Mouth Twitches, But That's All

I got up earlier than usual this morning, as I normally do on Fridays, so I can map out a route for us to use to go on our Estate Sale, garage sale, thrift store hunt. Even though it was 4:30AM, my mouth was already twitching slightly. The rest of me was still, though, so it's not really that I am complaining - just documenting.

We did make some good purchases, and we always enjoy each other's company, but it was awfully hot, and we ended up coming home a little earlier than usual. The mouth twitch continued to increase as the day went on, although it is nowhere near as bad as it is without the Primidone.

A very nice lady who was having a yard sale saw me using the cane to help myself get down her driveway, and asked me if I was recovering from leg surgery. After the slightest of pauses, which I am sure no one else would have noticed, the words came out of my mouth for the very first time. I told her I had a Movement Disorder. She went on to tell me how she had had two hip surgeries and had used a walker, and now used a cane. It was a very friendly, normal sounding conversation, but those words coming out of my mouth were momentous for me.

My hand and foot did not shake, my shoulder did not jerk, and I was reasonably stable, particularly when I used the cane. I am selective in when I use it, but I'm careful. After all, we have seen first hand what happens when an older person falls.

If I know a restaurant is going to be easy to maneuver, I leave it in the car. Hubby gives me a reassuring hand to go up and down curbs. But if we go to a sale, I always use it. You never know what the inside of a house will be like, and yards can be uneven or steep. We've stopped at some of the same gas stations and restaurants often enough to know which ones have handicap accessible bathrooms, and which ones don't, so I usually know if I need to take the cane with me to help in the bathroom.

We do have the Handicap Placard, but I try not to use blue spaces unless I am having a bad day. I have used them a lot in the last six months, but not since I went on the Primidone. I look forward to many more days of using regular parking spaces!!

The Day After PT - and I'm OK

I'm thankful to be able to say that today I have not been all stove up the way I was last week. The Physical Therapist cut back on the severity and number of repetitions this week, so I'm only mildly sore today. I did make a point of asking her if she thought I should be asking the doctor for a blue parking sticker, and she agreed that I should. I won't need it all the time, but for some places, like the Galleria, which is a huge multi-story mall, I'll definitely be taking the walker, and I'll need to be near the door.

We ate at an old Krystal's yesterday, and I guess that's the first time we've been in one in over 20 years! Luckily, I was having a good day, because the bathroom doors were not much over 20 inches wide! The sink was not much bigger than the size of a sheet of paper! It really looked like what I would imagine an airplane bathroom might look like, and definitely reminds me of the bathrooms on trains as I remember them from my childhood. So, when we got home, I found the Krystal website and complained. I had an answer from the Birmingham District Supervisor by this afternoon. It was pretty much a form letter, but it did have his phone number, etc., so I figured I'd call in a month or so and see if anything is going to be done to make those bathrooms handicap accessible.

We've been consciously advocating for better handicap facilities in businesses we go to for years now, never thinking that someday one of us would be needing them. Now, I'm super conscious, and very glad that I've been doing my part to make managers aware of what needed to be done.