The Muse continues to keep my creativity flowing. I have so many songs in the works, I have to keep a spreadsheet to keep track of their progress. [Not complaining]. I have noticed that I'm writing more about "us" and less about "me". Given the wave of senseless acts violence and the craziness of social media, my message is changing in my music. I suppose my compendium of work will show all sides to my story and message.
On the health front there is no too much to report. However, there have been some developments that I'll describe below.
Head and chest cold - I guess it's going around, but I managed to catch that nasty head and chest cold. For the most of last week, I've been filling my barrel with used tissue. Between the constant nose running, post nasal drip and death rattle chest congestion, I've been miserable. At one point, my voice was so low (from coughing) that I decided to right a song where I would be singing in that register (Johnny Cash/Barry White reference). Not sure how I'll hit those low notes when I'm back to normal. We'll see.
Side Effects
- Neuropathy - I still cannot figure out the cycle of my neuropathy. I go through spells (flare-ups) where my finger/thumb numbness is off the chart. Then slowly it dissipates. A real mystery. My feet seem to be getting a little worse, but luckily not (yet) debilitation. However, if I stand too long without moving, I do sense nerve pain. [Just something else to monitor].
- Mussel cramps/spams - Although I continue to walk about 30-35 miles a week, I still get rudely awakened from a sound sleep with a charlie horse. I'm still looking for home remedies and am open to suggestions. It seems everything I've been told or have researched is not working. In addition, I've begun developing cramps/spasms in my arms and hands. Not sure if it's because I've had long sessions playing guitar or keyboard, but this is relatively new. And still another thing to monitor.
Something new
In mid-August I slipped and fell (hard) on my left side. My left knee was affected as well as my shoulder and arm. The knee worked itself out (probably because of my walking schedule). However, my shoulder has been extremely tight and my range of motion was (initially) very limited. I've been doing some range of motion exercises and normal movement has returned. But, a few weeks ago (after our first drenching rain), my lawn needed mowing. I had all I could do to pull start the mower. No strength and quite painful. Following that episode I attempted to 'find' the area of pain and cannot locate any specific area. In doing my self examination, I'm still not familiar with my 'new' upper body resulting from my reconstruction. Fat graphs feel lumpy to me (not painful) but disconcerting since I'm not sure if they are fat lumps or the beginnings of cancer. After all, I still have a 7-9% chance of getting breast cancer again. So my heightened awareness of my body's aches and pains always takes me to the question: Is it back? Welcome to the new normal!Thanks for reading. More to come.
Happy Halloween everyone.
