Well, Wednesday. What can I say? Not much that’s interesting because it was such an unwelcoming day outdoors. We spent all day inside except for our two daily walks. The morning rain did not last, but it spat all day and left everything dripping wet and uninviting.
My right arm is almost useless. The pain is constant. There was a brief time a while back when I thought it was healing, but it got worse again, and I know why. I used it to saw something; it was the wrong thing to do, and that tells me that the only way it is going to heal is if I don’t use it at all. I found a discreet cloth belt in my closet and so now I am using it as a sling because I want to regain painless function of my right arm.
Several years back, I discovered that if I looked into a mirror as I was speaking, I became fluent. Back then, I could also adopt a fake Aussie accent, and I would be fluent. A year ago, however, my speech got worse and neither of those tricks worked for me anymore. Sometimes, I can still do the Aussie thing, but I can’t rely on it as a way of adapting.
The best thing about learning those tricks, is that I shared them with others like me and they found it worked for them—not everyone could use these tricks, but quite a few could, and my sharing of them illustrates the value of support groups for people who, like me, are diagnosed with a malady deemed uncurable and we are left to fend for themselves by the medical system.
Recently, I discovered another ‘trick’ with which to achieve fluency. I have noticed that if I speak while I am signing, I am fluent. It’s as though my brain must focus on what my hands are doing (signing) and not my speech.
It’s another dark, gloomy and cool day. Sheba goes to the groomer this morning, and Jake comes back to do something he forgot in the stove. Another day to putter and play.
