another page

It's too soon to tell if the new tools we are trying on my wrists/walker issue will work since my hands got so sore from the previous failures it will take a few days to discern. But here's what Mark figured is worth a try:

1. We purchased gell-padded bicycle gloves from the TREK bicycle shop near our home. I will wear those whenever I go out of the house and have to hobble longer distances.

2. For shorter distances, he went back to the shop and they wrapped around bicycle grip tape which has a thin strip of gell inside of it. They finished off the wrapping with electrical tape so nothing slides.

Both of these tools are originally designed, of course, to prevent wrist damage to long-distance bicyclists, softening the road and ground bumps that could be nature or man-made (i.e. speed bumps). IF these work, it is something that I hope my doctor tells her patients about and I will also be spreading the word through disability service groups that I come in contact with. I wish we had thought of this a month ago before my wrists (and into my arms, too) began to ache from the jar of hobbling with the walker and one leg.

While Mark was getting the walker pads wrapped yesterday, I subsituted my fitted walker for one we got from Craig's List when I first had the accident. It has two wheels in front which makes it less jarring as I hobble but it also is a bit high for me, so we'll wrap it too and use it as a backup.

I didn't really shift my attitude to gratitude yesterday (after admitting to the reality of being resentful and fatigued on yesterday's blog entry), but I did "get through it." I am viewing the past episodes of The Tudors which has been on Showtime. But since we don't get that channel, DVD is the resource. It's a bit heavy on the raw sex scenes for me, but I love the palace intrigue, sets and costumes and the script is literate. I enjoyed PBS' Henry VIII years ago and both take me back to my undergrad/NIU English History classes. Of course, I can't recall the mazelike lineage of the Tudors, or any of the English Kings/Queens--how cultures survive the inbreeding, murders, etc., is beyond me and makes even our current Tea Party goofiness look rather tame.

Knowing how "the story" of Henry turns out, with the long and prosperous reign of Elizabeth overshadowing his era, makes the early chapters of Henry and Anne Boyelyn more poignant. We just don't know, when we are the characters of our own lives, how "the end" will be written.

So, I just hobble along (even tho it's windy today, I will go to the pool) and consider each day another page in my book.