paise

Formerly worked in the corporate world until a retinal disease caused the state to revoke my drivers license, which left me no choice but to resign from my cushy office job then go through approx. 3 years of the grieving process until I came out the other side realizing I could have my independence despite losing my career. Attempted returning to work as a medical transcriptionist after undergoing training for my first guide dog, having a 2nd child, then attending the top MT school in the country where afterward I was hired by one of the top MT companies in the country (USA). Worked in level I trauma in the ER, operating room, & various other accounts when those were dry until the pain in my right arm became so bad I had to seek medical treatment, which led to the discovery of inoperable nerve damage as a result of lupus (SLE) and Sjogren's disease.

Once again I resigned from yet another career despite the fact I was able to telecommute from home although the pain was too excruciating to keep up the line counts in order to make a decent income after expenses. It took a couple of years after before I picked up my writing again only this time I took it to a professional level vs a hobby. Published my first novel in the early 2000s, a column in a newsletter for 3 years, and now I write for various online and print websites, newspapers, and magazines. In addition, I throw pottery on a potter's wheel. I had hopes of having a studio built in my yard. We had permits, blocks squared off for a 16x20 building, & the money to afford a kiln, shelves, and tables only my husband suffered two heart attacks (the 2nd was a massive one & nearly killed him), a stroke, & underwent a quadruple bypass heart surgery as of January of 2009. My dreams of having a studio at home since I cannot travel in this rural backwoods area where public transportation doesn't exist and neither do other studios, I am SOL until some miracle comes about to cover the cost of the building, a kiln, tables, a shelf or two for drying pottery, and now I need a pug mill because the joint disease from lupus & Sjogren's won't allow me to wedge clay by hand. Still, I try to stay upbeat but it's not easy. Many days I want to simply give up yet somehow I manage to get up each day and keep going. I really wanted my pottery studio but it's nothing more than a piped dream now. What good is having clay one can't wedge because of joint disease and a potter's wheel when one can't fire the pottery made on it? Maybe I'm just too much of a realist to believe it's possible anymore. I've lost generations of my heritage and with pottery, there goes yet another one of my Native American ways that will be lost forever once I'm gone since I can't teach my children.