256. A Bit of Leg Pulling
A day or two ago I put a link on Facebook to one of Seth Godin’s posts which invited people to ponder that the mishaps which befall us cause drama, tension and therefore tends to grab the interest of others far more than if someone brags about being on the NY top seller’s list.
I even introduced the post with “I'm going to let you all have it soon- my worst moments, I mean.” This was followed by inevitable misunderstandings that my moments must be really bad and imaginations ran wild. So as to reassure people that I am not suffering from an incurable disease or have one foot in the grave, I thought I’d write this article just to put the record straight.
I’ve also had a photograph taken of me at the Carnival recently, just to show I still look quite “normal”… I just didn’t do any gallivanting about as I once would have done.
For two months now, before I sit in front of my PC screen I have to ask myself, the intensity of pain I want to go through and for how long when I get up. I can sit down quite easily and feel no pain… but it’s the getting up and getting back into motion part that I have to come to terms with. The longer I stay sitting down, the longer it takes me to get up and get my feet to move and drag around the two columns of concrete that once were my legs. Lying down has also the same effect, so now if anyone rings my doorbell in the mornings, quite often they have gotten tired of waiting for me to open up among the protest of incessant dog barking... Perhaps it’s the dog barking that eventually drives them away rather than the waiting.
The same thing happens when I’m crossing the road in the village square, people usually give the all clear sign to cross by waving their hand, and I wave mine back to tell them to move on... they would regret it if they didn’t take up my invitation. This is because my steps have become like those of a tortoise. I used to walk ten times around the field in my half an hours’ walk, now, I can barely manage two. And that to me is a huge difference.
At Mass, in Church there’s a bit of sitting down and standing up to do, so I choose to sit behind big people who can hide my efforts of clutching and climbing up on the bench in order to get back on my feet. Kneeling down is the best part because to get up I just plonk myself on the bench that supports my torso. But I can’t be doing too much of kneeling down either otherwise people will think I’ve suddenly had a incorrigible bout of devotion.
Steps are really fun, that’s when I take little jumps at random and hope I land on the right one.
And if I drop something- if I’m out, well it stays there... as happens in India; whereas if I’m at home I get the pincers I use to put on the wooden logs on the fire and grab the object that way, maybe you have already gathered that’s because I cannot bend.
My dogs and cats have more or less adapted to the situation and they instinctively seem to know they can no longer plonk themselves on the bed and risk suffocating me since I can no longer move around and pull the tightened blankets away.
One thing however I do regret is that there’s no way I can possibly go and see the Pope when he comes to Mestre (Venice) in May... oh well since the children in our parish are making their First Communion, I’ll go and take photos of them instead, there won’t be much moving around to do there. And perhaps that too was in God’s plan in the first place anyway... just like everything else is.
Of course now, most of my life is spent with my eyes shut, trying to regain my energy since the body uses it more quickly as it has to work quite a bit more to get things done.
However, let’s look on the bright side... I’ve no problem driving- It’s just getting in and out of that car that makes me go up the wall. And wait for it, this is a real gem, I’ve lost my appetite- Wow, lovely weight loss, just what I dreamt of for years!
