Tender

So Wednesday, my Mom and I were running late to complete our morning routine because she had to take care of some business. Our, “Morning routine” ended up turning into, “Late afternoon routine.” It was late by the time she left my house. Sean was home because it was a snow day so he told my Mom that he would get me into bed that night.

Before my Mom left, I asked her about my tens unit. She thought for a moment and said that she would come back. She would have to come back because in order for me to take the patches from my tens unit off of my knee, she needs to pull my pants down, pull my compression socks down, remove the patches and place them on the plastic sheet they come on and then pull my compression sock back up, and then we pull my pants up.

I did some problem-solving and decided that I will just keep my Tens unit on all night. Putting my compression socks on it’s very difficult even though my Mom makes it look easy and I wasn’t like can I have Sean pull my pants down. So, when Sean got me into bed, I unbuckled my pelvis stabilizer (Where I clip my tens unit on during the day) and when Sean got me into bed, he put my tens unit in my right pocket.

I have always slept on my left side but now, after surgery, I DEFINITELY sleep on my left side! When my Mom got me out of bed in the morning, we just did the same thing in reverse and once my pelvis stabilizer was buckled, a re-clipped the tens unit to it. My Mom and I drank our medicinal tea and had breakfast. Before we began our morning routine, my Mom took the patches off of my knee.

Once we were finished, she pulled my compression sock down and was going to put the patches back on so I could turn my tens unit back on. She stared at my knee for a long while. She told me that it looked tender and looked like the patches were breaking my skin down from being on all night. she decided to move them over a little bit but my knee is only so big and the four patches go in specific places.

So the lesson learned here was that I think my skin is more sensitive than it has ever been. At least now my Mom and I know that I can’t wear my tens unit all night and I guess we’ll just have to figure that out the next time something comes up and our routine it’s affected.

Tune #55 Inspired by GMFB

I swear that I have shared this song on my blog the floor but I searched through about 30 pages of posts in my, “Tunes” Tab on my blog and I searched all the way back to my “#1 Tune Inspired by GMFB” and I did not find it but I am still sick so I may have glossed over it unknowingly.

Today, on the segment titled, “Miami Dice.” the guys were rolling days to answer a question regarding the Super Bowl because it’s in Miami. when it was Nate‘s turn, he said it. I can’t believe that I haven’t posted about that before because I swear I have heard him or someone else say that and the show but he said, “Shake ‘em up, shake ‘em up, shake ‘em.” Who even added the, “7-11.”

so I had to search for a clean version of this song but I am finally found it:

Also, Kay was asking the questions and at the end of the segment, she was told to roll the dice. She stood on the left side of the screen and she rolled the dice with her left hand.

Now, I am also left-handed but I feel like a roll of the dice with my right hand Periodically. It may be years of not having any accommodations for left-handed people or the fact that my entire house growing up was nothing but a right handed people. Even today, Sean is right handed so my house is still nothing but right handed people. (my mom will stop by to take care of me and she also is red-handed) I’m really questioning it right now, “My kingdom for some dice!” That’s a Shakespearean reference by the way…

22 Days OR “Pop” OR Montage

I was only able to catch the rebroadcast of GMFB this morning because I was not feeling well enough to wake up early. During the rebroadcast, I did not see, “Throwdown Thursday.” Because and had nothing chis say about a segment that I did not see, I chose to write a blog post about something that I have been thinking about for a while.

I belong to a number of MS support groups on both Facebook and Twitter. I am more engaged with certain groups but given that I have had MS for 19 years now, I feel I have something of value to and to questions that get posed to the group. My experiences with the group I really engage in are usually wonderful so I didn’t think it would be a problem when I added my two cents to a question that was posed to a particular group that I usually didn’t comment on a lot. Well, that wasn’t the case in this particular instance.

The question was posed if we should wear medical alert bracelets saying that we have multiple sclerosis. I kind of thought it was a good idea and then I explained my situation. Last wild-card weekend, my knee, “Popped” out and would not. “Pop” back in. I ended up going to the ER via an ambulance because it hurt so much. I really thought they would just be able to, “Pop” it back in. I think it was because I was in so much pain that my speech was extremely affected.

I told each doctor who came into see me that I was not drunk or on drugs and that I was thinking clearly. I just had MS and was having problems speaking. I added that a medical alert device may have been helpful at that time. The responses I got to that included being told that knees do NOT pop out. Well, mine does! It has been doing that since my injury and subsequent surgery. I didn’t know what to say in response so I did not respond but I haven’t commented on anything since then in that particular group.

I really started thinking about this recently when I saw this video:

Toward the end of the video, he pops a person above back into place and that is exactly what my niece sounds like. So far, this January, my knee has popped out every day. That’s 22 days! It hasn’t popped out yet today but the day is not over yet.

I searched YouTube for videos of knees popping back into place and I found these:

My knee makes a popping noise multiple times a day and it is jarring when it does happen. It is usually when I transfer and I used to gasp and cry but now that it has been 2 1/2 years, I just kind of groan because it kind of startles me. My knee burns when it’s popped out and perhaps when it goes back in which hurts but ultimately, it feels better.

Now, with this last video, neither Sean nor my Mom yell like these kids dIdq but that’s what it look like the day I went to the ER. They ultimately could not help me and I missed some football and was only able to get home to watch the Saints get eliminated which really stunk!

When I got my taxes done, my knee popped out in the driveway while I was getting out of the car and my Mom had to pop it back in. Sean told me that I should put together a montage of my knee popping out because it does all of the time end it does sound kind of gross!


“Sickies”

Sean stayed home from school again today. He is sick. This morning, the left side of my throat hurt when I swallowed. I’ve always told Sean that he needs to stay healthy because if he gets sick, that means that I will get sick and then I said that I will die! I would say it but I didn’t really believe it until this morning when my throat hurt. When my Mom got here, I asked her to make this drink that is supposed to help. It has apple cider vinegar in it so it’s disgusting but my throat hurt.

Sean got out of his bed and my Mom asked who she was making it for first. I told her to make it for Sean and he drank it and thought it was really gross and I knew it would be. I just told him that I had to drink it too! My mom put together chicken soup for Sean and for lunch, I just drink the broth.

I told Sean that we are two, “Sickies.” Sean corrected me that he is a, “Sickie” and I am not. I told him that it is very possible that I can get really sick and even be hospitalized if I don’t nip this one in the bud. I told my Mom that we need a red X on our house or a skull and cross bones on the door because this house is sick. hopefully, we both will get over it soon but I can feel my head pounding right now.

ALMOST Forgotten Tune #85

Anytime I write a new blog post, I have to manually share it to Facebook. Whenever I post something, I check Facebook to make sure it posted. I check my story to make sure it’s there. So, this evening, I did just that and when I opened Facebook, I saw an absolute gem!

I completely stole this song from my brother’s Facebook story and it immediately took me way back to being a child! So, Ray, this one is an absolute gem! I really forgot about it until I saw that you posted it today:

Outside

I had to venture outside today, it was the first time I was out of the house since Christmas. It was COLD!!! I had to get my taxes done! I had to get them done early because a few years ago my Identity was stolen. That was a huge headache!

Well, based on my tax return, I am still NOT a millionaire! I told Sean about ”Throwdown Thursday” on GMFB. All of the guys and the breakfast table chose Johnny Knoxville over John Hamm. I told Jonah how fun it was to watch them all turn into 13-year-old boys!

“You Stink, Justin Matisse!”

I watched half of Hope Floats last night. I really dig that movie! I have watched it so many times and Sean has not watched it with me. He went to the kitchen to warm some food and it was the scene when Justin Matisse comes to the house And he waits on the porch for Birdie to bring out some iced tea. Instead, Berniece comes out and that was when she told Justin the story about the pet gunk they used to have. so, she said it. “You stink, Justin Matisse.”

just after she said this, Sean called from his room that, “It’s weird to hear that.” I have been telling Sean that line forever. Probably because he was born just a year and a half after the movie came out. I don’t think he has ever heard Berniece say it though. It made me laugh! I know that I will continue to say that to him and now that I hope floats is free and demand, I think I may have you watch that a few times.

1.1.20 Books I’m Reading

I attempted to read this book in June 2019. This would be after my power outage and I had a real hard time getting into it. I think I was just now recovered from the displacement. This year, I’ve decided to try again! I really want to finish the books I start! However, I saw in an ad that if you read 45 minutes a day you will read books fairly quickly and be completed with a book in a week.

my eyes are bothering me today and I was only able to read for 15 minutes so far today. My eyes need rest but I wanted to start of the year reading!

All Year Long

My Mom‘s brothers and sisters get together for a potluck every Christmas Eve complete with Christmas carols and my aunt Lola‘s famous Christmas cookies. I haven’t been able to attend for a few years but this year, I scrounged up enough money to rent a van so that I could go while in my motorized wheelchair.

Because I was seated in my motorized chair, my Mom and my brother put together my plate from the buffet. Once my brother brought my plate over, my Mom cut up my food (because chewing is an issue for me these days) and placed it in a ceramic bowl so I could eat holding the bowl. After a while of speaking with some of my aunts, uncles, some of my cousins and their spouses, my speech began to slur a bit and I got tired.

My Mom asked me what kind of pie I wanted. She told me that apple was an option and I said that I wanted that. My Mom did not make the apple pie this year but I knew that my aunt’s apple pie was just about the same thing. I later learned that my cousin, Cathy, made the pie but it tasted just as good!

As I spoke with my aunt Carmen, my Mom came over and asked me if I wanted cookies. OF COURSE I did!!! My favorite cookie that she makes that has always been my favorite cookie is Spritz cookies in the shape of a Christmas tree. I eat the Christmas tree row by row until it is all gone.

I liked that I was a part of the Christmas caroling and our family’s traditional rendition of the 12 days of Christmas but my absolute favorite is the cookies! My aunt always sends a container of cookies for our immediate family’s Christmas Day celebration.

I am not even the least bit ashamed to say that my breakfast on Christmas morning was book ended with a few Spritz trees before I ate and after I finished. It was Christmas! It’s totally okay to have sugar cookies as the first thing you eat!

I had some with my breakfast and with my lunch as well. As I eat this deliciousness, I think it’s because I am wearing my Ginger Spice chapstick that I have been thinking a lot about my Abuela.

That picture has got to be from Christmas (Note: my Abuela’s pin) and I had to have been three years old. My aunt Rita must have hosted because we were sitting in her house. I don’t even feel bad that there will still be enough cookies for my meals tomorrow and I am going to eat some more because I have waited all year long for this!