Three new posts, an Anniversary and learning to fly sitting down

Three years ago I came back from the fencing competition where I collapsed. About today I started using the wheelchair full time. If I make it to May it will be the anniversary of when the people working on me thought I was going to die. I was more active back then, and so, ignoring that all the speed limit signs in my body had been removed, I ripped down hills and switchback corners. So when I finally said, “I don’t feel good” – Instead of fainting, I would just, stop breathing. These days, I still go past my limits, but in different ways. I wrote about it a bit in my post on the postcard project.
Plus the post has a kick-ass typewriter.

Right now, I focus on the short term goals. Getting to tomorrow. And getting to Sakura-con, to do the Times Colonist 10K and get to the start line. To get to the finish line. To get to the day AFTER the TC 10K. Then there is summer. Yeah, Linda is unemployed and applying.

She told me she has written a blog post on Sakura-Con on ‘A Girl’s Gotta Fly’ and she would really like you to read it. It is here. I haven’t read it. She just said that if you are confused the ‘paypal’ button is on the er…..right a part way down. I assume that is my right.

All I know is that I am selling books and DVD’s and stuff. And I am fever free (except for 4 hours) for a week now. Next goal: exercise – I am going back to boxing and badminton.

I won a Kodak film contest division about ‘Life in a Wheelchair’, a division not about work or family but the rest. The prize came in a big box. It is unopened.

The winner was the picture titled, Fly or Fall. I said that for me, every wheelchair user has to work out for themselves how they will see and how they approach life from a wheelchair.

For me, it is always flying. When I fall, I drag myself. Even having to rest every couple pushes going uphill it is flying, because I am out there trying. What is impossible? That which is never tried. Getting up the hill isn’t impossible, it just is damn hard some days. Yeah, there are lots of things that are impossible but if I had to do it all over again...I would have ordered the double thick titanium axles. Why NOT fly. Okay, it takes more risk, more energy, more planning, and has a higher probably of something interesting happening (which might or might not involve hospitalization). So where is the down side?

I am not wheelchair bound: I am learning how to fly sitting down.

Girl's gotta fly: Terry Fox 2009 10K Success! But serious health problems arise.

I finished the 10K and Linda and Cheryl finished the 5K. Thanks to Laura again for the bright shirts we were able to find each other. Here are Cheryl and Linda, as Cheryl finishes her 5K. With Cheryl's ankle, leg, pelvis and back injuries, she was slower but steady and won the race. She dreamed it, and she did it.

I chose to do the 10K because....well, I might not ever be able to do a 10K again. Besides, my shoulder was REALLY hurting and by the time the 4K mark came, I couldn’t feel anything at all, or rather the back, forearm and other pain made the joint pain in the shoulder disappear. So at 5K you can either stop or do another lap for the 10 km. Guess which I picked.

Linda came out to support and jogged with me as I did the uphill to the finish, it was a long but steady uphill. One guy must have thought it was a bike or a Fred Flinstone device as he said to me going by, "You should try just using your arms on this stretch!" Uh, yeah, unlike the rest of the 10K, when I used my levitation device?

Here I am flying. The end is in sight and the sun has come out. Elizabeth does her 10K.
That part was good, the endorphins were good but the rest of the story...not so good. I passed the finish line, then after half exiting my wheelchair, I passed out. I was laid out in and out of consciousness then had a partial seizure followed by a grand mal seizure. I went home and did 26 postcards because I knew I would be useless the next day. And 26 postcards and 3 notes went out. And yes, I am insane and Linda and Cheryl are enablers.

During and just after the race I was able to sweat, something I had not done in 2009. I sweated not just from my groin but also from my armpits (3 of the 5 central nodes). Also, the injuries from badminton started to heal and discarded white blood cells and plasma. That is the good news. The bad news is that ever since then, after extended periods of sleep, the most I am able to be conscious and functional is three hours. Yesterday I was paralyzed, and unable to speak, or form words at all, my head unable to move. I was able to form words after an hour but was functionally paralyzed until Linda came home at 5:30 to put me to bed. I was dizzy the entire time.

Today, the same occurred, dizzy but functional. Fluctuations in blood pressure despite medication, and now erratic heart beats despite medication. Even sitting completely still, I cannot function in eye coordinating, often only one eye can see. The yellow and the red side of my body have switched and we don’t know why. Also I have to be on oxygen almost continuously. After one day, I expected something and was ready to pay the price. Now I am getting concerned. I am also in constant pain.

Also, due to I think paying for the repairs of the wheelchair cycle, we or I have no food, so I have not eaten breakfast or lunch today, a soup yesterday, perhaps some soup tonight. I don’t know if we will have food until payday. But right now I am more concerned with why can I not return to the state before the 10K where I was weak but stable – now I am STRONG, but I fall over, I can’t see, and I feel nausea constantly. Plus I am generating heat and not sweating anymore. I am really sick and worried that if this continues I will have to try the hospital for help, or at least to stabilize my body as I continue to pee more than I drink every day, Sunday, Monday, and today.

Um, I think I meant to just say, I am really really sick and if you don’t hear from me, I am trying to get better. If you did get an email it is because I thought I was better during that hour or two after getting up when I seemed okay, before this slammed my body. Even lying still in bed doesn’t slow the progression of dizzy, respiration problems, nausea, weak, paralysis, confusion and neuro blindness. I am writing this after having a nap, feeling what is already coming on.

Based on the last several hours. The decision was made 45 minutes ago that badminton is a no go for this week. Very disappointing for me, but without being able to control my condition as it is, adding the stress of badminton is a no go. My body is in too fragile a state right now to add stress and possibility of further injury.

I do hope to return to normal. Because hey, I have Hawaii and a 5K a month after that. What, a girl’s gotta fly right?

Three new posts, a cat visit and a NEW postcard record!

92 Postcards! Can you say it with me, NINTY-TWO! Oh yeah, bring it down……90, 91 and 92! That is right, with Linda and Cheryl, I did 92 postcards this weekend (even though I had food poisoning!), posted Sunday evening - already heading out to YOU. AND I went on a cat visit. Ha! 92! Yes, I will admit I am a little proud after being sick for so long, to have a new record. Which means 250 postcards this month I hope. I hope.

What happened was that I was ill AGAIN, in fact I was ill every day this week and the only time I wasn’t was when I wrote that blog. Bowel Impaction, fevers, chills, overheating, shock – all the fun stuff. So I started after three days of trying, I started on Friday to match some postcards of people we hadn’t done in a while. And after the nap Linda helped me, and she goes, “Now you aren’t slipping in an extra page are you!”

Innocent look.

So we did four pages out of the 19 pages we now have and then we started to sticker. And Cheryl came and we stickered. And it was fun, we used up so many sticker and dover books of Japanese stickers, we were out of whole sections of stickers. The previous week we had done kids, 25 kids, but his week we did stickers and after the stickers Linda counted them (why?), I thought she would say 56 or 64. But no, it was NINTY TWO.

So we split them up and started stamping. And it didn’t take as long as we thought, just kept stamping, and stopped for dinner and stamped some more. I had a mini stroke and so if you get a postcard with the right side barely there or gone, that was me as I had no feeling or power on the right side. But I stamped some more and then they were all done. And I started writing.

I have a new post over on the The Postcard Project. I hope with the new cool in the weather I will energy to put posts up there every 10 to 14 days instead of once a month. But I am telling people to spread the news that you do not have to be in dire straits to get a postcard, all you need is to want something other than bills and junk mail coming in your mail box (or something nice for your kids). It is your choice. Personally, I like postcards now and then. So tell people to email me with the title Postcard and if you know anyone overseas or on ships, in active duty, or back here, or a vet who is just back, let me know and I will send a postcard, and another. I am nearing 2,500 postcards.

There is also a new post over at A Girl’s gotta Fly, which is asking people to let us know if you are still where you were (I mean, some addresses we got over a year ago, has anything changed)? We are asking because we are getting returns, and after spending so much effort, to have it returned when it COULD go to your new address is a bummer. Also, the way Linda words the blog, it gives the chance to be noble and go, “Oh, I don’t NEED a postcard like others and so you can take me off the list.” – that’s what I would say from the way she worded it. Well, here is the answer: NO! It is not like I am flying off to get my Noble Prize so I am too busy or doing my paid tour of Japan for BBC. I like doing postcards. I like sending YOU a postcard. If you don’t like the postcards I send you, tell me so I can send you ones you like. If you really don’t want post, then yeah, I’ll take you off the list. But please, let me choose how I use my energy. When I am ready to work full time on a book, the postcards will slow to a trickle for a while, and I will let you know. Until then; we have a summer, a fall and a start of winter, and the more it rains, and the more snow is threatened, the better it is to get a lifeline of fun from the outside world. Because that is what all this pain and isolation has stolen from me: FUN. And whismy, and shots of me in my panties. So I am going to get that back.

I had only 10 postcards left to write with over two hours left and so we went for the last 30 minutes at the Victoria RSPCA animal shelter (I did 92!). It was dark (they had turned off the lights) and it was HOT. These cats had fur and were hot, really hot. I mean, Jasmine would not even PLAY with me, but was sitting all prim and proper like it was adoption day and wanted to look her best (I guess it was). But for heat sitting very still works for me, and works for cats too.

We met up with some new cats, one of which was called Miracle and like HIGH places, so Linda went over and played with this gray cat. She said that’s what we need in our life, a little miracle.

I on the other hand started playing with a one to two year old white cat with ‘melt me like butter’ blue eyes. Yes, I know white cats CAN become deaf later in life but my parents have a perfectly white cat and it is not deaf or blind, just likes to eat and chase things. I found out it was called Angel. Hmmm.....is there a theme going on.

I also went to the outside area where I met some of the cats from last week, and while one was on my lap, Jasper was already trying to climb up my wheelchair. Linda says that I am ‘Snow White’ or ‘Sleeping Beauty’ the way all the animals seem to come to me. Errr…okay.

I did find Rose from last week, the one year old who liked to watch the play with Jasmine and I. I gave her some treats we brought this time and she stayed most of my visit in my lap. Not just as I rolled around, but also as I did the two inch drop backwards in my chair to get back inside. She gripped a little but never moved. Rose would be a perfect cat if you like a cat to go with you on your bike or maybe in your car, or on your wheelchair. She like the mobile and ‘up here’ view, and this time, as there were no other visitors, as she likes being petted, I could hear her purr. Very soft but steady, her purr goes on and on. To be honest, I was surprised that Rose had not been adopted. Why?

So FAR every time we come, we talk about four cats, and every time we come back, be it one week or two, half of the cats we talk about have been adopted, like Elizabeth was, and Murray and Betsie. So we went to look for that cute grey and peachy cat from last time, the one I showed to illustrate how people can’t tell the difference in black cats. Adopted. But that was it. Rose was still here! So I was at 25% for this week. What is going on?

Well, it seems that the shelter now has kittens, a whole pile of them, and I mean LITERALLY, we could see in the room but not go in as the kittens were piling over each other and walking around and exploring. I saw the RSPCA officer and asked her about the kittens and she went, “Ug, KITTENS!” in a ‘oh great!’ voice.

‘You don’t like kittens?’ I asked because it is sort of odd for someone to work for RSPCA and not like kittens.

She said, ‘Most people never get past that room, (the kitten room is closer to the front desk, you have to pass it to go to the cat area) and when you know 50% or more are coming back, when they could be giving homes to cats instead….’

I got it. I mean, after a while seeing the same people who instead of taking a cute 1 year old, or 2 year old who has been there 5 months, and giving it a home. They take a kitten, they come back and now the RSPCA has ANOTHER adult cat to find a home for. The cute cat I showed in last week’s blog that got adopted....it had been there eight months. Wow.

A lot of cats end which up in the Victoria RSPCA who are literally perfect pets and have been, like this cute cat, she was left here when the owners decided to move. Now she has to compete against kittens. And yet, a lovely, gentle two year old cat who is ready to go home.

Well with Jasmine not playing I looked for Harley but the cage was open and we figured that Harley had either bloodied another person or got in a fight and was in the recovery area. So no playing 'catch the finger and bite off the top' today.

Here is Linda playing with Miracle, who is very friendly and seems to be attracted to boobs. I was watching Miracle and thinking, a) I want to be a cat and b) can I share? Miracle had found a shady spot up top and wasn’t giving it up. I think this is a cat you would have to looking atop bookcases for. Here he is giving Linda a ‘cat kiss’ of a nose to nose.
As for me, I had gone back and was playing with Angel, who liked to play with a little mouse I had brought with me but more so liked to be stroked right on the jaw line, and on the cheeks (I don't know why I play with the cats in cages, maybe because I can identify, but I wish I could stroke her, but we make do). Angel is not only beautiful but very affectionate and about 2 years old, lively but in a sort of sedately regal way. Will play catch, or chase the mouse, once she has determined that is what you want. But after getting stroked on the jaw, Angel was in some sort of cat bliss.
Thomas, the black cat and Jasmine played the domination game for ‘who will sit under the wheelchair’ and Thomas won again. He looks so rigorous like some stern professor when he pushes the other cats to show he is in charge. I wanted to know…..now that you own the string, do you want to play? So I started twitching it and soon Thomas was showing a completely different side. Jumping and leaping, and standing on the back legs to get up at that evil twitchy string!

Well, the half hour was up and with Rose on my lap I rolled over to see Jasmine, who was still sitting in the ‘perfect poise’ position. I tempted with fingers, and finally twitched the camera strap and that did it. Jasmine was down my end of the cage with some mock play of catch and release. I took away the strap and used my fingers and she caught them too, after some licking. Here she is at the end of play time, my finger firmly caught, she can lay back, relax and cool back down.
As for Harley...we asked at the front as we were leaving and they say, “Yeah, he got adopted.” ADOPTED? HARLEY? Apparently he had been left in the shelter because he had a extreme habit of beheading all the birds of the surrounding area. So I was right. And I found it odd that the same cat that liked to ‘play rough’ got adopted in the week. But yes, turns out that 2 of the four from last week were adopted, the cute pink kitty and …HARLEY. So I am still at 50% adoption per visit. I can’t explain it but I am going to keep visiting. We figured some guy who likes motorcycles came by who likes a cat with ‘spunk’ as the front counter said, and didn’t mind a cat who could take care of himself (or take over the neighborhood), a MAN’s cat! Harley. Good luck in your new home. And good luck to all small animals around as well.

Please remember to click the links for Postcard Project and A Girl’s Gotta Fly for the new posts there and I hope you had a fun weekend (92! I did 92! Woo Hoo!).