July 21, 2010 and the heat is still on. The e mail to my cousin Jeff in answer to his question on my battle status sums up my state I think.
Hi Jeff,
Much better thank you. No longer require daily wrapping. Off pain meds and back at it full bore at present. Still walk with a stick and a step slower but that is alright. Got a handicap permit so we park in front of the gate at Verizon. Got to see D Matthews, S Winwood and Santana so far. Van made me up a honey do list, on a legal pad. I did the plumbing under the house, embellished with a string of obscenities. I might have pulled a muscle scraping gutters. Life is a wonderful thing.
As for my condition chemo is done. Scan had some positive light. Improvement to left kidney and reduced lymph node size by a little. We scan again 9/20, if no new spread and some more improvement we discuss going for the cure with the surgeons. Until then, soldier on like a good salesman and have a good time.
Mike
ps: and get some orders
Showing posts with label handicap. Show all posts
Showing posts with label handicap. Show all posts
12.8.10
New Realities And The Joy Of Underwear
July One 2010 and I am still alive. Inger came in with a grin, announcing ‘I just had my hands in the freezer, I’m ready for ya’ a couple of days ago. I can now mount my compression stockings on my own without the aid of devices like the slip on foot cover or rubber gloves. I am up to 12 hours in them, putting in full work days. Vanessa drove me on a door to door in H City this week. Yesterday I had lunch with Jocelyn in Indy. Before the cancer this was semi regular for us. It felt good to do it again. I am working at returning to normalcy with each passing day. The new reality incorporates my handicap, along with preferred parking in handicapped zones.
An interesting unintended consequence of my disease is the underwear upgrade. Until recently my underwear experience was limited to the standard Hanes or Fruit of the Loom fare in underwear. I was unaware that underwear existed that provided cushy luxurious fits. Of course upgrading undies from what I wore my entire life never entered my mind, but the need for the right fit for support and protection of my damaged package and lymph filled left leg created a need, and now my drawer is beginning to fill with these most comfortable garments, boxer style, some loose fit, some smooth. Who would have known! I have to say do not wait for cancer to explore some things, better underwear being one of them. During the day my standard outfit has me covered in spandex from the navel down, with bike shorts or Under Armour and the compression stockings. It is nice to have a little personal luxury thrown in. I have worked at improving this entire process. I now dress without rubber gloves or silk slip on socks. I have come to rely on the stockings for my mobility.
An interesting unintended consequence of my disease is the underwear upgrade. Until recently my underwear experience was limited to the standard Hanes or Fruit of the Loom fare in underwear. I was unaware that underwear existed that provided cushy luxurious fits. Of course upgrading undies from what I wore my entire life never entered my mind, but the need for the right fit for support and protection of my damaged package and lymph filled left leg created a need, and now my drawer is beginning to fill with these most comfortable garments, boxer style, some loose fit, some smooth. Who would have known! I have to say do not wait for cancer to explore some things, better underwear being one of them. During the day my standard outfit has me covered in spandex from the navel down, with bike shorts or Under Armour and the compression stockings. It is nice to have a little personal luxury thrown in. I have worked at improving this entire process. I now dress without rubber gloves or silk slip on socks. I have come to rely on the stockings for my mobility.
5.8.10
May 15, 2010 Handicapped In Public
Reality
Saturday, May 15, 2010 a beautiful day in the neighborhood for sure. We went to breakfast at the IHOP and then shopping for Van’s gardening supply. The cancer is cruel in all respects, and of course I choose to deny the limitations it places upon me until they are thrown in my face. Such was the case today as I was forced to use the little motorized scooters for handicapped folk to get about the stores. I understand the long term consequences with regard to pain if I overdo it. My macho man bravado has long since been stripped away in a most humbling manner. My very manhood is under assault. Yet I knew I wanted to participate in the shopping, not sit and mope in the parking lot, so I strapped on the little electric three wheeler with the basket, put my walking stick in the basket and took off through the sporting goods store looking for bicycle shorts for me that will serve as a girdle needed as part of my ongoing lymphedema therapy. The looks people gave me made me wonder if I looked upon the valiant drivers of these devices in the same way before I joined their ranks. A kind smile of pity, a look of bewilderment, (what does he have?), a look of sympathy and one of kindness. Children are of course particularly entranced, as I learned during my short stint on the crutches. It was a slap of hard reality and I could not help but cry a little when it was over, for the reality is I cannot walk any distance, and that stinks. I don’t want to be physically handicapped. I do not want a hover round. I object to this disease and all the complications that go along with it.
Saturday, May 15, 2010 a beautiful day in the neighborhood for sure. We went to breakfast at the IHOP and then shopping for Van’s gardening supply. The cancer is cruel in all respects, and of course I choose to deny the limitations it places upon me until they are thrown in my face. Such was the case today as I was forced to use the little motorized scooters for handicapped folk to get about the stores. I understand the long term consequences with regard to pain if I overdo it. My macho man bravado has long since been stripped away in a most humbling manner. My very manhood is under assault. Yet I knew I wanted to participate in the shopping, not sit and mope in the parking lot, so I strapped on the little electric three wheeler with the basket, put my walking stick in the basket and took off through the sporting goods store looking for bicycle shorts for me that will serve as a girdle needed as part of my ongoing lymphedema therapy. The looks people gave me made me wonder if I looked upon the valiant drivers of these devices in the same way before I joined their ranks. A kind smile of pity, a look of bewilderment, (what does he have?), a look of sympathy and one of kindness. Children are of course particularly entranced, as I learned during my short stint on the crutches. It was a slap of hard reality and I could not help but cry a little when it was over, for the reality is I cannot walk any distance, and that stinks. I don’t want to be physically handicapped. I do not want a hover round. I object to this disease and all the complications that go along with it.
Round 2 With The Beginning Of May
The first week of May marks round two of the chemo. While round one helped certainly, Dr. H seemed disappointed that it had not done more to impact the cancer. Round two is the same as round one chemically. The first treatment went as the one previous. I still have my hair, and the toughest part of it is the night of and day after. But on Tuesday this week business was good and Van chauffeured me about to make calls. Met a great fellow in Muncie who’s business was once tier one for the automotive. The business is a shell now, but he plods along, for it is what he knows. We visited for an hour with barely a mention of my obvious handicaps. For the first time Deanna, our angel of physical therapy, broke out machinery. To begin with she treated me with something similar to a brush plating device where I held the ground or cathode, and she held the anode, in the form of a pad. She used cornstarch for lubricant and worked over my left leg. This she called deep tissue therapy. Then I was placed in a variation of a G suit, with chambers that alternately inflate and deflate, producing an exquisite sensation and sense of fluid moving in my leg and middle. After therapy I made several trips to the single restroom on the first floor of the hospital over the course of an hour. Today I have bruised feet and cannot walk. Oops.
Two AM Friday. Now 26 hours of severe foot pain. Had no taste for Oreos tonight and ate a peach fruit cup This is definitely not the old me. The pain in the feet is accompanied by a black and blue toe on the left and one on the right to a lesser degree. The pain is a burning, your toenails wanting to blow off. Definitely not bruised feet as first thought. Marietta says Dr. H has a drug if it is not better today, nuerontin I think.
Two AM Friday. Now 26 hours of severe foot pain. Had no taste for Oreos tonight and ate a peach fruit cup This is definitely not the old me. The pain in the feet is accompanied by a black and blue toe on the left and one on the right to a lesser degree. The pain is a burning, your toenails wanting to blow off. Definitely not bruised feet as first thought. Marietta says Dr. H has a drug if it is not better today, nuerontin I think.
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