Monday, November 10, 2008

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!

14 comments:

emmapeelDallas said...

I've missed you! I'm glad to hear that you have your senses of taste and smell again. You definitely deserve the best quality of life available, Tammy!

As for politics...like you, I am over the moon that Obama won! And we both have November babies...Katharine will turn 30 on the 16th!

Here's to a cozy November, Tammy!

:)

Judi

Lucy said...

you were so missed Tammy!
Glad that little warrior in you didn't settle for that sinus nonsense!
Puffy face and all.. you're a cutie pie
xox

Sky said...

good wishes for a full recovery from that nasty sinus stuff. hope the surgery will be an outpatient, quicky which won't be too hard on you. put me on steroids and you have a woman close to being a felon! omg, i get crazy, have no patience, and feel pretty rageful! glad you have the muscle relaxer. having to take flexeril right now myself. thoracic spine muscle pain.

Tabor said...

About a year ago I started to lose my sense of smell. I can smell about 70% of what I used to but not able to smell certain things until I am an inch away. The doctor said it comes with old age, but I took a page from the "Better Living Through Tammy" pagebook and was thankful that I can no longer smell a dirty diaper!

Tammy said...

Tammy - I haven't been by in a while. You never cease to amaze me.

With all the challenges you face, your attitude and positive outlook on life inspire me! I'm so excited for you that you can smell and taste again - that is amazing!

Hugs to you!

paisley said...

i know exactly what you mean when you say you have to start over on commenting... i have so many blogs in my reader sometimes it becomes totally overwhelming and i have to clear the whole thing and start over... so now you know if i miss being here,, that is more than likely what happened...

i am hoping this finds you well,, tasting,, smelling,,, well you know what i mean.......

XXOO

Nancy said...

Dammit Tammy...I wanted to call you before you posted! Now it will look like I'm calling BECAUSE you posted. Nope..I still want the credit. : )
I've been thinking about you a lot since we last talked and yes, shame on your complacency. You do deserve all the joys you can feel. Even warm tootsies. (I have the same slippers!)

Love ya to pieces,
Nance

Forgetfulone said...

I'm glad you have a doctor who is helping your sinus problems. Just take care of yourself and don't worry about commenting till you feel up to it.

Joyce Ellen Davis said...

YAY for you! Yay for November and the smell of rain and woodsmoke! My mom lost both her sense of taste and smell when she was 4 years old and had rheumatic fever.... I'm glad yours is back. This was a good post and I was happy to hear from you again.

Becca said...

I hope you're feeling better, and savoring some good tasting things!

Giggles said...

We all deserve a hiatus or two or ten!! You are always missed. You spent so much energy in the last month I was wondering how you kept it going. Glad you have smell and cozy feet. That is an adorable photo of your slippers!

Hugs Sherrie

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad you're getting your sense of taste and smell back. Even just the little bit of loss I experienced during this cold, made me appreciate it so much more. That is good news for sure, about the voice banking and that new ALS clinic! Keep on roaring!!! It's good to hear from you~XO

paris parfait said...

Tammy, am delighted to read all the good news. It's wonderful that you have your sense of smell and taste back! All the rest sounds quite positive. And as you know, I'm beyond thrilled that our country chose hope over fear. So good to have you back blogging again! xoxox

Chris said...

November burst in the door like Kramer, here:)