Return to doctor...again

I went to Dr. Molly again last week. I took heavy artial with me--Mom. Molly threw up her hands and said she does not know what is wrong with me. She referred me to a lung specialist--back to the theory that I might have pleurisy. I had been taking an anti-inflamatory that the urgent care doctor had prescribed, but only as needed. Molly wants me to keep taking daily it until our next visit to see if it prevents further episodes. So far, so good.

More muscle spasms

My chest started really hurting again last night. I woke at 3 this morning and was very uncomfortable in bed. I could not find a comfortable position. I've been dealing with this medical problem for a year now. Doctors can't seem to figure out what it is. In the last month I have had days of severe pain and days of almost no pain.

I have been taking a muscle relaxant since Molly prescribed it in February. I had been feeling pretty good until an episode I had early this month. I went to urgent care and the dr. prescribed an nsaid and vicodin to help me through the pain. He must have read my chart pretty well, and he could see the spasms were really painful. Even though I had never seen this dr. before, he seemed knowledgeable of what I was going through.

I came home from work at noon last friday because of the pain. I could have stayed home today, but I don't want to miss too much work. I have a bad cough. I wonder if I have pneumonia. The found some pneumonia in my chest x-rays last year, but they assured me it was going away.

Odds...Ends...

Last October I wrote about the parking ticket I got at work for parking in a handicapped space without having our disabled placard up. Jodie and I went downtown to the courthouse and were told we could fax a copy of our placard with the ticket and that would take care of it. Not quite...

We got a bill from the court for $20. Jodie called. I was not sure what it was for. Turns out it was related to the incident last October. Processing fee? Who knows. Not worth fighting.

Doggie treats have been added to the list of contaminated pet food. We have rawhide chews that we bought from Walmart. We keep them in a plastic container; the plastic bag they came in is long gone. Bonnie chews them a little bit; Clyde inhales them. The vet from the pet hospital left a message for us to call.

New album from Martina came out today - Waking up Laughing. I am listening to it right now. It sounds good - kinda slow - but good. I love the song "Anyway".

Jodie's birthday is tomorrow. We are going down to the casino - Spirit Mountain - tomorrow. A nice mid-week break.

Today I went to lunch with Vicky and Linda. We went to Carl's Jr. I have been there before and they have not had trouble taking my order. Today the guy did not want to even try. He called out to see if anybody would help me order...so embarrassing!

Dry dog food a culprit?

Some of the test results on Clyde's kidney tests have come back. Nothing so far to explain what may have caused his illness.

Up until a couple days ago the rash of sickness and death's in cats and dogs across the nation has been traced to wheat gluten extracted from wheat from China. Wikipedia has a good definition of wheat gluten. It is a wheat substitute for a soy substitute for meat.

The vet said that Clyde's illness was similar symptom-wise to to the illnesses found in the cats and dogs who ate the canned or pouched food tainted with the bad wheat gluten.

We have not worried about the dog food scare because we have been feeding Bonnie and Clyde dry Iam's dog food. Well, yesterday the maker of Science Diet dog and cat food recalled their "Prescription Diet" kibble for cats because it might contain the tainted wheat gluten.

I did some google research and found that PETA has been getting many calls from pet owners who have been feeding their cats and dogs dry food and getting sick. Proctor & Gamble makes Iams, and they have been vehemently defending their product. They say they do not use wheat gluten in their dry pet food.

Iams has just been warned about using chromium tripicolinate, an unregulated chemical, in their weight control dog foods. We have been feeding our dogs Iams Minichunks.

It is curious that Clyde got so sick and Bonnie did not.

If it happens to turn out than the Iams dry dog food, one explanation for Clyde getting sick and not Bonnie might be that Clyde is bigger than Bonnie and I assume he eats a lot more.

It will be interesting to see how this all turns out.

Google news search - Iams
Google blog search - Iams
Google news search - Iams Minichunks
Google blog search - Iams Minichunks

Clyde is home

We stopped by the animal hospital after church to visit Clyde. He looked much better. His kidney levels were normal. We were able to bring him home.

He has some special dog food to eat for a couple days. It is canned dog food, which is new to Clyde because we only give them dry food.

Bonnie was anxious to see him. Since being home Clyde has been resting a lot, and Bonnie seems confused as to why his energy level is not very high. Clyde took a long snooze on top of the back of one of our wing back chairs. He usually does not climb so high for his naps; Bonnie does but he does not.

It is still a mystery what Clyde got into that would affect his kidneys that way. I'm not sure at this point if any of the kidney damage is permanent.

It's just nice to have him home.

Eric was trying to teach Jodie and I how to play Risk tonight. I didn't read the rules. Eric has played before and has some understanding, but not a clear understanding of how to play. I was kind of confused, but Jodie was really confused. I threatened to go online and learn how to play.

Clyde is sick

Bonnie & Clyde. Sister and brother. Our beloved pets. Half Dauchsund, half Yorkie Terriors.

Bonnie is smaller with straight hair. She looks very dachsund. Clyde has the length of a dachsund and the curls of a yorkie.

Both are usually running arund the house, looking for the next mischief to get into.

In the morning I am the first one up. I let them out of their cage and try to ge them to go outside. An hour later, Jodie and Eric come out of the bedrooms. When Jodie opens our bedroom door, Bonnie & Clyde are always there to try to get in our room. Jodie is always hollering to get them to stay out of our room. Clyde is always the last one out.

Yesterday, Clyde did not move off the couch when Jodie came out of the room, not like himself at all. We called our vet. They had no available appointments, but they felt Clyde should be seen right away.

We took him to the SE Animal Hospital. We left him there so they could run tests. They said he needed to be rehydrated. A couple hours later they called to let me know that the count on his kidney test were abnormally high.

His symptoms are like the pets who have eaten the tainted dog food (canned and pouch) accross the country. It is thought to be a rat poison that was used with wheat in China. The details are still evolving. I am waiting to see if dry dog food becomes part of the recall.

Jodie and Eric went with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law to see Clyde today. He had not been eating, but with all the company he did.

The vet does not seem overly interested in finding out what Clyde got into that has caused his kidneys to fail. His kidney readings were better today.

Sounds like we will be able to bring him home tomorrow. I authorized a blood test when the vet called today that will test for a few things. She said we could have a ultrasound done later to test for more, but like I said, she didn't seem too interested in figuring out a cause. All I can figure is that the possible causes are too many to narrow down.

I feel like I'm rambling. I'm not positive that Clyde will make it through this, but I pray that he does. He is part of our family. Bonnie misses him and is so mellow without him, and we miss our two wild mutts - Bonnie & Clyde.

For Parkrose princess, no challenge is too big

For Parkrose princess, no challenge is too big

Very nice story about a very brave young women.

For readers outside the sphere of Portland, Oregon, the Rose Festival is a celebration of Portland pride that is now 100 years old. High Schools around Portland each select a princess in March.

This tradition has taken some hits lately. People wonder if it discriminates against young men by not including them. So far as it has been decided that young women who make a difference are worthy of celebration.

Margaret Drew has a form or dwarfism that includes, as the article notes, cartilage that is like "swiss cheese". She has scoliosis.

Margaret has fought to survive, and she has pushed to succeed. Student council, dance team, choir.

I am moved that her classmates recognize her accomplishments. Margaret has a well deserved place on the 2007 Rose Festival Court.

She wants to go to Oregon State University. She wants to learn to drive.

20 years ago I graduated from there. Margaret's mom is concerned about whether she will be able to get her scooter around campus. When I was there I went from building to building researching the accessibility of all the buildings. Not many of the buildings were accessible. I think I calculated that 4% were accessible. I remember one building, I think Waldo Hall, that inaccessible -- I don't remember if there was a way for a wheelchair to get into the building, or if there was just no way to get upstairs. I just remember there was no plans to make the building accessible because the building was condemned. Yet, the building was still being used.

I also remember the discomfort of enforcing accessibility rules. If I had a class or lab that was held in a inaccessible location, the class or lab could be forced to move because of me. I don't think that ever had to happen, but I remember not wanting to be the cause of that having to happen.

I was part of the disabled group down there. I became pretty close to the adviser. He was from Virginia I believe. I remember there was a dwarf in the group. He has two brothers who were also dwarfs. One had a Mustang I think.

My mode of transportation during college was a three wheel bike. I use to ride everywhere I had to go in Corvallis on that bike.

It wasn't until after I graduated that I learned how to drive. I did not know if I could with my form of cerebral palsy, but Voc Rehab got my lessons, and mom bought me the old Volvo.

Margaret's dreams will come true.

Result

Dr. Molly left a message today that the MRI on my mid back was clear.

I was afraid of what they might find, yet I was hoping for an explanation of the pain that I have. The news was a comfort, yet a twinge of a let down. It would be nice to know a reason for my pain, yet it is a comfort to know that I am not in need of surgery.

Some days the pain in my chest is much greater than other days. Some days my low back hurts. The pain goes up and down.

I return to Dr. Molly on April 24. I will do more research. Sometimes I wonder if it is my lungs. I tend to swallow wrong. One day at lunch I was eating raw carrots and one went down the wrong pipe; I didn't cough it up until that night.

During my therapy sessions the past month they found a rib in front that was painful and traced the rib around to the center of my back, which did hurt when they pressed.

I still feel pain when I take a deep breath.

I'm not giving up on figuring this out. The muscle relaxant I take at night does help me sleep. I now take a half of pill at work. I have not figured out yet if that helps.

Work has been a bit stressful. The budget reduction act of last year ended our ability to us the Rosales rule in making our TITLE IV-E determinations. In Oregon, relatives do n0t get paid foster care unless the child in their care is Title IV-E eligible. The Rosales rule enabled us to make kids IV-E who otherwise would not be. Now we have to close them and stop payment...not the funnest job in the world.

As my wife says, this will pass.

Return to doctor

After 9 sessions of therapy, I returned to Dr. Molly yesterday. She asked how therapy was going. I told her that they traced my rib pain to my mid back. She had me scheduled for an mri in the morning.

What will it show? It worries me. I hope it's not to serious, but that we see what is happening so that it can be treated.

I had a therapy session yesterday also. I made the mistake of mentioning lower back pain. A couple different excercizes and I woke up today with severe back pain.

I need to get off the computer and go relax.

Therapist is right!

I thought I new better than my therapist. On Friday, PT Amanda watched me walk with and without my walker. She determined that I put less stress on mt ribs when I use me walker.

Yesterday I told PTA Mark that I was not convinced that the walker helped me walk better. He had me walk with and without it.

It was obvious that they were right.

Mark said, "So, our degree mean something?"

I was thinking mostly of the hassle it is getting my walker in and out of the car...and getting my bag on my walker.

Therapist knows best!

It was very enlightening to see a mother helping her daughter, who has CP, with her therapy on "The Nanny" last night.

Physical Therapy...

It has been over five years since my back surgery and the comprehensive physical therapy that I went through.

Last June I complained of chest pains at work. My branch manager insisted that an ambulance be called. It was not my heart. Best they could tell it was indigestion.

I kept returning to my doctor. I was not good at pinpointing my pain and he was not good at figuring it out. They x-rayed my lungs and saw some pneumonia. Antibiotics. The pain persisted. More antibiotics, more x-rays.

I asked my doctor if I could get a mri, or if I should go see Molly, a specialist I have seen before.

Dr. Molly thinks it could be a muscular-skellatal thing and had me go to physical therapy. My therapists have been good. They traced the pain from the rib area in my chest that is painful to a spot in the middle of my back that, when they poke and prod, is also painful. They have also found slight inflammation in my right breast that is slightly inflamed - or that feels different. My scoliosis also plays into it. My ribs are really tight.

I am hoping that when I return to dr. Molly on Feb. 26, that she orders a mri, just to see for sure what it is.

I think I am fighting a bit of depression right now. Dealing with this unknown pain for so long. I am also frustrated by my lack of success when it comes to creating and running websites. I am trying to figure out SEO (Search Engine Optimization), which is the process of getting your website recognized by search engines such as Google.

Seems like I always try to succeed at things that I am not good at doing, and I ignore doing
then things that I am better at.

I will pull through this.

Kind Hearts

I feel I rant too much.

Cheryl, manager of the child welfare branch I work at, came to me yesterday and said some people were concerned that I was having to park too far from the front door.

When I get to work on time, I have a disabled parking space close. A few days ago I returned from therapy and my spot was taken. I parked at one of the disabled spots much further down. It really did not bother me because my pain level walking has been down lately.

But somebody saw me.

Cheryl said that if my spot is taken I can use one of the client spots near the front door. I have thought about asking for such accommodation, but I have not.

Today Jodie and I went to the middle school / high school campus of our sons private school. We have the option of sending him there next year for 6th grade or keeping him at the elementary campus for one more year.

When we were leaving, a vice principal came running out to our car as we were leaving. He wanted us to know that we can park at the front curb of the school during non-busy times. I was moved that he would run out to tell us that.

Kind hearts.

A Night Out

Monday night Jodie and I had to go to the mall to exchange a mp3 player. We we done late, and we were hungry. We decided to go out to eat at a seafood place close to home.

We were seated fine. When our waitress came, she asked what special occasion brought us out. We said that our son was at grandma's house and we wanted to take advantage of it.

I saw an apitizer I wanted on the menu. I pointed to it and said I would like that. The waitress looked atJodie and asked if it was okay.

Another waitress brought the food out. She moved Jodie's smaller plates and warned her that the dinner plate was very hot. With my plate, she left it on the outside of the table and ran off. I was moving my plates around when our waitress came and helped.


I felt so disabled! ...And invisible...

BBC - Ouch! - Features - Miss Ability

I came across this on OUCH!

BBC - Ouch! - Features - Miss Ability

A beauty contest for the disabled in The Netherlands.

I think it is a wonderful way to make the world aware of "ability" in the word "disability". Okay, that sounds hokey, but you can read my mind.

People will see beyond the disabilities that these beautiful women have and see their beauty. At the same time, they will see disability for what it is -- a part of the person, such as the color of hair or a personality trait, but not the sum of all that a person is.

Disability bothers people. They imagine if they themselves were disabled they would not be able to handle it. It's not a pretty site or thought.

But who can resist beautiful women? They have a disablity, yes...but they are beautiful!

It entices people to look a little longer. Pretty soon the disability is not the predominate feature the see. Beyond the disability is a real person dealing with life.

Let beauty open the door to understanding. Let that understanding stretch to you and to me.

Where is the harm?

Invisible...

For Christmas, Eric and Jodie got me a digital photo storage unit. It turned out to be a really small screen, so we took it back and I exchanged it for a Creative Zen mp3 player.

I decided to try out Napster's "Napster to Go" service. For a monthly subscription, you can download all the music you want onto 3 different players. We went and got two more players, one for Eric and one for Jodie so we could take full advantage of the service.

Yesterday, Jodie and I went shopping to find a "Playdock", so that we can use our players as our home stereo:

Cambridge SoundWorks : A Creative Company - Shop for speakers, in-wall speakers, computer speakers, mp3 players, receivers, dvd players, headphones and more!


I went to the website for the speakers to see where I can buy them locally. I said Fred Meyers and Seguno Technologies in Gresham.

Jodie and I went into Fred Meyers. We took our scooters in and zoomed over to the electronics section. We went over to where the mp3 accessories were. All of the speakers there were for IPOD, nothing for mp3. Nobody offered to help us. A salesman was offering to help others.

We are invisible.

Jodie and I both have cerebral palsy. When we go to stores, many times we can't seem to get any help. I don't know if they assume we have no money because of our disability, or if they don't think they will understand us.

Jodie went to the counter to ask the lady if they had a "Playdock". She had no idea what it was.

We went looking for the Seguno store but could not find it.

I scootered into Office Depot myself. No offer for help. We like shopping there because of their variety and prices, but we have had many episodes there of not getting help unless we chase somebody down. I found the shelf with all the IPOD stuff. After studying it for awhile, I could see they didn't have a mp2 docking speaker system.

I went to Radio Shack. A very young lady pointed me to what they had. I found a small portable speaker set for Jodie to use at work, but all the fancier accessories were for...you know.

Staples was the same as Office Depot. No offer for help, but they did not have what I was looking for. I scootered around the whole store. Nobody said a word to me.

I am invisible.

We went to Circuit City. Jodie and I both went in. A very kind and knowledgeable young man gave us the lowdown. Stores carry the larger ticket IPOD accessories; they don't carry them for non-IPOD players. The demand just is not there. He said that a warehouse store might have one, but a normal store is not going to carry them.

Jodie wanted to look at notebook computers. We cruised around the computer area. Aisle widths and the placements of special displays make getting around stores so difficult, but that is a topic for another post. No one offered to help us in the computer area.

Invisible.

We came home and I ordered "Playdocks" online, probably what I should have done in the beginning.

I made it to work today...

A one day work week. We still had slush in our driveway this morning, but it was well above freezing. I use a walker part of the time, but not all the time. I had my 11 yr old son help me to the car.

My wife depends on forearm crutches. She could get no traction with her crutches this morning and was not able to make it to the car. She stayed home.

I felt good about getting to work today, but a coworker made a comment as she passed "Finally decided to come to work, huh?" She could have been joking, but I don't know her well and it didn't sound like she was joking.

Part of me is always thinking "I need to overcome!" I get upset with myself when I can't.

She was probably joking. I am probably paranoid...something else for me to worry about...

From Where I'm Sitting: Disability Questions

10 questions regarding disability as answered by Tokah, a blogger with congenital hip malformation:

From Where I'm Sitting: Disability Questions

He was inspired by Emma:

http://wheelchairprincess.com/blog/2006/10/22/disability-questions/

She got the questions of No Pity:

http://community.livejournal.com/no_pity/483067.html

I will need to answer these questions myself:

1. If you could re-live your life without having your disability, would you?

2. Do you want people to show interest by asking personal questions about your disability?

3. What is the hardest thing in life for you to do?

4. What is the hardest obstacle that you have to overcome often?

5. Do you resent people that try to help you?

6. Would you rather do things on your own?

7. Do you feel any anger towards God because of your disability?

8. What do you dislike the most of other people around you (ex- people staring, pointing, etc)?

9. What is the best way for us to help you?

10. Do you feel awkward when you are around people that are different than you?

Snow week?

Monday was the MLK holiday. The snow event on Tuesday was much more than had been predicted. We have about 4 inches here in Gresham.

Eric's school is closed for the third day in a row, but most schools are opening 2 hours late today.

I would like to go in today, but our driveway and culdesac has lots of snow. 34 degrees right now. I hope I can get in later, but I don't want to risk falling and getting hurt.

One of the greatest frustrations of being disabled is not being able to do what you wish you could do, think you should be able to do, or feel that others think that you should be able to do.

A lot to worry about, I know, but hey, I'm a worrier.

Segways for Disabled People - UBC Reports

Segways for Disabled People - UBC Reports

Hmm.....sounds interesting. I wonder if I could handle a Segway? I wonder if I would still run over people at work when they race around cubicle corners and give me dirty looks when they run into me?

When I started using my scooter at work, I got such sympathetic looks. I eventually started using my walker. Cerebral palsy and back pain - some days are pretty bad. The last thing I want to do is draw attention to myself.

Lately I have been going into work with neither my walker or scooter. It is hard getting them out of the car, and it makes me even more late for work. My new bag is on wheels, so that does not throw me off.

I know it should not matter to me what other people think of me, but sympathetic looks bother me. My wife has no option but to use her crutches. I have options that depend on my pain level.

I am a weenee, caught between embracing and accepting my disability, and gritting and bearing my pain with as little assistance as possible.

I am hard on myself, can you tell?

Give me a Segway - I will run everyone down!

Jessica Simpson's Breasts "Disabled" Her | Huliq: Breaking News

I would trade my disability:

Jessica Simpson's Breasts "Disabled" Her | Huliq: Breaking News

...This made me laugh....