Tonja Peterson-Wendt

Tonja Peterson-Wendt

My name is Tonja I was an Independent  International Mary Kay Cosmetics Sales Director, who while driving her Mary Kay Car was in auto accident in 2004.  I have invisible disabilities that effect my daily life.



I have my trusty service dog Luka and my awesome husband Jason and some pretty amazing friends in my life that make my world a better place.





I never have seen myself as a person who wants sympathy.  I do want understanding so I can live and be treated as normally as possible.  I also have decided to help increase awareness with those who have invisible disabilities/issues as well as those who utilize Service/Assistance Dogs in their lives.

I do need help doing things, and I appreciate it with out help I would not be able to do as much.  I am grateful I have friends and family who take the time to understand and ask what I need to have help with.  Please ask me questions, I am happy to answer all well meaning questions.


I am a person with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD),   Cervical Spondylosis, Migraines,
Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS),  along with a whole host of additional issues that also go along with EDS, including but not limited to Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), Osteoarthritus, Myofascial Pain Syndrome, Osteoporosis, Brain Fog, I could go on.. I think I am getting sick just thinking about this stuff.
....Update: as of August 2010 I have just been diagnosed with a Traumatic Brain Injury or TBI from the car accident in 2004.  It took SIX years for me to find the right specialist!  YEEKS!  So frustrating!  This explains a lot.  I am now wearing glasses to see if some of the issues above will be helped or corrected by this new finding.  This explains why I fall easily and unexpectedly amongst other things.   You can read my post about this discovery HERE.

Ok so I've never really written these things all down together before, it is a little overwhelming..  hope this helps explain things for those in my life to gain a better understanding.  In addition to educating myself, I've been educating those in my life including some of my doctors, who've been fantastic at seeing me through this part of my life.

EDS & Allergies I eat Gluten Free, as well as avoid milk and ice cream oddly enough cheese agrees with me.  Bad Gluten for me is found in Wheat Barley and Rye.  I don't drink soda by choice haven't for about 13 years..  Avoid boxed foods, fresh tastes much better I think.  Although I do love a good frozen pizza..

I really hate that I need to be aware of all of these things.  But I do feel less pain by doing it thus it becomes worth the extra effort.  A big thank you to my friends and family who are on my journey with me, I do realize that this is not easy.

My friend B said to me, "I miss being around you, and if this is what I need to do in order to spend time with you, that is what I am going to do."  I about cried!  She said this after having taken me out for the evening driving 40 minutes to pick me up, loading what I needed in the car, taking the car seats out so Luka would have a place to be (although he does squeeze into the front seat with me if needed) unloading my stuff, setting it up, loading it, helping me in and out of her car, etc.. You get the picture.

I have some amazing people in my life!





Well, I am unique and creative I enjoy life as much as I possibly can I am figuring out how to live my life again.

It has been a difficult transition for me to go from living the life of my dreams to figuring out what to do now.  I have always believed I could do anything I wanted, now it is just a matter of getting my body and mind to cooperate and come to some sort of compromise.  I feel guilty for not being able to recover completely.  I fight with this every day. 

Writing here about my journey helps me to remember it is also helping others to understand. I am finding a sense of purpose in help create awareness and acceptance of people who have service dogs, as well as those with invisible disabilities. We have lots to offer we just have differing abilities!

So if you have met us while we are out and about living life, and I've handed you our card, I want to say thank you for checking out my blog.  For learning a little about EDS, Service Dogs, and those with Invisibilities. 

Feel free to also follow:   PinkDoberman    on Twitter!

You can email me at:       shine.shimmer.sparkle (@) gmail.com    
Sorry you will need to copy past and put my email address back together with out the ( ). 
No solicitation please!

It is easy to receive updates on my blog posts:  CLICK HERE  and you can use your Google, Twitter, Yahoo, AIM, or Other account to follow me with.  I am a fan of Google because of Google Reader.  But I know there are many other choices as well.

I would like to leave you with this link.  It explains very well about EDS and how it can/cannot effect different  people. 

Blessings,
Tonja 

 

Tonja's Blog