Day 7 - Dystonia and Changing a Light Bulb

Yesterday, one of the light bulbs in my kitchen's overhead light went out. I usually have my dad or one of my brothers change it for me, but the last time they did, it didn't look so hard and I thought I could try to do it on my own.

Let me just say, being able to do it on your own doesn't mean you should do it on your own :) Unless you're planning on blogging about it....

For some reason, I left my walker on the other side of the kitchen (not near me). I didn't think I would need it. Wrong! So there I am, standing in the middle of my kitchen with nothing to balance myself with and I start unscrewing the light fixture. That's when I realized I was in a little bit of trouble. First, my legs and arms were already shaking. I think this was in part because my foot and hand already started cramping up when I raised both my arms above my head and was trying to get the fixture off its base. Then when I got a hold of the fixture, it ended up being a lot heavier then I thought it was going to be and that caused me to shake. If that weren't enough, I realized I didn't have the new light bulb with me. I can only guess my thinking was that I would take the old bulb out first and throw it away and then return and put the new bulb in. It's never as easy as I plan it out to be!

The way that the light fixture works (I found out AFTER I started taking it down!) is that I have to unscrew it, but it only comes down halfway before the piece holding the drawstrings (which are actually threaded through the light fixture) in place stops it from coming all the way off. I know I am not explaining this correctly at all, but you'll just have to trust me. I'm sure it comes completely off, however, it was heavy enough for my arms to start shaking and I didn't think I'd be able to get it all the way off without dropping it myself. I was losing my balance fast.

What's supposed to happen is, I should be able to hold the fixture in one hand and unscrew the light bulb with the other and then replace the light bulb and then bring the fixture back up to the base and screw it back in. However, because of dystonia, my legs and arms cramp up and twitch and twist and I was having major problems staying upright. A normal person would have had no problems with this, but I found myself panicking a little. I felt like either I was going to fall or the fixture was going to fall. If I fell, yes it would hurt, but I wouldn't break anything (hopefully) and I'd be OK. If the fixture fell, it would be a HUGE mess of which I would have to clean up and possibly cut myself on and then I'd have to buy an all new one.

I weighed my options.

Me or the fixture?

Me it was!

I'd take the fall instead of the fixture. I hoped it wasn't going to be me AND the fixture :)

But before I sacrificed myself for the good of the fixture, I tested to see if maybe, just maybe the pull strings would be strong enough to support the fixture for 30 seconds. That's all I needed - 30 seconds. Time enough for me to grab my walker and the new light bulb and finish the task. Please, God, let it hold and don't let it come crashing down.

I lowered my arms all the way and it held. I thought, "this is too good to be true". It's going to hold but as soon as I move it's going to come crashing down and I'm going to fall because I'm already shaky and off balance and having issues. I backed up slowly and made my way to the walker, all the while praying that it would hold. I grabbed the walker and balanced myself again. I got the light bulb and prayed I'd have the strength to hold the light fixture and screw the light bulb back in.

I got back to the fixture and guess what?! IT HELD!!!! It held until I could get it in my hands again!!! Praise Jesus :) So I now had the fixture in my hands and the walker right beside me to steady myself with. I grabbed the light bulb (careful not to lose my balance) and then screwed it in. I brought the light fixture back up to its base and screwed it back in. I did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well, me and God did it :) Thank you, Jesus for all the help!!

Lesson learned. I'll be contacting Dad or one of my brothers or a friend or a neighbor to be changing that light bulb again. I proved to myself I could do it, but from here on out, I'll let someone help me :)


The infamous light fixture. Sorry. it's kind of a bad picture, but you can get the idea. I'm almost embarrassed to post this picture because I know most (if not all) people would have been able to do it without any problems. But, oh well. Dystonia may make my body twist and twitch, but at least I proved to myself I could change this light bulb!