Chapter 34 - January 24, 2012

Hi everybody.  Hey, check it out. It was my birthday last week. It was a small party with the people I grew up with. My sister hosted the party at her house. It was a great day. Any little thing like this to brighten your life, when you’re like this. It was a great day.

It’s strange. I have flashbacks to the past three years. It all blends together. Little things come to mind like the emergency room visit, living in the hospital for 5 months, therapy, etc. It all blends together. The first operation, the second operation. I never feel like I’m getting better, but I am. It’s slow. I’ve been doing a video journal to keep track of my progress. It’s very helpful. I highly recommend it. You’ll have advancements and you’ll have setbacks. I recently had a slight setback due to stress. You wouldn’t believe my personal life. It’s like something out of Hollywood. Let me take that back. You couldn’t even make this shit up. It’s like I said before, my life is like a bad country song. Hey, remember, if you play a country song backwards, you’ll get your house back, your dog back, your truck back, your woman back, your job back.  You’ll get everything back. Somethings I don’t want back, but we won’t go into that.

I just got back from therapy this morning, and it was really good.  Once a week, right now, I do water therapy in a warm pool.  It’s great.  I can walk and run. It’s really cool. I did it after the first operation. Now I’ll be getting used to it again. It’s really helpful. I get so tired though. Oh man. You can’t believe how exhausting it is. Just the simplest things make me so tired. For example: my therapists want me to get on the floor with help from my mom and an assistant. I’ll do this, but it’s tough to lie on your stomach. You realize how vulnerable you are and how far you have to go.

My friend who is typing this, I’ve asked her to help me with my next project. She said she’d help me type what I need. You see, when you’re like this, you have to do what you love and I love photography. When I was an athlete, I ran across America. That was 1979. I plan on going back across America on the same route with a car and a trailer. I’ll photograph landscapes as I go, and I’ll do a small documentary film. I need to get funding though. Like a grant or a fund from a large corporation. It would be good advertising for them. So anyway, my friend here is going to help me write a letter that I’ll send out. I’ll probably build a website for the project. Another thing to keep me busy. Oh yeah, and when it’s all done, I’ll make a book of the journey. You see, books will become valuable. Coffee table books. Everything is on the iPad or technology similar, but a tangible book that doesn’t cost a lot will be special. I can see it. So I plan on doing books. That’s my vision anyway.

Oh yeah, my father and mother bought me a machine that helps me walk. It’s really great, very simple, but it will help me walk. I’ll use it at home. It teaches you how to walk again. It helps you get better. I’m very lucky. Thanks Mom & Dad.  Remember, never forget how lucky you are. I’m at that stage where I look at people and I get very envious watching them just walk or pick something up or eat. I wish I could do that. I can’t even sit up right now. Ha, ha, and at lunch, I kind of fight with my fork. I manage to stab myself in the face a few times before I got the food. Never a dull moment.

Let’s end on a positive note:  I did sit up in therapy and managed to put on a shoe. A little thing like that will make your week.  Amazing. Remember, small victories, they all add up.  See you next week.  B. Nice