Author: Jen Rios

The ‘Four’ in the ‘Four-fer’

So, I am still very much trying to process all of the things that went on Tuesday. I’m really not getting okay with any of it. But one thing I will say is that the fourth thing I did was to get new shoes. Now, getting new shoes for me it’s not because I WANTED them at all but because I NEEDED them! My MS ridden feet cannot handle being in normal tennis shoes any longer.

This is kind of a big deal for me. I have always worn shelltoes. In high school they were white and now I wear black ones. Or at least, I did. But then I was diagnosed with MS. Within the first three years, I realized that shell toes were too heavy for me. (I went back to them after realizing that my Doc Marten’s we’re NOT going to work for me anymore!)

By the time I started teaching, I was already five years into my diagnosis and I had switched to just wearing chuck’s. I have written before how I never wore the same color chuck’s two days in a row and I had a total of 13 pair that I would rotate.

But then I started working out at Barwis Methods. There, they told me that I should no longer wear chucks because they were not supportive. Already being wheelchair-bound, I went back to wearing shelltoes. I switched from white shelltoes to black shell toes because I was wearing them to work.

I saw this video on Facebook this morning and I can’t just put the video here but instead can post the link so you can look at it:

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1885383531850112?fs=e&s=cl

I showed this video to Sean this morning when he came to help me get out of my bed and I told him that I only did not wear socks once with my chucks!

The one time I wore those shoes without socks was when I received a phone call from my realtor back when we were living in our second apartment. He was at , “The Pelham house” and wanted me to come and take a look at it. (That was the house that I am currently living in right now!) Itold him to let me brush my teeth and put my shoes on and then I will be there. That’s what I did.

My current house is about five minutes from my apartment complex. It took me five minutes to get to the house he was at (where I am right now) when I showed up and walked up the walkway, he was shocked!

He told me that women always say that they are going to be right there but they never are! I laughed and I pulled my sweatpant legs up and told him that I wasn’t even wearing socks!

I recounted that story to Sean about not wearing socks and he told me that my shoes are the same size as the one in that video! I’m still trying to get used to these shoes but they are comfortable. It’s just change and I’m not good with that…

As an aside…

I am still trying to process my four-fer day out but I just want to say that I went to get my haircut the day after. Sean drove me and my Mom in his truck. My Mom had to come to sandwich me between her and the door while Sean is driving. He gets me in and out of the car and into my manual wheelchair.

As an aside, I heard this song and it took me back to my youth and my cousin Melissa!:

From Comfort to Discomfort

I have written that I have been dealing with a lot because I definitely have! I am trying to process all of the most recent developments and it’s difficult. I was thinking about Holy Saturday. That was the first morning after I slept for the first night in my new bed.

I remember that as soon as I got into it, my Mom and I realized that it was too low for her to transfer me back to my chair after being in my bed all night. The mattress will compress and I’m lower than my wheelchair so she can’t lift me up to put me into my wheelchair.

She called Sean to get me out of bed when I woke up. I don’t wake up till after noon now. So, he came over and came into my room and sat in my wheelchair as my Mom readied me to transfer out of my bed. I have to be perpendicular in the bed.

Sean and I just were having small talk when I was ready to exit my bed. I sleep all night with the, ‘Zero Gravity’ mode on. That is the most beneficial sleep for my body. My Mom told me that she was ready for Sean to lift me out of bed and I took my bed out of ‘Zero Gravity’ mode.

It was in that moment where Sean saw my face change. He has told me it went from, ”Comfort” to, “Discomfort.” And that statement could NOT be MORE true! That’s how it is for me now. My pain level has increased so much that I’m really at a loss for what to do!

A Four-Fer Explanation

*** I wrote this post last night because I couldn’t believe that we got so much stuff done! But, I wrote it in present tense because I wanted to post it as if I was posting it today but I got my haircut today and my eyebrows waxed so I am exhausted. Even the excitement of my four-fer does not negate the extreme exhaustion when I leave my house. Here is the post and forgive me for the length. There is a lot of things going on in this post that is going to take me a while to digest and figure out what to do:

Okay, Yesterday started out as a two-fer. While I was sleeping on Monday, my Mom called the doctor and was able to get me an appointment in dermatology. You see, there is no Espace between me and myMom! So, after she made the appointment, she called and reserved a van for us.

I had an appointment scheduled to have techs from Ashley Home Store at my house to adjust my bed. The bed, by the way, is ABSOLUTELY PERFECT! The legs just need to be raised up one level because after I have slept in it for the night, the mattress is somewhat compressed and it’s impossible for my Mom to get me out of my bed and back into my wheelchair.

Sean was here to scoop me up out of my bed in the morning for a few days, and yesterday morning, my brother, Ray, did it.

So, my brother came by in the morning to get me out of bed and then we started getting ready to leave the house. It takes me a moment to wake up and they have to take my vitamins and my protein shake. After we finished a bathroom routine, we were ready to get into the van. My Mom had secured a back loader which is easier for me to get Into alone. I mean that I can more easily maneuver the joystick to guide my chair into the van.

My Mom was in the process of strapping my chair down and then she exited the back and I did not see her but I saw a man wearing black get out of a truck that was in front of my driveway. We had moved the rented van into my neighbor’s driveway so I had more room to get into it.

I sat there with my feet throbbing because I was not wearing shoes because they had sores on them but then I see a second man get out of the truck and go into my house. I figured those two men were the techs who were supposedly canceled but I guess they weren’t because she told them what they needed to do and they added a level to the base of my bed. My mom told me that everything was handled regarding my bed as she pulled out of my neighbors driveway to head to the doctor’s office.

My Mom had made an appointment for dermatology because I have blisters and sores on the sides of my feet. Once my Mom discovered the sores and blisters on my feet, she went into action immediately! We had decided the night before that we were going to drive to the lab at Henry Ford and Dearborn to get my blood drawn because a previous doctor had ordered a bunch of bloodwork for me. That is why it was going to be a, “Two-fer” But now with the tech coming out and adjusting my bed before I even left for my appointment made it a, “Three-for!”

So, this dermatologist, looked at my feet and conferred with another doctor (as he was just a resident) about my care. We talked about my necessity to have my compression socks on all the time. But now, with my new bed, my Mom can take them off at night and the bed allows her to put them on again in the morning.

They took my disability into account and decided to do bloodwork first to make sure my liver can handle the medication they want to put man. Then, they want to manager me and then six weeks do another blood draw. I thought this was okay because we were going to go to the lab down the street to get my other blood work done. But the nurse in the dermatologist clinic told us that we just needed to walk across the hall to get the blood work done.

We walked across the hall and talked with the woman who was going to draw the blood. We asked her if she could also draw the blood from the other doctor and she told us that because they’re hungry for a doctors, she can do all the bloodwork at one time!

We definitely we’re getting things done! So much so that my Mom told me that we can go buy new shoes for me. We were out in West Bloomfield for the dermatologist appointment and the shoe store was in Southgate so we had to book it to make it there by 6 o’clock!

We made it just in time! I was resistant to buy shoes at a running store because I DON’T run! I don’t even walk! But, she bought shoes there that saved her from having a bunion surgery on her foot so I will give it a go. The guy listened to us and brought a few pairs of shoes for us to look at.

The first one was black with navy blue accents and the second pair was light blue. The third pair, however, was dark gray with PURPLE soles!!! Needless to say, that is the pair I bought! Of course!!!

So, this was my exhausting day! Doctors appointment, blood draw (x2), and new shoes! I was so exhausted that I passed out in the car after the doctor visit. When I awoke, when we were close to my house, my Mom asked if we should go or not but I told her that we should go because we we’re so close and we had 40 minutes left to get there and it wasn’t that far.
So this is the explanation of a Four-Fer!

Developments

I watched The Adam Project with Sean and my Mom last month and have not gotten around to writing about it yet. But, like young Adam who runs into Ray when they are both suspended for fighting and he tells him, “I have A LOT Going on.”

That’s one of my favorite scenes and just like Adam, because of recent developments, I too have a lot going on! But my mom takes excellent care of me and I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow afternoon. Wow there, we can have my blood drawn for all the tests that my last doctor ordered.

I will know more about what is going on with me tomorrow but another development last night was that after three years of being Sean‘s fish, James Pond died! my Mom was kind of really sad about it!

BEST SLEEP EVERRRR!!!

My bed was delivered yesterday and I slept in it for the first time last night. It’s going to be tricky to get in and out but the sleep was superb! Best sleep everrrr!!!

I am a little bit overwhelmed and I will try to sort my feelings out but trust me that this song was playing in my head!

Notable Puzzlin’ Tune #2

They play this song when I saw them live probably 18 years ago? It was old when they played it and it was a throwback that he wondered who knew. I knew, Pat! Of course, I knew!!!

Who were those kids listening to them sing so long ago?! It’s me and my cousinT, Shannon!: