Early last month, I had a muscle spasm and my seat belt wasn't fastened. I fell out of my wheelchair onto the kitchen floor. I banged up my face and was black and blue and swollen. The worse part was that half of my face was numb. I went to see an internist to see why it wasn't going away. I had a CT scan and was referred to a facial specialist. He looked at the scan pictures and showed me that the orbital bone, the one right below the eyeball, was fractured. He said the break was not big enough to warrant surgery. It should heal up fine on its own. In the fracture, it disturbed a major nerve and that caused the numbness, but nothing was cut or moved, just disturbed slightly, so that should heal up on its own too. He explained that when I fell, I probably hit my eyeball which can do two things: the orbital bone can fracture, like mine did, or the eyeball itself can explode! I am so glad that it happened the way that it did! Now, I make sure my seat belt is always fastened and have increased the amount of anti-spasticity medicine I take everyday so I don't have muscle spasms that are strong enough to make me fall out of my wheelchair. As for my kids, they saw that mommys' face was bruised and swollen, but they were at school when I fell, so they don't know the full extent of what happened. I will let them know when I can explain the miracles that happened. I am grateful that I am still here to raise my kids and be a mom. And I'm sure my family is too.

Hello

Hello. My name is Lori Smith. I live in Salt Lake City, Utah with my wonderful husband of almost ten years, Ethan, and two adorable children, Maryn and Valin. I have Friedreich's
Ataxia, which is a form of Muscular Dystrophy. I use a power wheelchair full-time so my experiences and tales of motherhood are unique because the mom has a disability. I am hoping that this blog can be a look at my life with all of its challenges and blessings. Maybe you can find some ways that we are similar.
To begin, it might be helpful to introduce my wonderful family. Maryn is our beautiful daughter who is eight years old. Valin is our mischeivous son who is almost six. My husband and I met in high school. He was dating a friend of mine and she let him get away. I liked him and we started dating after graduation. Our romance was like a romance novel,including my waiting for him while he served a mission for the LDS church in Brazil. When he got home, we got married in the Salt Lake Temple. We are members of the LDS church; my faith guides me in everything I do.
Well, I'm hoping that I can post to this blog often. I don't work, just at home with my kids. Please let me know who my readers are. We are more alike than we are different. Maybe you can see some similarities already.