Author: Stax

I can’t really express how touched i am by this…

i really like my gym…it’s small, small enuf for me to “walk” around (read “hold on to my trainer” – lol) and do what i need to do.  I mentioned one time before that this woman walked up to me and told me that i am her inspiration.  She tells herself, “if she can do it, so can i!”…and i swear she’s there everytime i’m there, sometimes i meet her there and leave her there too!  i never ever thought i’d ever get to the point that i’m at where i actually look forward – nah, i don’t look forward to it – enjoy working out. lol

anyhoo, so i’m also learning that she’s not alone.  couple weeks ago i was leaving and as i was walking out, a woman who’d just pulled up said something along the lines of, “aw geez!  u’re leaving???  i missed u, i missed my motivation” 🙂  it’s nice to hear those kinds of things from complete strangers.

Last nite, i was walking out and, in the gym is one place that i ALWAYS move aside to let people pass.  so this man was behind me and i moved aside for him to pass but he refused, told me to take my time and keep going.  well as we got to the door, he started tellin me about this man who “heals everything” blah, blah, blah…when i asked him the man’s name, he said, “i don’t remember” – ok guy!! anyhoo, we continued talking and don’t u know it, his brother has MS too (what are the odds)!  He talked about the fact that he admires what i’m doing (out there in the gym staying active) because his brother is the complete opposite and stays at home and does nothing (there are differences; his brother is in a chair and is in pain some days).  he said that he really tries to get his brother to go out and do stuff but nothing works.

i’ve said this before and i’ll continue to say it, “MS is a wretched disease”, noone can be blamed for how they deal with having it (or any other disease for that matter).  Yes, maybe having a positive attitude is a good thing, but that isn’t easy – nor is it easy to maintain ALL the time.  Now, i didn’t get into any other details about his brother, but there’s just no telling what he might be going thru at any given time that might make him feel that the best road for him to take is to stay at home and do nothing – it’s his choice.

One thing i really really miss about being away from home is the abundance of fruit that we have at our disposal.  everybody have at least 1 fruit tree in their yard – we had a plum and cherry (and not the variety u can find here either – ours better!).  i took advantage but i wish i had a real appreciation for fruit back then like i have now – i could actually live on fruit easy easy.

Anyhoo, one of said fruit is a soursop.  boy do i love me some soursop – especially the ice-cream!  i went to check 1 of my “mothers” the other day and the conversation turned to “tea brewed from the soursop tree leaves”.  Apparently the word on the streets (these days or maybe i just found out) is that this tea is better for cancer patients than chemo; some go as far as to say that it cures cancer.  hmmmmm, if it cures cancer, what might it possibly do for MS???  i did some digging around and it’s supposedly an immune strengthener and has quite a few medicinal benefits, so yes, i’ve started drinking soursop leaf tea 🙂 I figure it cyah hurt, what do i have to lose?  the kicker tho is that it makes u sleepy!!! UGH!!  so i hadda watch when i drink it so that i don’t fall asleep on any of the numerous calls i have throughout the day – lol

 too bad the leaves don’t have just a hint of the fruit taste…

Ah gone so!

I bought a new cane…i’ve become a monster, yes.

so u may have seen the ads on TV…they claim that, “it’s the best cane you’ll ever own” – that’s still out for discussion.  i got it yesterday and i have to admit that it’s quite handy because it actually stands up on its own (on a flat surface) – if it’s on carpet, u have to steady it first, but it will stand up – that is cool! on top of that, it supposedly pivots (to be like ur ankle when u walk) at the base.  Now, i haven’t really noticed that BUT (i guess because it’s supposed to do that) it has a kind of bounce that makes it …(what is the word i’m looking for…hmmm), well anyway i like that feature.

i also got $20 off, a travel bag (it’s an adjustable folding cane), free shipping and a cane strap (one of the coolest cane accessories – if u ask me) thrown in so a good deal all around.

oh, and i have a certificate of authenticity – STOP THE PRESSES!!

it’s called “The Hurry Cane“

so i’ve spoken about the pill i now call “my sleepy pill” before; it’s called Zanoflex and is a muscle relaxant (it’s for my Spasticity).  when my doctor first prescribed it, he told me to take 2 mgs 3X a day and then increase to 4 as it becomes tolerable – that was how many years ago and i still take 2 mgs because that shit KNOCKS me OUT!!  it’s amazing just how sleepy i get after popping 2 mgs…in fact i decreased to twice a day because it would mash me up in the mornings at work and that was just unacceptable.  so…i would take it at 4pm and then again at midnite and when i took it at 4, best believe by 5 i was beppin, sometimes almost falling off my chair fus i was sleepy!

well one day sometime ago, i didn’t take it at 4 for whatever reason, ended up taking it at 5 instead and guess what?  nothing happened – i didn’t nod off, no close calls falling off my chair – nothing!  I thought that maybe it was just a fluke so i tried it a few more times and discovered that 5 works (guess it has something to do with my internal clock?)…so these days, I get a reminder at 5 to take it so that it doesn’t interrupt my day…of course, if i make a mistake and take it at 6 – all bets are off!  LOL.

Something that’s even weirder altho i’ve made this one make sense in my head.  On the weekends when i take it at 8 and it has no effect whatsoever on me?  i figure that’s because i’m not waking up at 6something in the morning (as i do during the week) and my body actually doesn’t mind waking up at 8 to start the day.

who knows?  makes complete sense to me!