Days 5-9…sort of

So, I hung on well until needing to do day 9.  Day 9 was this past  Saturday. I wound up being too tired to do it, so I picked up day 9 today. I am having trouble with about 35% of it. My trouble has to do with needing to pick up my left leg and I can’t do that because my left arm does not work….so I am trying to pick up my left and right legs in some exercises with only my right arm. When my core gets stronger this may be more possible, but right now it is FRUSTRATING.

I have continued with my supplements and taking my medicine at regular times instead of when I remember.

I did get off the floor after exercising without assistance….so yay!

Days 1-4

I actually started on Saturday, March 30. When I say that I started, I mean that I started trying to get on the MS Gym website and began taking all of my supplements as prescribed. My neurologist has prescribed 300 mg of biotin per day, 1200 mg of Alpha lipoic acid per day, and five thousand milligrams of vitamin D per day. Additionally, he has prescribed an old medicine called clemastine. The biotin, alpha lipoic acid and clemastine are all substances that have shown to be beneficial repair. I believe most of the studies have come from Australia. I take the vitamin D because I’m chronically low in vitamin D as are most people with multiple sclerosis. As of today, I have taken all of these supplements for a total of six days.

I started the MS Gym on Monday. I had promised myself I would follow the program carefully. Therefore, on Monday I watched over an hour of introductory videos. Any of you who know me, know that this is not the way I like to do things. I would rather just jump in. So, Tuesday I was ready to start. Each workout is 30 minutes long. I think I cried through 15 minutes of the first one. The reason I cried was not that it was hard…. Or I should say it didn’t look hard. I cried because it looks so easy but it was so hard for me. The video required heavy use of both hands. Because one hand does not work, I had to do everything with my good hand. This proved to be exhausting. Wednesday was the second day. This day did not prove to be any easier than the first day because I had to get on the floor. Getting up and down off the floor is very hard for me. If you doubt me, I challenge you to get on and off the floor using only your right arm and your right leg. I didn’t cry during this video I just cursed. I woke up Thursday feeling awful and exhausted so I did not do my exercises. I felt very guilty that I couldn’t do it. Today is Friday and I rallied. I completed day three in the allotted 30 minutes. Today was very heavy on upper body which meant I had a tough time because of my left arm.

On a sidenote I quit Coca-Colas on Monday and in trying to recommit to no soda and looking to restarting the Dr. Wahl’s diet.

PS…..started my ESTIM on my hand today.

Health…definitely a slippery something

When I started this blog, I called it slipping through my fingers because I’m a knitter so yarn slips through my fingers; I’m a mother so I felt time would slip through my fingers; and I have MS so I was afraid that my health would slip through my fingers. All of these things have come to pass.

My knitting progressed by leaps and bounds over the years. I’ve documented a number of beautiful things of which I’m quite proud. I worked hard to increase my skills and began teaching young and old alike. I’m proud to pass on my knowledge to more people than I can name, but now my MS has progressed to the point that I find it difficult to hold my left needle…. meaning, I do very little knitting these days. However, I do still teach…successfully.

Our oldest child is now 17 and a junior in high school. She is looking at colleges, working a part-time job, and looking toward her future. This means she will be moving out of the house soon….our time with her, as a child, is slipping away. Our youngest child is 14 going on 25. She, unlike the oldest one is ready to fly the coop…now. All that we can do is love her gently and make sure she understands she always has a soft place to land. Again, my time with her is slipping through my fingers daily.

My health is beyond slippery at the moment. In addition to the left arm that is as useful as a wet noodle, my left leg likewise does not hold up it’s end of the bargain. The purpose of starting this blog again is to have a place to record my thoughts regardless of if anyone else wants to read it. I am starting a new exercise program called the MS Gym. I am both hopeful and desperate. It seems at that nothing to lose and perhaps something to gain. Most of the posts will simply be a record of how I feel on that day and if I took all of my supplements and did my exercises.

 

This is for you, Becca……

I think you are beautiful. Smile…..it makes all of the difference. Here is a picture of me, no make up and pouting. Then another, no make up…smiling. I will not be on the runway…ever, but smiling makes all the difference in the world. I love you….love yourself!

Anniversary weekend

Henry and I celebrated our 11th anniversary a couple of weeks ago. We went out to dinner, but our real celebration was this weekend. We attended the Heritage Harvest Festival at Monticello….without children!
http://heritageharvestfestival.com/
If you are a reader of this blog, you know that I am very interested in gardening, cooking, food in general, etc. Henry shares many of these interests…largely because he is beneficiary of these pursuits. Henry has started two bee hives, so he is really into that.
This is the first time in almost 10 years that we have both been away from our girls at the same time for more than one night. They have spent one night at a time with meme and papa or grandpa and grandma while we we in town, but this was a milestone for us. I have thoroughly enjoyed myself and so has Henry. It has been really great for us. We do so many things as a family and so few as a couple that sometimes we forget how great the person we married is!
I ran into three Waldorf teachers and about five Ravelers….but didn’t get their names. I’ve a habit of knitting and walking when we are out. I take something simple (wingspan, this time) and Henry walks next to me in case I lean a bit. So, I am obviously a fiber enthusiast and meet lots of people that way. Meeting the Waldorf teachers, I don’t know, I think it’s some sort of magnetic force we give off. We run into Waldorf people everywhere we go.
I am posting a few pictures and may come back later to tell you about that great info we got from the classes. Until then, enjoy:

My little beekeeper

Just a quick picture of Mycah’s in her suit and veil. She is going out with Poppa for her first in depth beekeeping experience. She hasn’t had a suit until now. She has helped some but really wanted the security of a suit…so she is now ready for go!

Pictures

Misc……

It’s been a busy summer here. I feel like I have spent the entire Summer behind and without enough energy to do everything I want. (or at least everything I think I should be able to do and still have time to enjoy life)
I spent the day with the girls…all day…a day they needed and I needed. We are together all of the time except for the 30 or less hours I work each week. But, I spend so much of my down time trying to play catch up that we don’t spend large chunks of quality time together. So today, we finished breakfast and were in Grey’s room by 10. Grey spent all day working on making American girl doll hammocks using her sewing machine. I was there for moral support and the occasional tech assistance or to talk her down off the ledge. Mycah cuddled up with me and I helped her with her hand sewing and we watched Julia and Jaques make desserts on Hulu. We all had a really good time. I also knit a bit between consultations. Grey said this was the best day ever and I have to agree. Here are pics of Grey creating and of her creations. I am also throwing in picks of the 16 pounds of zuchini I shredded, bread I made, sweater I finished a bit ago and the shawl I started. Busy, busy….but in a good way.

more tomatoes

The onslaught of tomatoes has caused a bit of a conundrum here. I am thrilled that the cherry tomatoes have done so well, but people are beginning to hide from me when they see me coming with my little basket brimming with toms. It reminds me of a funny NOW story. It wasn’t at all funny at the time….well maybe a little.
Our papa always had an amazing garden. It was one of those that fed us all summer and then through the winter and into the spring when he started planting again. Of course, none of that was possible without our Meme. She was the bean shelled, the canner, slicer, freezer, etc. Meme put up all that stuff Papa grew.
Meme died about four years before Papa…..but Papa never stopped planting. He worked mama into the ground trying to keep up with him. The last two years of his life he decided that he should plant mama’s yard too. He had two enormous gardens, 10 miles apart and saw to them both. He actually passed away in mama’s garden. But, that’s not what I meant to wonder off to….. After Papa died I moved into his house so it wouldn’t be empty. It was early June and the vegetables began rolling in. I didn’t cook much then and was overwhelmed. Henry and I use to pick and pick. I would go door to door to all of his neighbors giving away produce. I took it to work. I did the best I could to get rid of it…..and people began hiding from me. Apparently, you can have too much of a good thing!

I am drying aBout a pound of the cherry toms to pack in oil and basil for the winter.

enjoying the garden

I tried a new recipe tonight because I am drowning in cherry tomatoes. I took about three pounds to work today. I got rid of them in about five minutes! I think everyone enjoyed them! But this afternoon I knew I needed to do some serious picking, so I found a recipe to use them up. I picked another pound or so and used two pints in this recipe. The recipe is from The Heirloom Tomato, a gorgeous book by Amy Goldman. The book is brimming with photos,descriptions and recipes using heirloom tomatoes. The recipe I chose was Spaghetti with Cherry Tomatoes and Toasted Crumbs…..yes, I said toasted crumbs. Basically you make a tomato and shallot salad dressed in a vinaigrette. It marinates for an hour while you put a loaf of bread through a food processor to make crumbs and then toast them in olive oil and salt in the oven and cook the spaghetti. When the spaghetti is done you toss in the tomato salad and fresh basil. Then you serve it with the toasted crumbs on top and some Parmesan cheese. The girls were very hesitant about it and I was afraid this was going to be a fail…..but it wasn’t. It was amazing. We all loved it. I am so glad necessity made me dig around for something to do with our bumper crop of little tomatoes. I will definitely be making this again.

it was good!