Category Archives: Daily Snippets

Daily Snippets, Multiple Sclerosis, Running

World MS Day 2016

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Today is World MS Day. From their webpage:

For World MS Day 2016 we’re celebrating all the ways that people affected by MS maintain independence and get on with their lives.

By sharing examples of independence from lots of different countries, we want to inspire people to challenge perceptions of what people with MS can do.

I’ve shared lots on the blog here about my struggles and victories with MS. While I’ve struggled with losing aspects of my independence, I am determined not to let MS get the best of me. This year I stepped out of my comfort zone and became a runner. You can read about my 1st race HERE. This has been a life changing experience for me in so many ways, and I’m thankful for every day I am still able to run. So today, I guess, I am celebrating running as my way of maintaining independence and getting on with my life, in spite of MS.

These are some things I’m thankful for today: an air conditioned home, freshly ground coffee, and a body that moves when I tell it to. What about you? What are you thankful for today? Do you have struggles you are overcoming? Toot your own horn here so we can all celebrate together!

Daily Snippets, Food, Friends, Running

Four miles and then some pie

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So! This morning I decided to join the kids at the bus stop (I haven’t been, because it had been cold, and I can see the bus stop from our kitchen window). While there, I was chatting with some of the other moms and one of them mentioned that she gets up at 4:30 am. She was talking about something else, I can’t remember what, I was just stuck on that little piece of information. She gets up at 4:30 am, voluntarily, and says it with a smile on her face. It’s a choice she makes. It sounds like she does it in order to have time to exercise, run or whatever, before the rest of the family is awake. I so admire that, and I’ve always sort of fantasized – yes, fantasized – about becoming a super-duper early riser like that, but I’ve never managed to make it happen. And now I could, but why? I have ALL DAY now to exercise, meditate, relax and have alone time. No real sense in getting up early now. But maybe when summer comes I’ll try it out. To get my “Me Time” in before the kids are awake. Maybe, we’ll see. It’s just a thought.

I’m still running, even post 5k. It’s just been such a good thing for my body and spirit, so I want to keep going, race or no race. I went on two shorter runs earlier this week but then today was the big run. I do intervals between slow and steady, because that’s suppose to help you build stamina without overworking your muscles. I think. Something like that, I forget now. Today I ran/walked just under 4 miles, which is my farthest distance yet! It felt really great, but when I got home I was ravished with hunger. And while digging in the fridge for leftovers to reheat, I found there were still two pieces of Ema’s homemade rhubarb pie left from last Friday. Did you know leftovers should never be kept for more than a week? So you eat it or throw it out. And throwing out a delicious homemade rhubarb pie was not even an option to consider, so of course I had to eat it. And it was soooo yummy, I have no regrets.

I’m happy it’s Friday. It appears that warmer, spring weather has finally arrived in Michigan so everyone is emerging from their cocoons. We have a busy weekend coming up, full with kids’ activities. That’s the best way to spend a weekend if you ask me. As long as you get some napping done in between 🙂

Happy Friday, y’all!

Cochlear implant, Daily Snippets, Multiple Sclerosis, Piper, Visually Impaired

Little-big victories

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I went for my six-month follow-up with my neuro-ophthalmologist today (that was a lot of hyphenating lol). After reviewing the results of my Humphrey visual field test (flunked with flying colors, you could say), the standard “look straight into this bright light while I breathe loudly near your face” test, and chatting with me for a few minutes, he was ecstatic. Like, over the moon happy to see how well I was doing. He said my right eye had definitely improved. A small improvement, but it’s an improvement nonetheless. That’s the right direction to go, you know? He was very happy to hear that I was running, and feeling good. Maybe he could even sense from the way I was speaking to him that my cognition has improved? I’m definitely more “with it” than I was when I first came to his office in 2013. He even commented that my hearing was improving, even though that isn’t possible post cochlear surgery, but I took that to mean he could tell I was comprehending speech better than before. So yay!

When he walked me out to the receptionist’s office after our visit he stood there, looking at me and said, “Now, you promise to give that husband of yours a hug from me, won’t you? You promise??” (He loves Mike, keeps telling me he’s a good man, which of course I know, but it’s still nice to hear) And I said, yes of course, but I want a hug too. So I gave him a great big hug. Then he looked at me again with this stupidly proud, fatherly-type grin on his face, nodded a few times, sighed loudly, and then turned and walked away. It was the strangest interaction I’ve ever had with medical personnel, but it was beautiful. While I don’t feel a whole lot different than when I saw him six months ago, he sees progress, and that’s good news. Lord knows I’ve had my share of bad news, and I’m always down for some good stuff.

Oh, and to top all this off, the dog didn’t destroy the house while I was gone! I’ve been leaving her out of the crate while I’m gone, for an hour or two at a time. This was the longest I left her out, but she did great! Didn’t chew anything up, didn’t relieve herself in the house, and she seems even more super duper happy when I come home. Now if we can just get her to stop barking at all the neighbors walking by…

Daily Snippets, Family, Food, Health

A case of the Mondays? Almost.

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I tried really hard not to let Monday be the way Mondays can be, overwhelming and all. I think I did okay, despite it trying really hard to kick my butt.

I have a recurring muscle spam in my left shoulder and it was back with a vengeance today. When the pain is in full force it radiates all the way down my left arm, and it makes anything but standing up straight extremely painful. So resting was even hard to do. Go figure.

So I spent a good portion of my day trying to calm the spasm. Ice, Epsom salt baths, heating pad. Nothing has really worked, only made it somewhat tolerable.

But while that was the bulk of my day, I did have some positive moments. My new contact lenses came in the mail. And I made chicken noodle soup for dinner, which happens to be one of the few foods my entire family enjoys. So that made for a pleasant dinner time as we all just enjoyed the food and each other’s company. Still, we have leftovers, come on over! 🙂

Oh and my sister and I chatted our excitement about our upcoming appointment to get the matching tattoos we finally decided on after talking about for years (pardon the run-on). More on that later, and if later enough, with pictures!

Thanks for listening, folks. It means the world to me.

Daily Snippets, Deep thoughts, Disability, Multiple Sclerosis, Writing

How MS Defines Me

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I started this post three days ago, but didn’t get past the title. Now I’m deciding to continue with it, with the expectation that I can convey a clear and complete thought. Or maybe two.

I am fatigued. I am not handling it as well as usual, and I think that’s just because my running had given me a nice reprieve from the normal levels of fatigue. But having the kids home all week coupled with my MS medication running low (I get infused with Tysabri every four weeks), seems to have been too much on my body.

What bothers me most about the fatigue, at least this time around, is the effect it has on my cognition. I just can’t seem to make the connections, and even when I do, it takes an uncomfortably long time. So I’m awake, but I’m not really here. I struggle to finish sentences, I forget where I was headed within the house, I can’t put two and two together. And that’s frustrating, but I know this too shall pass. The kids go back to school tomorrow, I’ll go back to the infusion center hopefully Friday, and I will keep taking breaks when they are needed. And my family will be patient as always, they will pick up the slack where needed, it will be okay. We accommodate, together. I will get the rest I need. This is why I make the big bucks courtesy of Social Security, right? It will be okay.

MS is part of my life. It always will be, and I’m not sorry about that. It has taught me how to be patient and gracious, and how to laugh at myself. It has required strength I wouldn’t otherwise know I had. So yes, I guess you could say I am defined by my disability. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Daily Snippets, Family, Kids, Photos, Vacation

Spring break smiles

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It’s Friday, the last day off from school for the “spring” break. It’s been snowing off and on since Saturday, which really put a damper on things. But we made our own fun. My sister and her kids (and dog) were here for five days, which was both crazy and awesome. Today the kids and I took the Spec-Tran to the nearby roller rink. I don’t skate because I don’t care for pain, but my kids love it. Only Natalie wore some low cut socks and quickly developed a painful blister. She’s pictured above, soaking her feet in a warm Epsom salt bath. And of course that’s her brother Luke photo bombing with the bunny ears. He thinks he’s funny, and sometimes he’s right. I guess.

That is all I’ve got for now. Happy Friday folks!

Cochlear implant, Daily Snippets, Miracles do happen

An anniversary of sorts

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You guys. I have to tell you what just happened. I was posting a video of a cochlear implant surgery on Facebook, and wanted to note that my implants were coming up on their anniversaries (for the surgeries, not the activations). My right ear was planted first, in 2014, and the left ear was implanted a year later. Both happened to be on the Friday before Mother’s Day. I knew this, but wanted to verify the dates before posting this fact, so I opened up my calendar. The first thing I noticed was the date of my upcoming 5k run – it’s on the Friday before Mother’s Day. Get outta town! That had not even occurred to me when I signed up. And I swear to you, I didn’t plan that left ear surgery to be on that day either. In fact, it had originally been scheduled for earlier but had to be rescheduled due to a lingering infection.

But stop right here if you aren’t fascinated by the coincidence of these dates. If you think it’s silly, just stop.

For the rest of you… how cool is that? It’s better than a birthday, and in a way more exciting than my wedding anniversary. It’s an anniversary of hope and healing and victory over struggles. I want to give it a name and come up with fun ways to celebrate it every year. Any ideas?

Daily Snippets, Disability, Domestic Engineer, Food

My exciting life

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I made a ginormous batch of potato soup for the crockpot this morning. Added all the leftover ham from Easter, diced an entire onion and threw that in. Threw in a little bit of chicken bouillon, dried parsley (which I’m convinced is just for show), and butter. It smells amazing and I can’t wait to eat it. There’s no way the four of us can eat it all, so we’ll have a lot leftover to freeze for another day. Win-win!

I’ve been working on laundry and dishes most of the morning. Those two never quit, do they? I just finished eating lunch, and now I’m left debating what to do next. More laundry, read a book, crochet, take a nap, run on the treadmill, walk the dog, watch more reruns of Parks and Recreation on Netflix… I just can’t decide. The nap is really tempting, but I know a walk or run would really boost my spirits.

This is my exciting life, folks! This is a normal day for me, and while it has taken quite some time to adjust to it, I’m finally starting to enjoy it and feel comfortable. I think this is the Acceptance part of the grief process. I am finally here, and can honestly say I am happy and really want to stay.

Oh, but that’s not what I got on the blog to talk about. Shoot. I guess I’ll have to draft that up and post it tomorrow 😉

Daily Snippets

Dudes. I dropped my phone.

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In the toilet. And while it’s now resting peacefully in a bag of rice, I feel lost without it.
I handle most of my communication via texting. I keep track of my household chores and things to do using apps on my phone. I read books on my phone. My daily prayer list is there. My running app is on there!
Most of the things are backed up and I will be able to recover them, and I can still communicate with people using Facebook and the good old fashioned home phone (with captions, of course), but guys! I dropped my stupid phone in the stupid toilet! I was at our old house, cleaning so we can put it on the market and get the dang thing sold, and while scrubbing the toilet I received a text from my husband and thought there was no harm in checking it immediately. It all happened so fast, and believe me, I wasted no time shoving my bare hand in the toilet water to rescue it. Tomorrow we will know for sure if it survived, but until then I’m off the grid a little.
The irony is that just last week I ordered a new battery case/cover for my phone, a paisley one, and I may have to return it. Only time will tell, I guess.
I’ll be checking my email and Facebook messages periodically, but in the meantime, send cookies!
This is so sad. Seriously, I think cookies will help.

Daily Snippets, Kids, Photos, Piper

Spring approaches

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After a healthy dumping of snow and cold weather here in Michigan, temperatures are coming back up and spring is right around the corner! Now I’m still wearing a sweater and long pants, but I couldn’t resist the flip-flops 🙂

It sure is nice to sit on the deck while Piper plays, watching the kids get off the school bus (my own kids of course, I’m not a creeper).