Friday, December 7, 2012

Whole picture

I'm not sure that my last post really gave a picture of what it's like to struggle with MS
so I thought it would kind of walk you through the day moment by moment.
 I woke up at four.  I made myself lay there for a little bit and probably slept fitfully on and off.  I finally got up at about 5:15.  Since I can just sit at my computer, that part of my morning is not really all that difficult.  It's just early.
Things are still not difficult until I go to work out.  Today I just did the elliptical machine.  There are a couple of kinds at my gym.  One has you gliding back and forth like you're skiing.  Your feet are flat.  I can't do that one because I don't have enough control over my legs to keep my feet on the ski. Another one I do sometimes it's more of a stepper.  If you really get it going you can do very long strides.  But you can also just kind of go up and down.  I know that one is really good for my quads which are very unresponsive most of the time.  I can only do that one for about a half a mile.  And one I do is called the Precor and your feet are at a slightly elevated angle.  I can keep my feet on , and go about a mile.  I don't stop because I am winded, or my heart rate is too high.  I stop because my legs actually quit responding.  I like to do the elliptical, though, because this is a movement I can't do in real life.  It's the closest thing that I can get to actually running.  I have something called drop foot which means that I don't walk heel to toe.  I can do that rolling motion that you do when you walk normallyt.  Walking with drop foot means that I trip easily, can't go very fast, and get worn out very easily.  When you see people with canes the assumption is that they can walk okay as long as they have the support.  But for people with MS, it's really because after a while I really can't walk.
So after lurching my way to my car, and getting home, I sit for a while before my shower.  Once I am in the shower, I have two grab bars that I never quit holding on to, because when my eyes are closed I have no sense of balance at all.  So when I wash my hair I have to do so with one hand so I can hold on to the bar with the other.  After the shower getting dressed as an adventure.  I have to lift my leg up with my arms in order to be able to get into my pants because I can't lift it high enough otherwise.  Due to the frequent tripping and the inability to wear shoes that aren't slightly orthopedic, I gave up wearing dresses and skirts a long time ago.
I have to dry my hair sitting down, because if I don't I am using up my energy and won't be able to finish the rest of my morning routine.  I lurched my way out to my computer desk holding onto walls and chairs in order to not fall down, and I do my makeup sitting at my desk because I also can't stand up to do that.
That's about where I'm at today.  I have a client at 11 o'clock and so until then I will probably do a beading project and finished with sudoku which is really hard on Fridays.  I will write some more later in order to give you a picture of what it's like during the rest of the day. 

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