Lady with the Cane.com

                           Yes, it is once again Monday. The air is crisp and cool. A low fog hangs over the streets of my little town and  I can just imagine the first bite into the tangy autumn apples that I will soon gather from our trees in Bemis. September is nearly here and that means... FOOTBALL AREA FAIRS/FESTIVALS SCHOOL SWEATERS CHILLY CAMPFIRES (You know what I mean.) CHANGING LEAVES MUMS I love autumn. I especially love the word autumnal. Isn't that a great word? With the change of seasons, especially here in our Appalachian mountains, allergies abound. My nose has been dripping all weekend and I feel the sinus pressure building behind my eyes. Of course, this means that I need to add yet another chemical to my tortured immune system. The dreaded allergy  pill.  I do not take allergy meds years 'round, but concentrate on the spring and fall agitators. Since diagnosed with MS in 2001, I have experimented with and eliminated three MS drugs. I am now on the twelve hour

                           Yes, it is once again Monday. The air is crisp and cool. A low fog hangs over the streets of my little town and  I can just imagine the first bite into the tangy autumn apples that I will soon gather from our trees in Bemis. September is nearly here and that means... FOOTBALL AREA FAIRS/FESTIVALS SCHOOL SWEATERS CHILLY CAMPFIRES (You know what I mean.) CHANGING LEAVES MUMS I love autumn. I especially love the word autumnal. Isn't that a great word? With the change of seasons, especially here in our Appalachian mountains, allergies abound. My nose has been dripping all weekend and I feel the sinus pressure building behind my eyes. Of course, this means that I need to add yet another chemical to my tortured immune system. The dreaded allergy  pill.  I do not take allergy meds years 'round, but concentrate on the spring and fall agitators. Since diagnosed with MS in 2001, I have experimented with and eliminated thr

Now THAT is the kind of message I want to hear. Recently an individual made the odd decision to tell me all about her marital woes. In detail. With specific vivid description. My first (and really, only question) is WHY do I need to know all of this? I am truly sorry for her plight, but I do not elect to take sides  nor do I need to clutter my already foggy brain with such information. From all indications, this individual pretty much got herself in this mess and she is old enough to figure it all out on her own. We were never really  close and her situation is really none of my business. Of course, this relative indifference has made for me a rather lonely life at times. I do not share my inner calamities, having (finally) learned that words are often misconstrued creating even more drama for the grape vine. Not my scene. I used to have a good many friends: work pals, drinking chums, professional  amigos, club conspirators... With my diagnosis, that changed. BIG TIME. I have learned w

Now THAT is the kind of message I want to hear. Recently an individual made the odd decision to tell me all about her marital woes. In detail. With specific vivid description. My first (and really, only question) is WHY do I need to know all of this? I am truly sorry for her plight, but I do not elect to take sides  nor do I need to clutter my already foggy brain with such information. From all indications, this individual pretty much got herself in this mess and she is old enough to figure it all out on her own. We were never really  close and her situation is really none of my business. Of course, this relative indifference has made for me a rather lonely life at times. I do not share my inner calamities, having (finally) learned that words are often misconstrued creating even more drama for the grape vine. Not my scene. I used to have a good many friends: work pals, drinking chums, professional  amigos, club conspirators... With my diagnosis, that changed. BIG TIME.

It is the first day of school and his sophomore year in high school. I cannot believe that my baby is that tall, clever fellow walking out the door and down the street to embrace a new chapter in his life. He probably cannot believe that his mother is trailing  the behind him. Oh goodness...What if one of his class mates sees this? Since there is only one other NMHS student on our street, I doubt that's possible. She is usually running behind schedule... Oops! There she is. I pretend to be admiring our neighbor's clowder of kittens when she greets me by name and agrees that  they are the sweetest creatures on the face of the earth. Although I really want to witness my son climbing the steps of the school bus on this monumental morning, I realize that I need to put my efforts into stealth mode. My inner ninja emerges as I casually hang back and take time to remove my mother's newspaper from her paper tube (She lives at the end of my street and conveniently adjacent to the b

It is the first day of school and his sophomore year in high school. I cannot believe that my baby is that tall, clever fellow walking out the door and down the street to embrace a new chapter in his life. He probably cannot believe that his mother is trailing  the behind him. Oh goodness...What if one of his class mates sees this? Since there is only one other NMHS student on our street, I doubt that's possible. She is usually running behind schedule... Oops! There she is. I pretend to be admiring our neighbor's clowder of kittens when she greets me by name and agrees that  they are the sweetest creatures on the face of the earth. Although I really want to witness my son climbing the steps of the school bus on this monumental morning, I realize that I need to put my efforts into stealth mode. My inner ninja emerges as I casually hang back and take time to remove my mother's newspaper from her paper tube (She lives at the end of my street and conveniently

Because summer is nearing its end, I find it time to"autumn up" my blog. Hope you don't mind.  In fact, I have worked for days in an attempt to update my entire platform. Ha! Guess I'll stay with writing, because my website design skills totally suck. I realized this morning that the e-mail address at the top of my home page is one that I really do not want to use any longer and, in fact, have repeatedly asked folks to discard and replace with LisaAnnetteMcCombs@yahoo.com. Anyone have any advice on this matter? I had my throwback Thursday post all planned in my mind until... I realize that I should consider myself an expert on living with my MS, but this morning has me all turned around. Never having experienced vertigo (I don't think), but understanding the mechanics of the condition I initially assigned that label to what my body is doing today. With one slight exception. Every time I move my head, I feel electrical explosions running up and down my spine and bl

Because summer is nearing its end, I find it time to"autumn up" my blog. Hope you don't mind.  In fact, I have worked for days in an attempt to update my entire platform. Ha! Guess I'll stay with writing, because my website design skills totally suck. I realized this morning that the e-mail address at the top of my home page is one that I really do not want to use any longer and, in fact, have repeatedly asked folks to discard and replace with LisaAnnetteMcCombs@yahoo.com. Anyone have any advice on this matter? I had my throwback Thursday post all planned in my mind until... I realize that I should consider myself an expert on living with my MS, but this morning has me all turned around. Never having experienced vertigo (I don't think), but understanding the mechanics of the condition I initially assigned that label to what my body is doing today. With one slight exception. Every time I move my head, I feel electrical explosions running up and down

 I went grocery shopping yesterday. It wasn't a fly-by visit. It was an absolute necessity. Usually I can get in and get out in a timely fashion, but yesterday was very different. The students are back in town. I live in a college town. I should have realized that this is the season. New room-mates are bonding and housemates are setting up "camp". I am truly excited for them and intensely nostalgic. Those were the good ol' years. Wish I knew then what I... Not only are the college folks back, public school teachers are honing their lesson plans and preparing their classrooms. Several West Virginia counties have already started. My son is happy that Marion County doesn't open until next week, meaning that Marion County teachers are grasping at their last days of freedom. As a retired teacher, I loved those days. By now I would have an entire corner of my bedroom pilled high with a collection of un-sharpened Ticonderoga's, discount composition books, a semester&

 I went grocery shopping yesterday. It wasn't a fly-by visit. It was an absolute necessity. Usually I can get in and get out in a timely fashion, but yesterday was very different. The students are back in town. I live in a college town. I should have realized that this is the season. New room-mates are bonding and housemates are setting up "camp". I am truly excited for them and intensely nostalgic. Those were the good ol' years. Wish I knew then what I... Not only are the college folks back, public school teachers are honing their lesson plans and preparing their classrooms. Several West Virginia counties have already started. My son is happy that Marion County doesn't open until next week, meaning that Marion County teachers are grasping at their last days of freedom. As a retired teacher, I loved those days. By now I would have an entire corner of my bedroom pilled high with a collection of un-sharpened Ticonderoga's, discount composition book

It happened again this morning. That long walk home that started my adventures with multiple sclerosis. Fifteen years ago as I strolled my baby on the uneven sidewalk through town, I realized something was horribly wrong. My right foot refused to obey my brain's message to lift.  This morning I was anxious to take in an early morning walk. Thanks to Ampyra, I have enjoyed this activity more and more, but this morning good ol' miracle drug was on vacation. Only a few yard out of my front yard, I realized that I probably would not make it to my mother's flower garden for a planned "weeding". I needed to head home. And, so I did that very thing. cuss*cuss*cuss* And here I am. Complaining to you. At least I can rest assured that the majority of you understand my frustration. How can we explain to others when we ourselves do not understand this daily unpredictable crap associated with MS? After doing some simple stretches to limber the ol' stiff muscles, I felt a l

It happened again this morning. That long walk home that started my adventures with multiple sclerosis. Fifteen years ago as I strolled my baby on the uneven sidewalk through town, I realized something was horribly wrong. My right foot refused to obey my brain's message to lift.  This morning I was anxious to take in an early morning walk. Thanks to Ampyra, I have enjoyed this activity more and more, but this morning good ol' miracle drug was on vacation. Only a few yard out of my front yard, I realized that I probably would not make it to my mother's flower garden for a planned "weeding". I needed to head home. And, so I did that very thing. cuss*cuss*cuss* And here I am. Complaining to you. At least I can rest assured that the majority of you understand my frustration. How can we explain to others when we ourselves do not understand this daily unpredictable crap associated with MS? After doing some simple stretches to limber the ol'