Last night I was rereading Jon Acuff’s book, Finish: Give Yourself the Gify of Done. The day after perfect is the day after you mess up your plans: to exercise every day, to stick to your diet, to write regularly, . . . whatever goal you have in mind. With respect to this blog, I was surprised to see it’s almost three months since I last posted anything. So, following the idea of going bravely forward in spite of imperfection, I am writing.
I just realized I am still battling perfectionism – having declared that I will write anyway, now I am caught in the trap of editing to make it perfect. So in addition to committing to an imperfect schedule, I shall also commit to imperfect writing. It really hurts to say that – my stomach doesn’t like it at all. I guess that’s a sign that this is a good thing.
Anyway, Finish is a good book. Funny, and with some good ideas. I recommend it.
Last week was my fourth anniversary of being in this nursing home. (It’s 5 years since I returned to Israel from the U.S. after my annual PT benefits expired in June.) In some ways I have progressed – I have almost full range of motion now and I have developed the strength to keep my left arm straight when I raise it. When I started I couldn’t raise my arms above shoulder height even with help, and I couldn’t raise my left arm unless the elbow was bent. I can can feel the muscles in my ankles and they contract when I think about them. I have learned to feel which muscles in my left side I need to contract to sit up straight. I can straighten my legs (in bed) without help and I frequently do so.
I need to keep listing these things to see that there is progress, albeit at glacial speed. A researcher in the U.S. decided that physical therapy doesn’t really help people with MS based on a 3-month study. It does help, but over time. I can see small, but I think meaningful, improvements that have taken years.
So. goal: 5 more years to achieve walking. (I actually feel kind of excited.) Let the snail race continue!
Escape From the Nursing Home 