Hello Stephen, and welcome to steemit! Yours sound like an incredible story and I csn't wait to see what you will bring of unique content to steemit.

I hope you will receive a warm welcome here and have a great time on the platform (I certainly am!)

I would recommend that you make a confirmation post just to confirm that you are who you say you are. Whether it be sharing a link to your steemit post from another social media account, or posting a picture here of you with a note saying your account name and date.

Anyways, again welcome and good luck on steemit:)