Friday Morning Casualty Report

The Fall gardens everywhere are stunning.

The great news is the weather prediction for our 50th Anniversary High School Reunion on Saturday. My colleagues and I have been planning this event since the Spring, so the weather is our reward. The balconies of the Rowing Club are going to be a very popular place—drinks in hand.

The good news is that I am learning how to move so as to lessen the spasms that terrify me and hurt so incredibly much. I am also capable of sustaining a spasm quietly now; you get better at everything you practice with diligence. I am walking with a cane. That is essential, and I will be checking in my locker for crutches that give me much more stability—I used crutches in the hospital.

Also, I can do just about anything but I do everything as part of a new, slower and intense way of being. I am constantly thinking about where I am going and how to do things. I work to keep my right leg bent to reduce the probability of a spasm with movement.

I am in constant dull pain and have intense periodic spasms. My day is pretty much carrying on whilst in mild pain or stopping and trying to find a position that allows for no pain at all if possible. Nights are brutal. Turning in bed has to be thought through carefully, but I can now get out of bed without inducing a spasm.

I was offered drugs for pain but refused them. I hate them because they make you constipated and lazy and vegetable like.

Next week, I will go to see my doctor if I remain in this condition to know more about what, exactly, is wrong and what the prognosis is. I will take physiotherapy if it will help.

I quit my brand new job teaching at Emily Carr. Why deal with all that whilst dealing with all this pain and trouble? The classes are three hours. No thanks.