To those I love...

I hope this finds you well. As the summer ended, after three months of relaxing, reflecting, breathing, job interviews, and the like, I made the decision to start my own practice. In the simplest of terms, this allows me control over my time to ensure there is time for my numerous therapeutic appointments and lifestyle adaptations. A second development with the changing of the seasons was my acquisition of a power wheel chair. With the help of my physical therapist from OHSU, we were able to petition my insurance company for reimbursement for a fully motorized chair. The chair arrived in early September, and although I parked it next to the bookshelf for a good week or so before first venturing out into the world upon my new lithium powered steed, I have found great benefit in this new tool. From the ability to travel about Portland by side walk or mass transit with little obstacle, and at a pace few walkers can match, to simple strolls, as I have begun calling them, along the McCall waterfront or through the aisles of Powell's, these are things I have not done in years. It makes meeting friends for coffee easier, going to the store for milk and ice cream a breeze, cause who doesn't enjoy a milk shake, and provides me with a degree of independence I haven't tasted for too long. And like many things MS has brought me, it is so bitter sweet. Yes, I am once again in the world of the walking, but still not walking. And though I am still able to stand at times, mornings are best, and use my walker and cane to navigate a space the chair won't go, or engage in yoga and stretching to try to maintain some strength and flexibility, my waking hours are a picture of continued atrophy. My experience asks of me to accept something, a reality, which elements of my soul scream out in resistance to. Yet there are other elements that see the power of my loss, that strength and understanding that will allow me to do things my legs never could.

So today it begins, with my first client at 3:30pm on Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010. I think of you often and all you have done to guide, support, and inspire me on this path...

Comments

[Ccarolr]

Yes! And thank you, so very much, for letting me into your life, and all that went that, over the Summer. :)