.

The first job that I had that I really I really struggled at was Peter Piper Pizza,at least when it came to neurological side effects.Unless you live in Arizona you probably don't know what Peter Piper Pizza is.It's a Pizza chain in Arizona with a large dining room,and also a game room.Like it's main competer,Chuck E Cheese it's a place that mainly used for birthday parties,youth sports pictures,and for families with children. It was the only job I had where I couldn't focus sometimes.It would mainly be when what I was doing wouldn't keep me busy enough,and my reaction to that would usually be losing focus.At Peter Piper Pizza one of my main jobs was working the prize cabinet, which is where kids and and sometimes their parents would come trade in their tickets they had won from the games for prizes.It sounds really simple but I also had a problem keeping the toys and prizes where they belonged and they were just end up on the ground alot,and over time it would really start to pile up.This was mainly caused by my ataxia because my hands always shake so it's hard for me to do anything with my hands,and also not being to keep the habit of just picking it up each time.Something else that my ataxia caused me to struggle with was replacing the receipt tape for the ticket eater because you need to steady hand to be able to get it in correctly,I ended up having the same problem during the first several months that I worked in the produce department at my current job.A ticket eater is the machine that you feed your tickets into so it could count them and print up a reciept instead counting the tickets by hand.I also would bring the game keys often without knowing it until I got home,because I kept it in my pocket I wouldn't really think about it.

Except for my current job,my only other job was at a italian resturant where I was a busser for two years.My coordination and memory was a problem at times,for example the two years I worked there I never was able to memorize the table numbers.Also something a problem that me memory caused was trying to remember which customer I was getting something for,didn't help when they wouldn't make eye contact with me when I came back.Other than that the only other problem I had their that's worth mentioning had to do with closing.It was the closing busser's responsibility to be tipped out by the servers,write down how much I got from each server,keep that money on them and then split up the tips at the end of the night.Not only would I always forget to bring my pen to work,but I'll also forget to get change before closing,and on occasion I would lose track of money,something I've personally never been able to do well with my own money.

I've been working at my current job for 4 and a half years now,and I've been working in the produce department their for almost a year.organization,memory,ataxia,and keeping a habit.As a courtesy clerk I had trouble with the bags,they would stick togheter alot anyway but my hands didn't help either.I would also let empty bags pile up in my work area,but that was the worse of it.In Produce clerk I'm in charge of the cut fruit program which consists of fruit trays,melon slices and also "fruit cups".I've had problems making it a habit to do alot of the small things that has to do with the job like making it a habit to fill out my melon log.Another problem I've had is to remembering to let my manager know what I need for the order and once in a while that means going with out some supplies or getting it from another store.This is also my first job where I know what's causing these problems so it's alot easier to work on getting better,and I know I can overcome these obstacles like I've done or at least worked on for many others.

I plan to continue talking about this subject next week,but more about how it's affected other parts of my life.Thanks for reading :)

neurological side effects of brain surgery and injury

Today I'm going to talk about neurological side effects to hydrocephalus or brain injury and surgery in general.Info on some of them can easily be found online,but others not so much.The ones I have no sources for are ones that I've always struggled with and I've met or known of other people who have hydrocephalus,or had brain surgery for another reason.I'm also going to talk some about how they effected my life either in school  hoping to help others in the same situation.I've discovered that alot of these side effects are easier to deal with and overcome when you know exactly what your dealing with and why,instead of just being confused.

Some of the ones that can easily be found online are memory problems,balance and coordination problems.Others that happen when certain parts of the brain are damaged during surgery are speech,vision and muscle strength.Then there are more severe side effects like nerve damage,paralysis,clinical depression and seizures.At time other brain surgery or injury can cause different neurological disorders (hydrocephalus,epilepsy,and chiari malformation just to name a few).Other side effects that are hard to find online are problems with organization,keeping and breaking habits,clumsiness and not being able to focus.

Out of thesen the ones I've personally struggled with are speech,vision,muscle strength,memory problems,balance,coordination,organization skills,keeping/breaking habits,and clumsiness.For me though speech,muscle strength,and clumsiness all has to do with ataxia.Balance and coordination at least seemed to only have little effect at school or work,only in smaller situations like when I attemped to learn how to ride a bike or when climbing stairs.However with the others at school  they've gone from being a bunch of small problems to one big problem.For example my organization problem and my inability to keep a habit made me struggle to keep my backpack organized and the result of that was a bunch of homework assignments in the bottom of my backpack and crumpled to the point to where it was ruined.My memory didn't help either because by the time I would get home not only was I not able to develop the habit of doing my homework,but I would have forgotten what I was supposed to do.Another way my memory affected my school work is that it made me struggle to be able to study or even read a textbook.My inability to keep a habit caused me to struggle to keep up with some homework assignments that included a daily activity.

I'm going to continue to talk about this subject on Thursday.I'm going to focus more on how it's affected me at work,and hopefully I'll be able to find more info on other side effects before then.Thanks for reading :)