On December 23, my neurologist told me that he has changed my diagnosis from and auto-immune neuromuscular disease to MS. I am not surprised, as doctors have told me for years that this disease may develop into something else. Every time I read about MS and symptoms, I would say, "That's me! That's me! If it walks like a duck, looks like a duck, and quack like a duck, why isn't it a duck?" Well, now I'm an MS duck! :-)
My family and I had a fun new year. For something different, we spent the night in Ludington, Michigan because they have their own ball drop downtown. The temperature hovered around zero, so we didn't even get out of the car until 11:00 pm. I have "parking karma" most of the time and found a spot just a block from the ball drop area, which was on the corners of Ludington Ave. and James St.--yes, JAMES street. How apropos! Even though it was only a block away and I was dressed like an eskimo, my legs were turning into wooden posts.
We all gathered with several hundred other folks and counted down to zero. Smoochy-smoochies to my wife, Kim, but my 17 and 19 year old boys were just o.k. with New Year's wishes! We did feel quite out of place, not because we were not from Ludington, but because we weren't hammered and didn't have any booze on us! Who wants to start their new year with a headache? Oi! Not us.
Back in Blodgett Hospital Well, being around all those folks gave us body aches instead of headaches; Kim and I had the flu the next three days. I was glad to be done with that awful feeling, but then my left leg quickly became densely numb to my hip and I developed an acute numbness/MS "hug" around my waist that included much of my ribcage. I started packing angrily, knowing that this was another 11 days of my life stuck at Hotel Blodgett and all the plans and church commitments I would have to cancel. However, the Lord impressed upon me that I was blessed to be able to have plasma exchange available to me, and that I could be a "direct admit," meaning my neurologist called the hospital and reserved a room for me. I guess he's my "Hotels.com guy!" Besides, what better way to reach our $5000 deductible than with a $25,000 treatment?! (This is an example of why our health care system doesn't work, but don't even get me started on that fine kettle of fish!)
I cruised reading through my Christmas gift from Zack, Bill O'Reilly's newest, "Killing Jesus." As with the others in this series, I learned so much about Julius Ceasar and other leaders of the time, as well as political insight of that culture. I HIGHLY recommend reading it. Next on my list: "The Circle Maker," "Forgotten God," and "Battlefield of the Mind," which I want to do as a small group study at our house.
Do you have any reading suggestions? I burn through books rather quickly, so I am always looking for recommendations.
Blessings on all your heads,
James
My family and I had a fun new year. For something different, we spent the night in Ludington, Michigan because they have their own ball drop downtown. The temperature hovered around zero, so we didn't even get out of the car until 11:00 pm. I have "parking karma" most of the time and found a spot just a block from the ball drop area, which was on the corners of Ludington Ave. and James St.--yes, JAMES street. How apropos! Even though it was only a block away and I was dressed like an eskimo, my legs were turning into wooden posts.
We all gathered with several hundred other folks and counted down to zero. Smoochy-smoochies to my wife, Kim, but my 17 and 19 year old boys were just o.k. with New Year's wishes! We did feel quite out of place, not because we were not from Ludington, but because we weren't hammered and didn't have any booze on us! Who wants to start their new year with a headache? Oi! Not us.
Back in Blodgett Hospital Well, being around all those folks gave us body aches instead of headaches; Kim and I had the flu the next three days. I was glad to be done with that awful feeling, but then my left leg quickly became densely numb to my hip and I developed an acute numbness/MS "hug" around my waist that included much of my ribcage. I started packing angrily, knowing that this was another 11 days of my life stuck at Hotel Blodgett and all the plans and church commitments I would have to cancel. However, the Lord impressed upon me that I was blessed to be able to have plasma exchange available to me, and that I could be a "direct admit," meaning my neurologist called the hospital and reserved a room for me. I guess he's my "Hotels.com guy!" Besides, what better way to reach our $5000 deductible than with a $25,000 treatment?! (This is an example of why our health care system doesn't work, but don't even get me started on that fine kettle of fish!)
I cruised reading through my Christmas gift from Zack, Bill O'Reilly's newest, "Killing Jesus." As with the others in this series, I learned so much about Julius Ceasar and other leaders of the time, as well as political insight of that culture. I HIGHLY recommend reading it. Next on my list: "The Circle Maker," "Forgotten God," and "Battlefield of the Mind," which I want to do as a small group study at our house.
Do you have any reading suggestions? I burn through books rather quickly, so I am always looking for recommendations.
Blessings on all your heads,
James