Well, there have been quite a few things transpire since I last posted here. I’ll try to fill in the gaps in my life. Since we returned from India this past February I have been dealing with one UTI (urinary tract infection) after another. No sooner am I off the antibiotics for one infection when 7-10 days later I am being attacked by another. This has gone on month-after-month. Needless to say it has not been a pleasant existence for me. Recently an article came out in the newspaper about a super-bug, that originated in India from the overuse of antibiotics, called NDM1. It is a gene that mutates from an E-coli bacteria and common antibiotics have no effect on it. As of the publishing date of the article there were only 3 people in the United States who had been diagnosed with this. There have been numerous people in Europe who have been infected by this bug. All of the people infected have a common denominator, they all had medical treatments in India in the past year. Since the article I have had 2 UTIs. Finally, with the proper information, I have convinced my doctors to culture for this bug and then test for the the presence of the NDM1 gene through the CDC (Centers For Disease Control in Atlanta, GA). This would explain a lot of why I can’t get rid of these infections and why they are occurring on after another, especially in light of how fastidious I am about my cathing. So, we’ll see what transpires and hope we get some information that will shed some light on the situation.
My body seems to aging and falling apart faster than I had ever anticipated, or faster than I can rehab and fix it. I have been having really bad wrist tendinitis and neck pains the past several months. My rehab doctor authorized a couple of MRIs to see if we could find the cause of my discomfort. The hospital shot my elbow and neck instead of my wrist, but it was beneficial. I have a torn Medial Collateral Tendon in my forearm and a partially torn Bicep Tendon, along with degenerative joint disease (meaning I’m aging). My neck has 2 bulging discs. One at C-4 to C-5 and the other at C-5 to C-6 cervical vertebrae. This goes along with degenerative joint disease too, foraminal stenosis (narrowing of the openings where the nerve root exists the spinal canal), and last but not least, osteo-arthritis. At this rate my joints should wear out before my organs can go to hell. Such is life.
I have also been dealing with a substantial increase in spasticity. My legs feel alive most of the time, along with my knees and feet, tingling and buzzing, as well as being able to feel the tendons, ligaments, and muscles moving when manipulated. Unfortunately, the spasms are causing sleep deprivation as my body never shuts down. I could drug my body and restrict the spams from occurring, but that would be counterproductive as we want the neuro-pathways to grow and the spasms show there has been growth happening. The other problem with the spasms is that at times during PT (physical therapy) the spasms get so bad and powerful that I cannot stand and try to walk. My leg(s) keep trying to shoot out from under me and won’t support my weight or attempts at locomotion. Not only do the spasms inhibit movement, but they wear me out while trying to support myself upright on the walker. We’ll just have to see what happens and hope this is just a phase my body is moving through.
On to more enjoyable aspects of life. I went elk hunting in September with my muzzle loader. After finally procuring a place to hunt, my brother-in-law, Kirk, and I set my blind up and staked out my elk decoy. On the second afternoon of hunting, a couple of cow elk came to the waterhole we were set up on. Due to the warm temperatures the animals need water during the day, so we used this aspect of behavior survival to our advantage. They were very curious about my decoy and while they were totally focused on it, I was able to cleanly harvest one of the elk. It was pretty awesome, 1 shot – 1 elk. Kirk and I quartered her up, loaded up the meat, which I took the meat to the game processor after cooling it in a friend’s fruit cooler for a couple of days. Yum, elk steaks, sausage, and hamburger. I didn’t get to go deer or antelope hunting as I didn’t draw a permit, but the guy who manages the ranch I hunted on said I might be able to get a landowner voucher from him for later on. That would be cool to get to go out again and commune with nature some more. I love to get out and be a part of nature’s seasonal evolution. The Fall has been very warm here. This has impacted the change of seasons, from Summer to Fall. With the warm there has been an absence of moisture, so the Fall colors didn’t change when they normally would have. The color change was probably 2-3 weeks behind normal. Regardless, the colors were spectacular when they did change. Even on our flight the other day, there were still clumps of aspen and oak brush going through their vibrant color display changing to shades of yellows, oranges, and reds. The Colorado high country is beautiful in the fall. Wish everyone could experience it.
Yesterday, I got to go flying with one of my high school classmates. Kirk (I know a lot of Kirk’s) has his own plane and pilot’s license, so he called and invited me to go flying. We left Grand Junction and flew north, up past DeBeque over the Bookcliffs, east towards Parachute, north up towards Rio Blanco, across the Hogbacks onto the Flat Tops. We cruised up by Blair Mtn. & Lake, south towards Elk Creek, out of the mountains crossing the Interstate heading south towards the Divide Creek(s) drainage, over the Silt Divide, over the top of Grand Mesa, dropping down on the Cedaredge/Hotchkiss side, then swinging back north to Grand Junction. We were up for a little over 2 hours. It was spectacular! Wierd though, as I’m afraid of heights, but I am able to fly in a little plane like that and have no problems. Another of life’s mysteries as far as my screwed up neurological system goes. Thank God I can enjoy things like this. There isn’t a lot of things that I can find complete joy in doing.
Well, until next time. Be safe and go with God. Peace.
