Musings of Two Creative Minds

  Recently I had a rather loud and unexpected reminder from life, that I am physically not the same person I was 10 years ago. I'm not saying that old age is catching up to me, although it does give me the occasional reminders that many of us experience (like your body sounding like a bowl of Rice Krispies when you get up in the morning). No, the incident I'm talking about was a very loud and frightening reminder to me that I am disabled. Now when I say it was frightening, I am mainly talking about everyone else around me. In my case it came more as a shock and a nasty surprise. You see, I was seated and began leaning over to grab something that was off to my side and slightly behind me when the wooden chair (well it was actually a wooden bench we have in the dining area) I was on tipped over. And yes, I went down with it. LUCKILY, I had enough presence of mind to stretch out my hands and arms at shoulder height to break most of my fall. I didn't even wind up slamming into ...

Those of you who have been following this blog (especially in the last couple of months) will be familiar with this image and the snippet of the song it comes from... "I wonder what tomorrow has in mind for me. Or am I even in its mind at all? Perhaps I'll get a chance to look ahead and see. Soon as I find myself a crystal ball..." - From Styx album "Crystal Ball" ...and my worries that if I did find a crystal ball and gazed into it, I might find a wheelchair staring back at me. Well, after being examined by a 2nd neurologist, and the results of another MRI of my cervical spine and head, the doctors have ruled out Multiple Sclerosis, Lou Gehrig Disease, cancer and a host of other worrisome possibilities. So, what was causing all my problems? Myelopathy which is caused by some kind compression on the spinal cord itself, inside the spinal column. In my case, the compression is happening in the cervical region (neck), and yes pressure on the spinal cord in that are...

(this is my trying to be brave face) To continue with what I was saying in my last post, this whole experience has been quite an eye-opening journey. For instance, trying to almost constantly adjust to dealing with my current circumstances while doing what was once ordinary tasks for me. Now as I said in my last post, I am still generating loads of new story ideas. It's just being able to sit comfortably enough to be able to really flesh them out takes more out of me than it used to. And believe me, I'm getting so many thoughts and ideas, since this journey began.     Take a recent outing I had to go on namely grocery shopping. I went to a Safeway that I knew would have the electric shopping carts to make getting around easier (because I was really feeling tired and sore). Normally, I'd do a curbside pickup, but I wanted to actually go in myself and try one of those carts in order to see if it would give me a little more freedom to get around once in a while. I found the ...

I know I've been quiet again, but with good reason. I won't go into great detail but will give you all a quick overview. In the last few years, I've been having greater and greater difficulties with pain, mobility and balance in the lower half of my body. The main cause for all of this is still being investigated by my doctors, including neurologists. And although one explanation seems likely, I am not going to say anything until we finally get a concrete diagnosis. Naturally, I've been finding the prospect of not being able to get around on my own legs very unsettling and upsetting. Mostly because I only recently turned 60. I wasn't expecting to have problems like this until much later in my life. I certainly did not expect to start having problems beginning in my mid-50's, which is when this all began.  Anyway, as things have gotten progressively worse, I find myself dwelling on an old Styx song called "Crystal Ball", from the album of the same title...