Skip to main content

I'm Walking . . .

That headline or title would not be emblazoned across many publications or blogs - but for me, it's headline-grabbing-neon-blazing news!

I have, of course, wonderful Wally to thank for the new-found opportunity to lace up those walking shoes. And walk we do - I've taken him around the block a couple times a day since Sunday. For four years now, that was a feat unimagined. I call it my Igor Shuffle - it's not pretty to watch or to personally experience; my left leg and foot drag especially after much effort. So, it's become easier to not make the exertion. And there are the falls, or trips, as I'm walking- and they're not only bruising but embarrassing. Like the time the nice, little old lady asked me if I needed help after a particularly public fall. It's like the chicken and the egg - which came first - the tripping or the fear of walking? Or should I say, fear of falling.

I digress. (So what's new!!!).

In addition to our new puppy, I think I have to also thank a new prescription that I take twice a day. Ampyra - it's one for people with MS that have a difficult time walking. I begrudgingly thank any pharmaceutical (that's a blog for another day!), but I have truly noticed a difference. I may still shuffle, but it doesn't make me feel like I'm going to topple at any moment. If I'm tripping on my walks these days it's because Wally and I are both just learning to take walks! I imagine we're comical to watch - me Igor-shuffling along with a clumsy, big-pawed puppy. You have my permission to imagine that picture of klutziness and to laugh. I do!

I didn't really realize the improvement until I took Wally to the dog park this morning. The terrain is uneven and covered in sticks, twigs and fallen leaves. I would have fallen for sure in weeks past - but I noticed I could relatively easily navigate, even with the klutzy puppy running alongside, other dogs running around and the wind gusting at 40+mph. I noticed the difference only in hindsight and felt a rush of joy. Yippee, I'm walking!!! It may not be very fast or very pretty - but I'm walking!!!!!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

It's not a popularity contest, but ...

Ch ... Ch ... Chemo

I was ready. I was prepared. The potential side-effect list was long and one I'd had some familiarity when John went through his treatment.  So I gathered my arsenal. I had my compazine, zofran and antivan. I had my ginger chewables and chicken noodle soup. I was armed and potentially dangerous. So, chemo day with the toxic chemo cocktail starting to do it's job, I envisioned it as either PacMan, eating away at the cancer cells or a Chia Pet, allowing my good cells to thrive. With these visions, (that aren't quite Christmas Eve sugar plums dancing) and tired from the chemo, I went to bed early. Friday, under the watchful eye of my caregiving hubby, I slept most of the day away. Not really hungry but not nauseous either. I spent the majority of the day horizontal on the couch listening to my book on Audible (despite the sleep timer, I probably missed 1/3 of what I 'read'), dozing, answering calls and texts, and snacking.  Perhaps the highlight of the ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The "I'll Nevers" of growing older

  Years ago as a freelance writer, I submitted an essay entitled "The I'll Nevers of Parenting". It was a list, mostly, of things I had said prior to having children and the crow I was then eating because of the stupidity of the claims. You know little pearls of 'wisdom' that only someone who hasn't experienced the joys of  parenting could utter, like: I will never yell at my child in public or I will never let my child eat dinner in front of the television or my children will never stay up past 9 pm. I yelled at my children (usually when we were both tired and totally irrational!) in public. One time, as we were in the drop off lane at school with a long line of cars behind us, the boys hoped out of the car but Delaney was insisting on something that for the life of me I cannot recall and I was insisting that she get out of the van. We crept along, van door still open, until I got to the end of the line and yelled at the top of my voice, "Delaney get the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Values - pass it on.

If you have read my blog in the past or know me at all, you know that sports in general and football in particular are not one of my favorite things to watch. Unless of course, one of my sons is playing - then get out of my way as I cheer them on! It is with a lot of frustration that I have seen more televised football games in recent weeks than there are hairs on my head. Okay that might be a slight exaggeration - but only slight . So if you're like me, you have seen the plethora of commercials from the Foundation for a Better Life. They are wonderful, heartfelt little life snippets - and they all end with the tag line, "Values, pass it on." Some of the most memorable are: The girl with Downs syndrome that is crowned prom queen. The skater 'dude' that is seen running through the alleys and streets with a woman's purse in his hands until he gets to the city bus where he gives the purse to a woman that is disembarking. He says, "You left this on the b...
Post a Comment
Read more