I don’t want to go on about my speech, but it’s the worst it’s ever been. I value this blog as a place to remember when I had lows and highs and what they were like.
I went to the pharmacy, but I forgot my two inhalers. I’d planned to use them as props to reorder both from the pharmacist. I had a “Where are the anchovies?” note for the grocery clerk, but no note for the pharmacy. Luckily, however, the pharmacy clerk responded to my muteness by saying: “Mr. Loranger, right?” I nodded yes, and then mimed using my puffer and then held up two fingers (I have two puffers). Simple! Done!
At 5:00 pm yesterday, we had yet another power outage. This time, I got my generator going but the Internet was down too. At least I could watch DVDs to help pass the time without power.
I did what I always do when the power goes off for more than an hour: I called my friend, Bruce. Not only does he help me learn about the status of the hydro repair by looking up the Hydro website, but he does so willingly. He encourages me to call. What a friend! He can help me estimate the time that power will be restored.
It was painfully slow and very, very hard for me to talk to Bruce. I went to the clinic this morning and asked for a referral to Dr. Shoja. I’ve got one doozy of a handicap going on right now.
A party I wanted to go to is coming up. It’s my beloved dog walking group, having another potluck dinner. Do I want to go? Hell yes! I want to make the dessert, just as I did for the last potluck. But this time, I won’t let it slide off the bed in the car and onto the floor. But because I’m nervous about going to a party as a mute person, I need a strategy.
I’m going to make a button that says MUTE and wear it when I deliver the cake. Plus, I’m going to make myself a little card that explains that I have FND and cannot talk. Regina, Di and Donna know that I’m in serious speech distress right now, so I’m going to ask them to be my lifeguards at the party. If I can settle with them, have a pad and paper on me, and have my card in my pocket, then I can try to enjoy the party.
Adapting to full-time muteness is hard. It’s a lot of work. However, I want to pray because I’m so grateful this crisis doesn’t make me depressed. I slog on. Thank God for movies and streaming services and books.
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Thankfully, I get along well with the generator now. It took a while! It frightened me when I first came here and began using one. I’m allergic to machinery. And this one never worked until I got it fixed. Now it works every time and I maintain it with knowledge gleaned from the machinist who fixed it. And thank God! I really like it in Winter when it is so dark. Five pm is a shitty time to lose power. It stayed off until 10:00.
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