Introduction

Photo Description: Codee’s Bitmoji waving at you.

Who am I actually? What am I doing here and… how am I going to explain that to the internet? You have probably also asked yourself these questions at some point.

I’ve asked myself these questions more than once when joining a Facebook group or writing blogs. Only this time I don’t have to think so hard about it.

My name is Codee, I’m 38 and I live in a house with a garden that I share with a roommate, somewhere in the Netherlands. 😀 I don’t work in healthcare. I am a client who has been receiving help from community care on a daily basis since the beginning of 2021.

I am a deafblind, ambulatory wheelchair user with a disease that few people have heard of. Congenital Rubella Syndrome. But with such a large audience, I assume there is at least one of you who knows something about this. Is that you? Then raise your hand in the comments below.

Fortunately, my illness is not all I am. I am a creative person and I like challenges. Such as… taking pictures, making mini-steck puzzles, playing the keyboard, singing and oh yes, gaming is part of it too. In addition, I once completed half of a degree in psychology and I like to use the knowledge that I have built up as a result when managing my own Facebook group. For other people who also have Congenital Rubella Syndrome. I have a basic knowledge of words from Dutch Sign Language and I use this when communicating in NmG. You’ll find out later why this is important. – And the most important thing I wanted to share is my passion for writing. Poems as well as blogs.

After consultation with my housemate, who is also my informal caregiver and my EVV’er from community care, I decided that I would like to share my story about my journey with community care, with you. The fun stuff – lots of fun stuff but also the challenges. The things we occasionally run into and how we solve this together.

I hope by sharing my story, from the eyes of a client, that I can give some kind of support or a learning opportunity to those who work in the care sector.

I receive care from a number of female and male employees. To respect their privacy I will not mention names here. I will also not mention the name of the care institution. I will, however, regularly share a story. On Fridays. Every two weeks. – I will share my stories in the form of a fun, interesting and educational blog and we will start from the beginning.

Will you join me on my journey? No tickets needed, you can just board my train. Feel free take up a comfortable spot. At the next stop we arrive at the first day I ever got help. I hope you will enjoy the view.