Posts Tagged ‘Multiple Sclerosis’
-
The day of our first excursion crept upon us. Well, perhaps excursion is a bit pretentious. It was the day of our first port visit and the port was Cabo San Lucas, Mexico but we didn't do a formal excursion. On the way into port there is a nice view of the coast. We just tendered in and walked about the port so we could say we've set foot in Mexico. More accurately grandma pushed me around the port in my wheelchair which was exhausting for her given the terrain and heat (90 degrees, grandma likes heat but not that much). Normally she likes pushing me around but not in my wheelchair!
(more...) -
[caption id="attachment_4870" align="alignright" width="300" caption="The US Supreme Cour Building"]
[/caption]
WORK, WORK, WORK. Our son had to work on this last full day we spent in Washington, DC and it was a very full day. Grandma was fixing breakfast when she was greeted with the news of Bin Laden's death. Hurrying downstairs I was then greeted with the unexpected information. Surprisingly except for an enhanced security presence (see later in this post), his death had little effect on our trip.
(more...) -
[caption id="attachment_3723" align="alignleft" width="195" caption="Our son with me and my wheelchair"]
[/caption]
Forward, on with the adventure ! The time has come to reveal all (well, almost all – I do have some secrets). My previous posts alluded to some of these adventures in our nation's capitol. The experience was a bit different than we expected.
OOPs, I don't want to get ahead of myself so I'd better start at the beginning with our arrival at Union Station in Washington, DC (I tend to think way faster than I write and by the time I finish writing a thought I often forget the next thought so I'm trying to slow things down while I write). The weather was nice upon arrival. In fact the weather in DC was quite pleasant for most of our visit though on a couple of occasions it did get a bit windy and cool.
(more...) -
[caption id="attachment_3175" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The Adventure Begins"]
[/caption]
AMTRAK had the privilege of hosting our initial journey and an interesting journey it turned out to be. Much different than our pre-trip expectations. We had originally planned to visit Washington, DC and then follow it up with a Panama Canal cruise. As it turned out we couldn't actually carry out such an ambitious journey but, in hindsight, that turned out to be a blessing. Even our reduced itinerary was almost more stress than I could cope with because of my MS.
(more...) -
Burrrrr ! The wind off the lake cut right to my bones. My bones were swathed in clothes but it didn't help much. My fingers were numb, my nose was running and I was chilled. So started our participation in the Seattle 2011 annual MS walk fund raising event. I in my wheelchair and grandma with her arthritis along with our daughter, her husband, our grandchildren and my sister braved the elements in order to carry on the fight.
-
As regular readers of this blog know I'm disabled and am effectively able to only use my right side. This makes it all but impossible to use a hand held camera especially the latest compact digital cameras. The new cameras are so small I don't see how anyone effectively uses them. I wanted a camera I could use one handed with fingers that are numb but no one actually makes such a system so I was forced to come up with my own jury-rigged design.
Here is the system I came up with. As you can see from the photos it is essentially a “point and shoot” camera system. It has a handle so I can hold and point the camera and a “trigger” so I can take the picture. If you would like to build such a system here are the instructions along with a parts list on how to build one. The system cost me about $200. in total of which the major expense was for the camera.
-
[caption id="attachment_1196" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="At the 2004 MS walk"]
[/caption]
Unlike many MS sufferers I don't mind revealing my medical condition but then my experience is somewhat atypical. I know that some people with MS have experiences similar to mine but in my experience (with support groups and others) we are a minority. In fact for many there are excellent reasons for them to hide their condition for as long as they can. Luckily I don't have that problem.
-
I often receive comments telling me how "courageous" I am fighting my medical problems. I even had one doctor tell me I was "a tough old bird" (doubtless a turkey). I never know how to respond to these comments. I don't feel particularly courageous or special.
Let's face the truth, (more...)
-
Sometimes good news creeps upon you almost unnoticed but finally I got some good medical news after a stressful summer. Last week was somewhat eventful and actually started out with what appeared to be some more apparent medical problems. Fortunately the situation rapidly improved.
(more...)
