it makes you think

IT MAKES YOU THINK
this disk thing has altered my life a lot
it has prevented me from doing a lot of things that
i like to do
i realize now just how active a person i am since
i havent been able to do or lets say shouldnt have been doing
these things i do on a regular basis

first i can see how a person with chronic pain or a permanent
disability could get depressed knowing that this is what they
would have to face the rest of their lives

at least my pain is controlled mostly with medications and my
'disability' is gradually improving each day so that there is some
light at the end of the tunnel

my cousins husband before he died became a real advocate for
improving accessibility for the elderly in homes being built in eg
subdivisions especially if it looked like the elderly would be buying
some of these homes
he had the money and time and the political connections to help
make some changes
i remember a few years ago sitting with him at my moms going over
a list of the changes that he was presenting to his congressmen in
washington

at  the time i was of course on his side but have really thought about
those changes a lot since this happened to me and
i was bedridden for two weeks
then had to figure out how to
go to the bathroom take a shower get up the stairs get out the door
to the car etc

the elderly or disabled have to do this every day of their lives
im so thankful that mine is a short term 'disability' and it has made
me think a lot about the changes he was recommending be done
especially as i age and get to where i may need some of these changes

i use to tell patients
park as far as you can from the front door when you go shopping
eg at the grocery store park in the farthest parking spot then walk
to the door and then back to the car
in a years time you can get a lot of exercise

ok i will admit that thats me at the grocery story that rides my
grocery cart like a skateboard through the parking lot to that
lonely car way up near the gas station near the entrance
but its usually on sunday am early so the lot is mostly empty and
i have a good clear shot to my car

add #grey haired bearded guy grocery cart skateboarder

now when i go to the store i look at my usual spot and say
no way
then i look at the disabled spot up near the front
and say
no way not yet
so i compromise and based on my pain level  i decide where
to park
eg today i would park about 1/4 of the way

but i do think a lot about the disabled
the friend in the wheelchair who was injured in high school and
has had to do this for thirty years
shaving cooking cleaning washing clothes driving shopping working
traveling bathing etc
i do have a lot of respect now for him and what his daily life is like

i lived there only for two weeks
and i didnt like it at all

so this all does
it makes you thnk

how lucky we and i am to be otherwise healthy

the organicgreen doctor