Here we go. I have just hooked up my headset and microphone so I can dictate a blog post. I have severe osteoarthritis which affects my hands and most of my joints. I’m working on improving my dictation skills and programs so that I do less typing. Some of the dictation mistakes are funny enough to leave in.
Today my wife Michelle got her infusion, A medical pharmaceutical cocktail called Rituximab . Michelle has MS and this infusion improves her quality of life significantly, though she lives in a powered wheelchair and/ or a powered bed. I am able to drive our handicapped van, so I was able to take her to her appointment at 10 and pick her up at 2:30. These infusions happen once every five months, and are a significant enough medical appointment to warrant my attention and hopefully at some point they might even allow family into these facilities. Covid being what it is, that part of the operation she must do herself. It’s not an operation and it’s the usual hope to find a good artery for the IV to plug in I believe she plans to return to blogging on “mssing about”, her own site, to tell her story of living with MS and her work as a disability rights advocate and a PhD student in disability studies. You can find that at www.mssingabout.com.
Since we married I’ve been assessed to see if I am ready for a powered chair myself. I was converted during the trial, and was particularly pleased with the seafoam colour as it was described. There will be a learning curve. There will be more baseboards bashed. Fortunately there will also be a regular manual hand operated foot paddled wheelchair to use mostly in the bedroom, so that I can make my way to the washroom without putting on my fake leg. I’m an amputee and it’s not possible to get to the washroom without a mobility aid that substitutes for my leg. A wheelchair is best, but likely a manual wheelchair in the bedroom.
As you can imagine two powered wheelchairs and one house is quite a challenge, and I haven’t caught her after chasing her down the hall yet. That was during the trial and now we’re waiting we’re waiting for the paperwork to go through and for my chairs to arrive.
We are waiting for Sunday when the infusion side effects lift and its benefits take hold. Tonight it was banana and ice cream.
I see my GP in the morning, who has just written to say that she is leaving our clinic in April, so I’ll find out tomorrow who I’m going to be referred to in the clinic. I also hope to pick up my new foot. I had a new leg made here in BC and everything is fine except the foot is too small. The foot is too small for my shoe and my shoe has to be size 14 to match my size 14 shoe which I wear on my right foot. I have similar osteo problems in my feet and never mind the hammertoe surgeries. I have had foot fusions in both feet and an ankle fusion failed on the left which is why I chose after much consideration to have an amputated.
I wear hard leather brace on my right foot which has enough give to allow me to keep driving, while giving me enough support to help me be upright when I need to be. I’ll speak more about this as the time goes on because I have just had a CT scan and I’m already scheduled for an appointment to talk about what might be done with my shoulders on the 11th of March.
Meantime, Murray Michelle and me are working on the exhibition. I love that it’s called look show as the website name. I’m sure we’ll call it all kinds of things by the time it opens on Friday November the 4th in the cr8ery in Winnipeg. We will be looking for second and third potential locations as well. In a week or so we should have a page of artist bios to go with the rest of the information on this site. I still have 20 minutes before my 8:00 o’clock meds and time to get into bed. It’s a time my wife Michelle and I use to talk and show our appreciation to each other. I may have a quick look on Facebook to see whether I have anything to add or subtract from what’s up there now. I also need to update my website which is www.victorenns9.com.
-Victor
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