Month: May 2024

Every day, I MUST unplug or something mysterious will happen  

How do you know when it’s time to unplug? What do you do to make it happen?

I have to take the topic of unplug literally here because you see, I’m a power wheelchair user. Every morning, after my second trip to the bathroom, my husband charges my wheelchair for a couple of hours. The weird thing is that it must be plugged into the wall and then the chair. Otherwise, the battery will wear down faster or something that I don’t quite understand. I know when it’s time to unplug when it’s time for my third visit to the aforementioned bathroom, which seems to be the only place that I get to go unless I’m very lucky and I have tickets to a local theater for a special occasion, or my mother is taking care of me for the day and it happens to be good weather. On those days, I get to go outside .  Before that third visit to the little girls’ room ,my husband has to unplug my wheelchair first from the wall and then from the wheelchair. I wish someone could explain why that is to me.

Recently, my husband went to England ,with his sister for a week to take their mother’s ashes to join her sister, which was his mother’s dying wish. My mother stayed with me for the week, and the weather was gorgeous the entire time, and we took advantage of it EVERY day, with strolls around the neighborhood, which really fed my energy. It was like plugging ME into the wall 😊 after a long and grumpy winter.

This is not the wheelchair that needs a daily charge

This is

Two truths we’ve forgotten

I’m old enough to remember when society was more polite and in order to get back to polite society we must remember what made us polite in the first place. It used to be that, in order to get along with people, there were two things that you just wouldn’t discuss. You certainly wouldn’t introduce yourself as either of those things unless you wanted a fight or if they were your career . What are those two things you ask.

I can guarantee you a happier existence if, in your life, you simply avoid the topics of RELIGION and POLITICS .

Of course, I’m not talking about voicing those opinions on social media, as that may be the only appropriate place for them. I’m talking about in person. We are all entitled to our opinions on both topics, but life just becomes more peaceful for us all if we don’t put voice to them over dinner with the neighbors.

Think you know me?  You will after this.

I’m about to take the COLBERT QUESTIONERT,  a set of 15 questions that are meant to plumb the depths of any person who is willing to be known. If you’re unfamiliar with comedian Stephen Colbert , I highly recommend you go to YouTube and search for the Colbert questionert. It’s interesting to see how different people respond, from Carol Burnett to Michelle Obama to Robert Deniro and Ryan Gosling, all answering the exact same questions in very different ways .I guarantee you will be entertained.

Here are my responses.

1. What is the best sandwich?

Meatloaf

2. What is one thing that you own that you really should throw out?

I’ve already done it, and it was my collection of high heels.

3. What is the scariest animal?

The male.

4. Apples or oranges?

Since it’s impossible to compare the two, I’ll go with pears.

5. Have you ever asked someone for their autograph?

No. But somehow I have 2.

6. What do you think happens when we die?

Relief.

7. Favorite action movie?

True Lies

8. Favorite smell?

It’s a tie between freshly cut grass and freshly baked bread.

9. Least favorite smell?

The smell of beer after it has left the body via the urinary tract and sat in the toilet overnight.

10. Exercise, worth it?

In moderation, yes.

11. Flat or sparkling?

Flat

12. Most used app on your phone?

YouTube

13. You get one song to listen to for the rest of your life. What is it?

Isn’t she lovely?  By Stevie Wonder

14. What number am I thinking of?

I don’t see how that is any of my business

15. Describe the rest of your life in 5 words?

Same as it ever was.

And now you should know me.

This mouth is completely cleansed

My upper denture was getting lonely

After several changes in appointment times and a change of surgeon, it finally happened yesterday! I had all of my lower teeth extracted. So now I literally have no teeth. I will be sure to take photos of my brand new lower denture as soon as it’s comfortable enough for me to do so. The upper denture was a much easier transition for me physically than the lower one. I was able to wear the upper denture immediately after surgery . the lower denture is a very different story .

Dentures are something that I’ve known were in my future since I was a kid when my gorgeous grandmother used to rattle hers around in her mouth to my young delight . Before the age of 3, I was fascinated by her false teeth, even hooking my index finger onto her lower denture and pulling it right out of her  mouth as I giggled uncontrollably.  She’d had all of her teeth removed by the age of 50.

Then came the next generation. My father had all of his teeth removed in his 40s. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t handle the pain well. He stayed in bed for the better part of a month.

When my uppers were cleansed, I was very pleasantly surprised by the amount of pain that accompanied the surgery. I only needed one of 20 Tylenol 3s that were prescribed, and by day two,  I was eating solid food  comfortably with my new denture. But I’ve never had an issue with pain in my gums and can tough it out with little to no medication.

It’s now day two without my lower teeth, and the surgeon warned me that it would be more painful and take longer to heal .It was more painful as I’ve taken two of the 20 Tylenol 3s that were prescribed, and having the denture placed in my mouth immediately was only tolerable for about a half hour after surgery.  But today, I’m only taking liquid Advil for the swelling as there’s not much real pain.  My next appointment with the surgeon is in 2 weeks, and I’m expected to be healed by then . After that appointment, it’s off to the denturist to have the upper relined and the lower denture fitted. Then it’s relines every few years . Beats seeing the dentist twice a year.

I only hope that now that all of the rotted teeth are gone and I’m not swallowing all of the poison they were creating, my overall health will improve. I harbor no illusion that my brain issues will improve, but it would be nice to have fewer bladder infections .

Well, now I’ve done it.

I know that many of you will have negative opinions on what I’ve done, but you likely don’t live in a body that has permanent paralysis. I’ve been closely following the progress of Neuralink and have been amazed by the results so far. So, I finally decided to sign onto their patient registry,something that recently became available for Canadians. Now, the wait begins for them to start working with hemiplegia patients. The fingers of my right or non-paralized hand are crossed that it will be sooner than later.

No matter what you think about Elon Musk, it’s not like he’s performing the implantation. I trust that he has hired competent people who have expertise in the field. I have to trust that because, on August 24th, it will be 9 years of living with paralysis and if you have any idea of what that’s like, you’ll cheer me on .

The piece of myxoma tumor that lodged in my brain is still non operable, so I don’t have another option to get use of my left arm and hand back. As for my left leg, I would be walking without a cane and an AFO by now if I only had some trustable balance and more energy. So, I’m hopeful that the chip might address balance issues as well .

It’s still early stages, and they aren’t working with hemiplegia patients yet and I don’t want to be the first one, so it will probably take 5 to 10 years before I’m even notified, and I can change my mind at any point of the process, but there’s hope and that is more than what I have had.

A little music to start your week

It’s been a long time since we’ve had a new Randy Rainbow Song, and this one is particularly catchy. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did.

King Tampon

I would like to thank the artist who painted this portrait of Charles because he really captured the name that I’ve been calling him since Elizabeth died, and it’s the OFFICIAL  portrait. This made me laugh so hard that it nearly restarted my period after 8 years of menopause.

THANK YOU, JONATHAN YEO!

How a cat toy is helping my paralyzed hand

As you know, if you’ve been reading this blog for the past 8.5 years, I have paralysis down the left side of my body. The worst of which is in my left hand,which was closed into a fist. Several months ago, thanks to some out of the box thinking, along with the muscle relaxant flexoril,which I’ve been taking for years now, I discovered a way to keep my fingers more open . It’s even allowed me to wash between the fingers.  It’s not the brace they tried in the hospital. It’s not even medical in nature. It’s something my cat Graham loves to play with more than any other toy. You see, Graham has simple taste and loves a ball to chase, but not a tennis ball or a baseball. No,Graham is addicted to small, soft balls made of foam.

My fist . The nails dig into my hand
The ball in hand, fingers more open, and then finally the hands clasped

We started buying them for him about 6 months after he came into our lives, and we have amassed around 50 of the darned things,when I decided to try stuffing one under the fingers of my hand and was surprised to find that it was firmer than it seemed, which is what gives it the magic touch,gently forcing my fingers open. It’s at the point where I have a ball in my hand constantly, even while sleeping. The only time I’m without one is during bath time.  I’m coming up on the 9 year anniversary of the stroke and am finally able to do the exercise that the physio therapist in the hospital wanted me to do on day one… both palms together with fingers interlaced, moving my wrists back and forth. It probably doesn’t seem like a big thing to anyone else, but for me it’s a HUGE improvement.