My MS story 4.1 the final chapter…

Until my move is complete, this will be my last blog. This blog is a comparison of “a day in the life” of now vs. then. I have not included anything dark as I don’t want to relive that time anymore. All in all this blog may feel pointless to you. However, because of my move, I don’t have the mental focus for a decent blog. Of course, what is a worthy blog? If you read any of my other posts, you will see that I don’t know.

This blog shows “a day in the life” of my MS current average Monday. These times are estimates, but because I am a creature of habit they are pretty close.

The alarm goes off at 6:45 am. I want to hit snooze, but the Marine Corps and my mom eliminated ‘snooze’ from my vocabulary. I eat breakfast while listening to an audiobook. I take eight different vitamins and two prescriptions during my morning meal. After I eat, I rinse my bowl and spoon and put them in the dishwasher. At 7:25 I go in and brush my teeth, shave my head and trim my beard. I go into my office at 8:05 and work on my next few blog entries. At 9 am I make sure that all of my swim stuff is in my backpack. I do this so that I can get ready to leave for my swim class.

At 9:48 I show up at the rec center. I get dressed so that I can get into the pool by 10:00. I begin doing the exercises specific to my needs. The entire time that I am in the pool I exercise my legs. I have three different leg and ankle exercises to focus on different muscles. After all three of these are done I rest for one minute. At this point, I start this process again. I do this routine for about 15 minutes, and then I relax for two full minutes before starting all over again. No matter if there is someone to talk with or not I continue to do these exercises. I follow this regiment because I have regularly seen significant benefits. My instructor and my classmates both have mentioned the changes that they have seen in my abilities.

There is occasionally someone sitting next to where I sit, and I try to chat. Socializing with strangers is very difficult for me. By 10:44 the other class members begin to arrive. My classmates usually say hello, and occasionally we talk before class. Someone explained to me that these ladies feel that it is wrong for a married woman to stand next to and speak with a single guy. This attitude must be an age thing as they are about in their 70’s. At 10:57 we all start to move to the class. For the next 50 minutes to an hour, we have class. After class, I swim a few laps in the lap swim area. I do my best to get every bit of fitness that can. When my laps are complete I get out of the pool, take a shower and get dressed.

By 12:50 pm I leave the rec center and I head home. At approximately 1:11 I arrive back at home and eat lunch. Since I am starving, I have a couple of frozen burritos. These burritos only take two minutes and thirty seconds in the microwave. This fast-cooking means that I can eat sooner. For the next fifteen minutes, I eat the burritos. I also continue listening to my audiobook. When I am done eating lunch, I rinse my plate and put it in the dishwasher.

At 2 pm my friend calls. He has a new job that starts at 3. He drives to work early and wants someone to talk to while he waits. I am the lucky ‘chosen one’ to play his listening post. At 3 I take a brief 20-minute power nap. Yes, a nap that short works. Studies show that you do not need to actually “sleep,” but merely rest your eyes and brain. So at 3:28 I resume working on my blogs. No, that is not an eight-minute snooze I just move “slower than a heard of turtles stampeding through peanut butter.” I typically work on up to five blog entries at a time. One would THINK that if I am putting so much time in on these blogs that they would be good. Ha, I have you fooled, and you would be wrong. This blog rotation keeps my brain fresh for each blog. Some of these blogs I work on for a while and end up putting them on the back burner. Occasionally I just delete them after significant work on them.

I usually watch a few hours of TV throughout the day. I also set the alarm to remind myself to get up and do a few standing leg exercises. I make sure that this happens every hour so that my leg muscles keep the blood flowing.

At 4:42 pm I go into the kitchen to make dinner. I try to eat something fresh, but that is not always possible. Let me explain something: I still eat horribly. This lousy eating habit has several reasons. First, it is laziness. It is much easier to open and drain a can of corn or cook a TV dinner. I serve these meals with flavored seltzer water, and that is my meal. Second, I get no enjoyment from cooking only for myself. So as I said before “food is a survival thing. It is not about taste right now.” Lastly, it is a habit. After lunch and dinner, I like something sweet. If I don’t have fresh fruit on hand, then the something sweet is a Larabar.

At about 8 pm I stop working on the blogs. At this point, the words just do not come together correctly. So I start watching TV or do my bills. I also have a 501c3 charity that I work on throughout the day. I continue doing this until 9:15. At that point, I go into the bathroom to brush my teeth, take my evening vitamins and prescriptions while still listing to my audiobook. At 10 pm I go into my bedroom and prep for bed. I crawl into bed to visit the Sandman at about 10:20 pm.

A day in the life of the “dark days.”
The following is an average day in the life during my dark days. Sadly, this could be any day as they were mostly all the same.

I wake up at 1 pm. I eat a 2 oz bowl of cereal with milk for breakfast. I rinse my bowl and spoon. I set it on a towel on the counter to dry ready for the next meal. I sit on the couch and watch TV. At 6 pm I eat lunch. Lunch is a can of green beans with some Italian dressing on top. I rinse the bowl making it ready for my next meal. I continue to watch TV. At 11 pm I make a box of mac and cheese for dinner. I split it into thirds as it will feed me for three meals. After I eat, I rinse the bowl and fork then I set it on top of the counter. At midnight I quickly check the mail. I watch TV until I go to bed at 2 am. WOW, that was quick. Man, I was one boring guy!

To the average person, my schedule now looks very inactive. However, compared to ten years ago my new daily routine is busy. This example shows how ten years ago time ran together. It was a stretch to come up with the times for ten years ago. However, for the recent years, it was pretty simple. Lastly, I know that the time for the first part seems absurdly exact. I am showing that I am a creature of habit. It is also the time of the day with very little traffic on the roads. My life has changed in a significant way in the past five years. “Oh, these times they are a ‘changin’.”