November Roars!

November crept up on me while I had simply turned my head. In my mountain retreat the roses were still blooming among the colors of fall, in the warmth of October. As the cold began to settle in the corner of every room we still denied November's appearance. The rain came in the night blanketing everything in pine needles. The smell of our first rain and a wood fire, quieted my spirit.

On November third I celebrated my daughter Michelle's 25th birthday. I had sent her a beautiful "Willow Tree" figurine of a mother and daughter. The company sent the wrong figurine and out of all the choices they had, they sent her a figurine of a beautiful pregnant woman. Good thing my daughter is working on starting a family, that could have been a pushy gift. Now she looks at it as a good omen. ;) Happy Birthday Shell, I love you!

I'm all for change and I could not have been prouder or happier on November 4th. I cried and cheered as I felt the wave of hope for a new future. We have boasted of the wonderful diversity and freedom of America. But I was seeing a different America, one of racism, apathetic youth and intolerance. I have hope, that with patience, we can walk the walk. YES WE DID!

During this exciting week of November I have also been given a gift, but at a price. ALS gives you an abundance of patience, so when I lost my smell and taste with a sinus infection, I just lived with it. That was over 18 months ago. Two courses of antibiotics helped a tad but never for long. Although Dave loved the no complaints on his cooking skills, I was missing out and fed up. I found an ENT that found both sinuses full of polyps. He put me on an aggressive treatment of steroids, a month of antibiotics, steroid spray and Musinex. I can now smell and taste! YAY! I will have surgery after treatment to avoid a repeat of this treatment. I had forgotten that I deserve the best quality of life I can. Shame on my complacency.

ALS does not do well on steroids because it makes you very jittery. When muscles are already stiff and balance isn't at its best, you just make do. I've taken a half of a muscle relaxer to counter act the effects, which made for a comfy MIA blogger. I've been trying not to walk too much while my body fights its dueling drug war. There are the perks, like my face has puffed up so much that I'm watching my wrinkles disappear before my eye's. I also now have fat little feet that I keep snug in my new slippers Dave surprised me with. No more freezing skeleton feet!

I've read all your entries, but I fell so behind that I'm starting fresh on commenting. I will be off the steroids in five days and I have so much more to share with you about this week. I will be testing out three manufactures for voice banking and typing computers for the disabled. They record your words in your own voice. The computer will then type for me by looking at the words I've banked by head pointing and blinking. Very exciting news for my one good typing finger! A new ALS clinic is also coming to Sacramento. It will provide specialized medical care and drug trial opportunities. Do you hear the roar?

I will never forget the cost of our freedom and our brave soldiers. God bless them!