12.16.13 Snow

So, I don’t think it’s a good sign when Phil had to come out and come get me from my car yesterday when I got to Barwis. Because of the snow, I had slipped and lost my footing so I was laying half-way on the driver’s seat with my feet outside my car. So Phil came from inside to get me.  He laughed and laughed when he saw me!  It was nice that he found it so funny so my embarrassment was lost in his laughter. I  couldn’t transfer to my wheelchair so he picked me up (so my feet were dangling like 3 feet off of the ground!) and put me in my chair. He wheeled me into Barwis.  I greatly dislike the mess I am after coming in from the snow!  The snow melts and I am a huge sloshy mess.  Of course it is cold so I really don’t want to touch the water but it is all over my wheels.  So what choice do I really have?  Luckily, Phil pushed me in so the wetness wasn’t all down my sleeves along the inside of my arms.

I make my way to the Keiser machine and Phil follows me with a few towels.   He told me to step on them which really didn’t work out (I couldn’t) so he ended up wiping the bottoms of my feet off as well as the floor.  It was a big mess!  I looked at him square in the eyes and said/asked, “Good thing this will be the last winter in a chair, right?”  He told me that he hoped so but wasn’t going to promise anything.  That was an extremely safe statement.  Fraught with diplomacy.  Good form, Phil.  I hope so too!  Actually, I’m going to make it happen.  Days like yesterday make it so very hard though!  Yesterday, it really HURT!  It’s not like I am not used to it hurting.  My body hurts ALL THE TIME!  I just deal with it.  I think because it was the first REAL snow fall of the year and I wasn’t sitting around in my pajamas watching football all day (like I was on Sunday) that it hurt a little bit more.  Today, it’s like, “Oh yeah, I remember how badly this feels” and I have adjusted accordingly.  However, my “accident” yesterday, as Jesse puts it.  It was TOTALLY horrific!!!  Not only is my car totaled, I am pretty badly beaten up.

Before we started squatting, someone comes from behind me and puts my hood over my head and then kind of hugs me and covers my eyes.  I had no idea who it was.  Then they let go and I turn my head as they are stepping to my side.  It was Backey!!!  Al!!!  I haven’t seen him since my first “Walking Wednesday”!  We talked a little before I started doing squats and he asked about my progress.  I told him that I have clocked 106 yards (more on Wednesday – I hope!).  It was REALLY nice to see him!  Then, I had to get to work.

I did a few sets of squats not perfectly but they’re all right. I *BINK*ed a good number of the squats.  I had to really fight to stand some of the squats.  Phil was saying the *BINK* along with me.  It was more yelling it, kind of making fun of it.  I told him that it sounds cuter than he was making it sound.  I asked if anyone else has a sound effect; he told me that no one else did. Yay!  That makes me memorable, right? 😜 We did a few stands which were more difficult than Friday because I was fighting with my body more but I think they were okay.  And then we went to the table.

Once I sat on the table, Phil started to stretch me out.  After he saw how extremely tight I was, he told me to lay down on my back and he would stretch me out that way.  Before I did this, I asked him if it will always be like this (referring to my legs being so tight).  He told me he didn’t know, he didn’t have MS.  Hmmm. That’s an answer.  An honest one but not the one I was looking for.  I think I want to answer to be something along the lines of:  Well Jen, you’ve suffered through this for the past 12 years, 11 months and 18 days so just deal with it for another 100 days and then all the pain will be gone, your brain and vision will NEVER be clouded, you will not ever have trouble with your speech, you won’t be affected by heat or cold, and you will walk normally –  effortlessly: and wear cute high heels if you want.

I’m NEVER going to get an answer like that so I just have to “grab my guts” and “suck it up” and “be a man about it”  and just deal with it because “the blood of strong Mexicans runs through my veins.”  Okay.  I will.  Just sometimes it is really difficult to have a smile on my face when I feel this badly.

Backey took me out to my car and told me that it was cold so he just picked me up and put me into my car.