Well...It's been over two months

Since I last posted.
Let's see if I can reach back in my memory banks and try to recall some of the stuff that's happened...

I had an appointment at the VA...talked to my doc about getting another pair of new shoes and the orthotic inserts that I have to wear.
Reason being is that my feet have been just killing me at the end of the day....so, either my shoes are worn out, or the inserts are.
I had an initial consult with the orthotic section and they tell me that they will schedule an appointment for me to come in and get the molds taken and find some appropriate shoes...
So...I wait, and I wait and I wait....and no call with an appointment...
So...I called a couple of weeks ago and somehow, I got lost in the system.....grrrrrrrrr...
Anyway, I now have an appointment for July 12th.

Ok....what else..?
The heat and humidity and the storms that we've been having, have been playing hell with my and my legs...
They ache and just feel all around really bad. I get overheated outside very quickly, so I stay in the house as much as possible..
All of this has really screwed up my sleep....which sucked as it was...
but now, I'm even worse...This morning I was awake at 2:30....All that helps at that point is that I take a pain pill when I wake up and then I take the dogs outside for a quick potty....and I make some coffee...and then hit the couch...
I usually manage to sneak in an hour or so, nap.
Not today though....so, right now my tail is dragging.
I had talked to my neuro about this at my last visit with him....and he put me on Amitriptyline....which is an antidepressant...but it also works for neurological pain and also works for sleep...
Supposedly..
I took the stuff for two months...and some days it would work..sort of.   I would sleep in until 5:00am...woohoo
But the bad part of it was that I felt so groggy the entire day....and then there were the days that the med didn't help at all...I'd still be up at 3:00 or 4:00....and still feel really groggy. I could not stand that groggy feeling. It felt like I had my head stuck in a box of cotton.
So, I quit taking it....
I'll suffer without sleep...and at least my head won't feel like it's in a fog.

Here's a good one....
This past Tuesday morning I think it was...I was up early as usual....and took the dogs out for a little walk....and we usually walk around to the back of the house too....
I don't really know what or how it happened...but I tripped. I tripped on something...I have no idea what. It was probably my own feet for all I know.
Anyway...I had ahold of the leash for our puppy....and as soon as I felt that I was going down...I let go of the leash and she scooted..
and I hit the ground hard...
I have no idea how I did it, but I broke the little finger on my left hand and I scraped the side of my left leg...
The finger is all swollen like a vienna sausage and is all sorts of pretty colors...The scrapes on my leg are healing.
When I hit the ground...my dogs were standing on the back deck looking at me.....like..."Dad, what the hell...?
I had to crawl to a tree that we have in the yard, and use it as a support to get myself back up...
It seems like there's always something....

I really don't know what else to post right now....I just figured I'd better get something written....
and I'm going to try and post at least once a month from here on out....and have better, more informative posts...
When this much times passes by, I forget half of what I would like to post.....and then a week later, I remember but then I just blow off posting it...
So.....anyway...I'll close for now...and as I said...I'll try to maintain a better pace with my posts...
Ohhhhhh...
Wait...In early June, my wife and I went to the annual blues fest here in town...it was Friday June 8th and Sat. June 9th...
We made it for the Friday show....but it was just too blasted hot....so we skipped the Saturday show...
So....in memory of the Friday show.....Walter Trout was the headliner that night....and he was awesome...
My music post will be some Walter Trout...
Someone else that was at the show, managed to record an 8 minute segment of the show....where Walter was jamming with Coco Montoya, who was the headliner for the Saturday show....
So...here it is..
I hope you enjoy... Till Next Time......

May 1st 2012...It's May Day

Well....I know I have been slacking off on my postings lately....and here I am now, doing another post just a couple of weeks since my last one.... What's up with that..? So, the reasons for my post.... Three things...
1. I had a meltdown..
2. I need to post some info from a great lady that I met on my TM Facebook group
3. An update on my Pain doc appointment that I had today...
Let's get to it then... On April 24th...I was outside helping my wife do some yardwork.. She had decided to cut the grass since the weather was fairly decent..So, I went out and tried to help out with the things that I normally do..I pick up the sticks in the yard, I blow the cut grass off of our driveway with our leaf blower and on this particular day, there were a lot of clumps of cut grass in the yard because the grass was wet. I went and got the rake and some yard bags, I was going to rake up the clumps and bag them up...
I had raked a few piles and was getting pretty tired and my legs were acting up some..getting tired and starting to ache... I can't stand it when I can't help out, so even though I was getting tired, I'll be damned if I was going to stop... I was raking up one pile of grass and the next thing I knew, I was on my ass... I went a**holes over elbows and landed on my side... My wife saw it happen and she shut down the lawn mower and came over to check on me... I was okay because the grass is soft.... But... For a long time, I've felt that I've had control of my emotions, my limitations and everything else...and I've felt that I had everything under control.... but yesterday, when I fell.....I lost it... All of my old emotions came flooding right back...all the feelings I used to have about how I was useless and how I am letting my wife down and how I can't even do simple tasks anymore.... I sat there and cried like a damn fool....and my wife would try to talk to me and I just kept yelling at her to shut up.....just leave me alone... I haven't felt that defeated in a long time.... So...after I sat there for a few minutes....she reached out and I grabbed her hands and she pulled me up to standing....and I gathered myself back up...and brushed myself off..... and then I apologized to her for telling her to shut up and leave me alone... I owe more to that woman that I can ever begin to tell....and I felt so bad for saying what I did, to her... So anyway...I went and sat down for a few minutes and gathered my stupid self together....and finally got back enough strength and fortitude to help her finish the yard... Thankfully, we didn't have much left to do... I just can't believe that after all this time....I've felt like I had control of my emotions and my limitations and everything....and then, just like that.....I lost it.....right there in the middle of my front yard... I hope nobody saw... Man.....this TM can still mess with you mentally and emotionally...even after a few years... I just had to post this.....I thought I was beyond all of this stuff... I didn't even get like this a few weeks ago when I fell going into the restaurant.... Geez......crazy stuff.

So that was #1.. #2...I have had a great lady join my TM Folk group on Facebook. Molly Allen is her name...She obviously has TM, but she is a psychologist and has been for 20 years..She tries to focus on the positive aspect of things... She recently started a paper that they publish from her practice...A paper that provides all sorts of various bits of info... She and I got to talking and we had decided that perhaps she could do an article in her paper on some of the things that I have been doing for the TM community..and how modern technology allows persons like us to get the support we need. So I told her that I would post her paper in my blog and also any other sites that I am involved with... Here is a link to Molly's website... http://www.riverparkpsych.com/ Here is a copy of the paper that she did about "Online Support Resources For 'Orphan' Diseases" http://www.riverparkpsych.com/2012/04/on-line-support-resources-for-orphan-diseases-2/
Molly has been an absolute wonderful person to have as a member of the group and we all appreciate her posts and her insight into some of the things relating to TM and how to overcome the negativity of it.

#3 update... I saw my pain doc today...just an update on things.. In the past, we have discussed various options that I could consider as far as helping alleviate the pain... One thing was a Spinal Cord Stimulator....I've researched this and decided that wasn't an option for me...First, I didn't want to have the surgery to have the unit implanted in me...and also, it supposedly replaces the pain with a tingling sensation...Well, personally I have enough strange sensations and tingling going on in my body already that I don't need any more... The next thing he mentioned was biofeedback..I had considered that one...and again, I researched it.... At first, I would have to go to an office that does it...so that they could hook me up to see if it would work...and if it did, I would have to continue to go back on a regular basis...and then at some point, I might be able to get a unit to have at home... Then I got to thinking...that every time I needed some pain relief, I would have to hook myself up to this thing and go through the treatment... Again, not something that I was keen on... So, today we talked about some other options....and the thought of meditation came up...My pain doc told me that meditation has been used in many different types of pain treatment and also for stress... He gave me the name of an author...Herbert Benson...apparently one of the pioneers of meditation therapy for various types of pain and healing... Here is some info from Herbert Benson's websites....info on what his meditation consists of... http://www.relaxationresponse.org/steps/
http://martin-bohn.suite101.com/the-relaxation-response-a103132
To me, this looks like something that I can handle....I'm going to get some books from this author and read up some more on his techniques...and figure out a way to implement this into my daily life...but, if from what I am reading and hearing, this just might be the ticket.. I'll use this in combination with my current meds....and hopefully....hopefully.....this will help with some of the pain issues and maybe even some of the other problems...ie: sleeping, leg cramps and aching.

So there we are....my update for May 1st.. My music post today....is something from the great Levon Helm, who just recently passed away. For those that aren't aware...Levon was the drummer for the legendary group, The Band. Levon was one of those people that was as genuine as could be...he was an incredible soul... Here's a 20 minute video of Levon inspired by his Grammy award winning album.."Dirt Farmer" This video is seriously worth watching.... So.... Till Next Time......

A Day In The Life...

I'm posting again so soon, because I was lucky enough to have an article done in the local paper...
This is something I have been working on for a couple of years....and I finally found the right reporter to get ahold of.
She has created a regular article where she posts the stories of local people that are having to live a life with challenges.
I sent her a note about two months ago, and she sent me a note back asking for more info...in which I sent her the entire story of TM and I.
She then sent me another note with a list of questions, which I promptly filled out and sent back to her....
and within a couple of days, she sent me a note and said to expect to see the article in the coming Sunday edition...(April 15th)
So, April 15th came....and I knew that our paper wouldn't arrive until after 8:00AM, so I went ahead and checked the website for the paper...and sure enough, there was the article.
I was so stoked...

When the paper did come, I went right out and got it...and went to the section that the article was in....and right there, big as day, on the front page of that section....was the article...with a huge picture of my wife and I.
The article came out so excellent....and it made me feel so good that I was able to spread the word about Transverse Myelitis.
I've even had some people here locally, that got ahold of me through Facebook to talk about it...and one woman contacted me because she says she feels like she has something similar but she has seen four neurologists and has gotten three different diagnosis.
She wants to talk to me about TM and get some more info on it because she has an appointment on Friday and is going to inquire to her doctor about the possibility of what she has, being TM.

Here's a link to the article.
http://www.cantonrep.com/newsnow/x1726854387/A-Day-In-The-Life-Kevin-Weilacher


I am pretty proud that we finally got a chance to spread the word a bit, about TM.
Now, I have to work on figuring out something to do for our Transverse Myelitis Awareness Day on June 6th.

Now....for my musical selection for this post....a tune that anyone that grew up in the 70's, is very familiar with.....BUT, this is the original artist...the guy that actually wrote the song...
This isn't the one that had all the radio play....The song was made a hit by Kenny Rogers and the First Edition....and the song is Just Dropped In.
It was written by a songwriter by the name of Mickey Newbury. His version is a little more "folkie" sounding....and it's excellent in it's own right..


I just felt that this song was kind of appropriate considering my dealing with TM.

So...that's all for today....
Till Next Time......