I'm Back!

Okay I got back at the beginning of last week, but I've just been too busy to post anything. This post started off as bullet point, and is therefore a bit scattered, and jumping from topic to topic in no particular order.

Let me start off by saying that driving through the Rocky Mountains in the moonlight is incredible. You can see the snow at the top of the mountains, and the outline, and some very vague sense that there might be trees.

While we were vacationing, my hubby and I, and one of his friends took a nice long walk. We were out for 3-4 hours, and I went without my cane, because driving the 12 hours to Vancouver did a number on my right shoulder. During the walk, I dislocated my left hip about 5 times, and I came to the realisation that uphill is a lot more forgiving on my joints than downhill (and sand is not meant for bendy people to walk in). The next day, I was practically unable to walk, and hubby was hurting  too, so we mostly stayed in, and took our pain meds, and tried to rest. -- Since we got back from the trip, I have been almost walking like a normal person. My limp is very slight, and probably not noticeable to other people. So, walking helps... but you need to give yourself 2-3 days to recover before it feels like it's done anything good.

Now on to my coffee date with my friend in Vancouver. It turns out I thought he was older than he is by a year, and we had nearly 6 years of our lives to catch up on. That made me feel old. I haven't seen him since I graduated, or shortly thereafter, and he is planning on coming back to Alberta for a few days at the end of June to visit family. I think I've convinced him that we need to get the old gang together for drinks one night. I've already got one other friend who's excited about the prospect. I managed to get through the whole nearly 3 hour visit without talking much about my disability; which I'm very happy about, as the last friend I caught up with told me that I've grown bitter about the whole health care thing.

On the trip, I figured out that I can in fact digest things. The only problem is I MUST HAVE COFFEE in order to do so. I didn't have coffee the first couple of days of the trip, and when I finally did, I had to take several trips to the bathroom... So, now at least I know to drink coffee every day, about 2 cups.

I recently had my car to the mechanics for my power steering problems, and at that time they were supposed to do an oil change, and a seasonal inspection. They didn't. I had to spend $120.00 to have my "thick as tar" oil changed, as well as filters, a bolt, a gasket, and a shampoo of the oily bits to get rid of the crud that built up.

There was recently a horrendous fire in Slave Lake, and for nearly a week, I had second cousins who were afraid they had lost everything. They had just built a new house there, and were getting ready to move in, or had started moving into it, so they also had their old house, as well as a business with a lot of expensive equipment. Luckily for them, the fire completely missed both of their houses, and the business, and they will be able to move back in as soon as the electricity and water are functional again. My one second cousin is helping with the rebuilding efforts. They will also be selling their old house, which will help get one more family out of the temporary shelters. These family members have an adult daughter at home with them who has Down Syndrome, so I was very happy to hear that they all got out safely, and that they still have a house to go back to.

I received a letter in the mail today from the Big Hospital in my city, saying that I have an appointment with their movement disorder clinic in August. I'm confused. I had never heard that I had been referred to them, or that there even was a movement disorder clinic in the Big Hospital. When this all started, I was told that the Children's Hospital was the only place with a movement disorder clinic, then I was also sent to a neurologist, and now they're sending me to another movement disorder specialist. I'm glad that they haven't given up on me, but I'm so frustrated by the amount of time I've had to wait.

That's all I can think of for now. I hope everyone is doing okay!