Welcome to the Daily Grind

I decided it was time to officially end the mourning period for my beloved Kofenya in Oxford and sample the Statesboro alternative, called The Daily Grind.  I had been here twice before, the first time I completely lost my nerve and backed out before anyone saw me; the second time I ordered a cup of coffee and muffin then, grudgingly sat at the counter, not quite convinced it was the right place for me.

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My day out

Monday, January 31, 2011 10:43:47 PM

We woke on Wednesday morning to a house with no electricity which meant no heat, to Internet, and NO COFFEE. There was a huge ice storm in South-West Ohio last night, leaving everything coated in glass. It is very pretty to look at, but getting out of the house to find heat, Internet and good coffee was pretty tricky.

“Yes,” “Not now,” and “I have something better”

Monday, November 15, 2010 12:14 PM

Adrienne left for Statesboro, Georgia today for an interview at The University of Southern Georgia. As expected, this is a big deal. The position seems like a good fit for her and being invited to meet faculty is a good sign. Also an anxiety inducing one.

Naturally, there has been plenty of tension in our house because we don't know what to expect; will they offer her a place or does she have to go back to the beginning?

We started the process of preparing to leave Oxford over a year ago-Adrienne had to finish her dissertation and graduate, find a job, we had to sell the house and find new housing, etc...

Then along came the economic downturn, which made selling a house and finding a job more difficult, and my debilitating illness. Being paralyzed or so fantastically weak means that I haven't been able to be much of a partner for a lot of this. Thank Heaven for Alex, he has proven that his shoulders are wide enough.

There is a lot going on this week-Adrienne's interview, Alex and me home alone for the first time, the our trip to New Orleans (my first major trip as a non-TAB), and Alex staying behind to look after the pets. I don't know about my other house mates, but my stomach is tied up in knots.

When I question the future, I am reminded something Adrienne taught me; when we ask God for something, He has three responses, “Yes,” “Not now,” and “I have something better.”

This morning we both prayed for knowledge of His will and the strength to carry it out. That greatly simplifies and focuses things.

Monday, November 15, 2010 01:07 PM

Tuesday morning

Curse of the Crimson Alter

Tuesday, November 2, 2010 8:36 AM

A blessing, free time, what to do? What to do? Today is my first “day off” in over a week; I don’t have to go anywhere or do anything. And I am pretty much alone; Adrienne will be in school until five and Alex? He’ll be around, but will also be doing his own thing.  How to best spend it?

Right now I am just finishing breakfast and my delicious cup of coffee on the couch. The pets are running around, carrying on their own style of social interaction. I’ve come to realize that the majority of my most recent social interactions has been with the pets. That is because I have spent the last two days in bed, preparing for and recovering from a colonoscopy. 

After their short period of scampering around the house, all four of the pets have retreated to their neutral corners and are now sound asleep. The brown dog is on the black chair and the black dog is on the light brown sofa, both of them snoring contentedly. The felines, I imagine, have taken their places on our bed, starting their day long nap.  I've noticed that our cats really don't do much else.

I remember looking watching the kittens at the humane society once. The floor of the room was abuzz with energy as they ran around, wrestling, climbing, and playing with  toys. Then one fell asleep and  other, and a third. Eventually, like a torporific ripple across a pond, the roomful of kittens slipped into slumber.

Sleep is obviously very important to the felines. I’ve heard somewhere that cats spend 2/3 day asleep and I believe it. I’ve also discovered that sleep is very important to me.

I had a colonoscopy Monday morning then spent the rest of the day napping. For those that haven’t had a colonoscopy, I can say that the procedure is not that bad. I say it’s not that bad because they knock you out for it. One moment I was watching the milky white anesthetic flowing down my IV and into my arm, then the next it was Adrienne's smiling face, welcoming me back. The doctor could’ve attached electrodes to my body spent the previous hour laughing as I jerked and contorted for all I knew.

The most uncomfortable part of the colonoscopy was the “bowel prep.” The previous day was spent fasting and trying to drink four liters of this vile tasting, nausea inducing “colon cleanser.” Even now, two days later, thinking about it  creates a gag. I was only able to get three liters down before I decided that that would have to be enough.

Now what is 9:00 and I need to think about how I want to spend my free day. First here’s a list of things I would like to accomplish around the house this morning:

• Clean up after breakfast
• Load and run dish washer
• Put away my clean laundry
• Dust mop the bedroom floor
• Teeth, shave and shower
• Order medication refills
• Set up prescription by mail
• Enroll in a diabetes education class
• Give Frannie her medicine and Eloise her dog treat
• Put Netflix discs in mailbox
• Take my morning nap?

And here’s some of the things I’d like to do for pleasure today:

• Get out of the house!
• Maybe go to Kofenya or some other uptown place
• Catch up on my e-mail correspondence and blog reading
• Talk to another human about anything other than my recovery, CIDP, and today’s elections. Or the Bengals.

Here are some of the things I really want to talk about:

I am a lifelong fan of horror movies and this past October I immersed myself in them. I watched old horror films, from the 1932 White Zombie to a slew of recent remakes of classic horror films such as the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Nightmare on Elm Street, Dawn of the Dead, and Halloween, and some new original films like Jennifer's Body, Trick 'r Treat and House of the Devil.

I have to say that compared to the originals, these remakes were pretty tepid. The new Texas Chainsaw Massacre is nowhere  nearly as frightening or bull-goose loony as the first one. One thing missing was the totally over the top family dinner scene, where a shrieking Marilyn Burns is tied to an armchair made from real human arm’s.

Fangs of the Living Dead

I was also pleased to watch several Euro-horror films from the mid 1970s. Many of these films are pretty obscure and maybe for good reason. They all thrived on bizarre plot twists, poor acting, and incomprehensible dialogue. On the other hand they were all gorgeously filmed, featured great costumes and sets, and made excellent use of the beautiful female stars.

The Blood Drinkers

Lastly, I spent a lot of time watching a group of films by Filipino auteur Eddie Romero. These films were made in the late sixties and early seventies and most featured the word blood in the title. The best of these films is called The Bloods Drinkers and can be watched for free at Hulu.com. Beautifully shot in a mixture of color, black and white and monochrome tinted scenes, and populated with some of the most interesting villains I’ve ever seen, it reminded me of the stylish films of Jean Rollin.

My companion for most of these films has been Olivia, our black cat. She curls up in the crook of my arm and watches as my computer screen with me. I’m pretty sure she’s not actually watching the movies, but rather than moving colors on the screen. Otherwise I would give for one of my ear buds so she could listen.

This is Michael Williams and I’ve got to get back to work.

12:45 PM

This is what I have accomplished thus far:

• Clean up after breakfast
• Load and run the dish washer
• Put away my clean laundry
• Dust mop bedroom floor
• Brush, shave and shower
• Give Frannie her medicine and Eloise her dog treat

And I must add a new task, edit this post and clean up the voice recognition mistakes from this morning.

3:44 PM

Taking it to the streets

Have a happy and safe Labor Day, from someone whose every day is Labor Day. I am writing this from a booth at Kofenya, my favorite place to spend a Saturday morning.

Yesterday was my first outpatient physical therapy. My physical therapist looked at me with a fresh perspective; she doesn't see how far I've come, she sees how far I need to go. What's the advantage of being able to walk if I can only go from my living room to the bedroom?

Our plan is to work on building up my strength and endurance. She noticed that when I walk, I use my hips for most of the motion. I still don't have much activity or control from my knees down. We will work on using the muscles I have the most control over to improve my walking.

She also made it very clear that she expects me to work on these at home.I will feel I 've really earned these gains.

I had my second IVIG made into dose last week and it went very well, I spent the day watching movies. I also reduced my steroids by 5 mg this week. My physical therapist will help to monitor if my CIDP symptoms return. That is a relief.

Adrienne and I began going to the Corwin M. Nixon Aquatic Center on campus. There is a family/handicapped accessible changing room that is very spacious and equipped with grab bars. Unfortunately they did not install an automatic door opener, and I'm not sure I could open the door from the inside on my own. Being trapped is a great fear of mine.

After we get changed, we roll out to the pool and I transfer into the lift. It is easy to operate and I can use it alone. Once I get into the water I support myself by holding the wall or holding on to Adrienne.

Time to eat my breakfast.