Tuesday, October 4, 2016

My Ongoing Bout With Gravity

The weather is changing and the days are getting shorter. An obvious observation I know. There just seems to be no gradualness to the changes in our weather patterns. We never seem to ease from high nineties temperatures into moderate eighties for a week and then seventies. Instead we suffer a late summer heat wave that lasts over a week, only to find ourselves shivering to low sixty degree temperatures in the space of literally just two days. No one knows what to dress for.
   We still don't turn the clocks back for about a month, and that's actually fine with me. I like gaining the extra hour, but the exchange is for very long days of darkness, seemingly night time when the work day has only just finished. Not great for a man who has been making a belated but hearty attempt to soak up more sun. Just have to wait it out, but unlike most seasons I think I will be looking forward to spring more so than usual. My skin was just starting to show real signs of darkening.
   I'm not totally sure about how beneficial all this added sun and vitamin D supplementation has been for me. I feel like I have more energy in the mornings and throughout the work day. What I don't know is if this is a direct result of my new Mega-D approach or just an upswing. An upswing is a period of time, usually short, where my MS symptoms seem minimal and I can say truthfully that I don't feel too shitty. With MS you're never totally out of the woods. There is always some sort of residual shittiness even on my best days. The unfortunate downside to all the sunning is it makes me hot which turns me into a weakling who can't stand up for more than a few moments. It's a serious disease. Sometimes I underestimate it's debilitating power, but when I do it promptly reminds me who's in charge. MS is an angry beast. The best way to tame it is to respect it, and not challenge it. Knowing the ways to limit it while not putting myself into bad situations.
   Such a situation arose last week. I tanned for 30 minutes which is my normal amount. Afterwards I went against my better judgement. I decided to take a midday shower even though my foot was numbing bad and my balance was very off. Once in the shower I got the sensation that my feet were slipping even though I was standing on a shower mat.  There isn't much to hold onto in there and I normally hold the edge of the window to keep steady while I soap up with my other hand. This time I never made it to the soap stage. The lack of sensation in my feet caused me to crouch to the floor of the tub, where I ended up getting stuck for about ten minutes. I was too scrunched to muster the strength to lift my body from the floor. Needless to say, it was a sobering moment. I have a new sense of my MS related limitations, and am now considering getting some more physical aids for around the house, such as a bath chair. I know better than to challenge this disease.



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