Text 158, 87 rader
Skriven 2005-08-05 15:32:10 av Ardith Hinton (1:153/716.0)
     Kommentar till en text av James Bradley (1:134/77.0)
Ärende: By the Pricking...  1.
==============================
Hi, James!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

AH>  You can't walk well?  That's okay... neither can I.
AH>  It's a great social leveller....  :-)

JB>  I really understand the value of courtesy more so
JB>  than before.


          Yes... it takes on a new dimension, doesn't it?  :-)



JB>  I may have given you the clinical definitions to my
JB>  situation, but perhaps I skipped the affliction? They
JB>  either nicked my sciatic, or cut into a muscle.


          Okay.  I'm no doctor, but it seems to me both are probably repairable
with time & effort.  You know those cans of corned beef which come with a key??
I sliced the large knuckle of my right thumb to the bone with one of them years
ago.  Needless to say, I don't use the key any more... I use a can opener!  For
a long time afterward I had prickling sensations in my thumb.  Maybe the nerves
didn't get joined up precisely.  When I had about 90% of the normal sensation I
figured that was as much as could be expected & thought no more about it.  Then
I re-examined it when you reminded me & my right thumb apparently works as well
as my left does now.  I gather you've made quite a lot of progress too....  :-)



JB>  Because I had only the dirt where I wanted it, I was
JB>  perplexed why I was not at all enthusiastic to prep
JB>  the beds.


          The mind can play tricks on us sometimes.  When Nora was in treatment
for leukemia I didn't have much interest in reading books.  I got involved with
Fidonet.  And eventually, the thought occurred to me that apart from the social
interaction... which I really needed then... there was the matter of print size
& message length.  I needed new glasses but I hadn't realized it... [wry grin].



JB>  Well, either the nerve was firing when it shouldn't
JB>  be, or the muscle would just complain every time I
JB>  used it.


          The same thing happens with people who have had strokes... the nerves
may be hypersensitive and/or transmit inaccurate signals.  My father told me he
experienced cold as pain, for example, and Nora's "startle" reflex kicked in at
the slightest provocation.  Then, when the muscles in any given area started to
function again, they hurt.  Although the reasons may be different I imagine the
healing process occurs in a similar way.  The brain & the nerves re-establish a
connection, but the muscles which are weak... maybe in part because others were
overused in an attempt to compensate... need to be exercised as well.  The body
has amazing abilities to heal itself.  Tincture of time is very effective.  And
you can help speed up the process, I think, by doing as you have been.  You may
find it difficult & painful to work in the garden but do it anyway, and you are
able to apply some of the insights your sister has gained from Pilates....  :-)



JB>  "Here, try some of these." Oh, GREAT! I can do laundry
JB>  again. "But what about the cause?" Here, try some more."


          I'm with you there... it's important to address the cause.  But since
nobody seems willing or able to tell you what the cause is, you're more or less
on your own.  I must say this is starting to sound very familiar too... (sigh).



JB>  I'm just starting to get around with any expediency on
JB>  a cane.


          Good for you!  And now you'll probably find little old ladies taking
an interest in you who hadn't noticed you before... that's what I found when I
was using a cane for awhile.  Older men would stop me on the street to ask for
directions & whatnot.  I found it amusing, but rather flattering... [chuckle].




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
 * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver BC, CANADA [604-266-5271] (1:153/716)