Final Chapter

This is going to be my last blog entry, at least for a long time. And I’m writing mostly because I know there are a few of you who periodically check back to see if I’ve written anything recently, only to be disappointed. So, I thought it was about time to let you know more formally that I won’t be continuing this blog and a bit about why. Thank you for reading as much as you did last year! It amazed me that I’d have followers at all.

Today, once again, is the anniversary of the day I was shot, and it’s fitting that I write this blog entry today. I didn’t quite go full circle in my blog as I had wanted to. I intended to follow the course of the year in 1973, from being shot, through rehab, and back to school again. But as can happen, my own life in 2010 got in the way.

First, during the summer, I was having trouble deciding who I was writing for, who I wanted my audience to be – my friends, my sons, other people with disabilities, a wider public? I still don’t know the answer.

And then I found there were other topics on my mind, memories from childhood, that I wanted to write about too – but that I felt uncomfortable putting into a Paraplegia 101 blog, not to mention they revolved around people still living so I hesitated to put my comments public. So, I went back into therapy to see if I could resolve all those questions. For those who don’t know me well, I had roughly 10 years of therapy from 1980 – 90, which did me a lot of good then.

On top of all that, my wrist pain came back with a vengeance in August and September, and totally upended my life. Figuring out what to do, then scheduling surgery and figuring out how to handle recovery took all my energy. I ended up staying home all the time to avoid activity and pain, and moving the surgery date up to October, cancelling a writing workshop I wanted to attend, and a vacation as well. I had De Quervain’s tendonitis release surgery in late October and then had a solid month of staying home recovering. The first week was really the only bad one, where I felt totally helpless. Once the stitches were out and the hard bandage replaced with a soft one life got easier, but I slowly added in activities, with driving being the last thing I attempted. One nice side of that month of recovery was working through the first level of Rosetta Stone Spanish – it was easy and didn’t require too much keyboard or mouse use.

At this point, I’m fully healed, no pain, no regrets at all about having done the surgery. It was truly a success story. And I’m still in psychotherapy, probably will be for some time. My time and energy is being spent partly on catching up on a lot of projects I put off last fall (like doing the round of medical checkups and some fixing up the house), then partly on sorting out new emotions coming up from therapy. I intend to dive back into the Rosetta Stone, and I need to get to work on planning for Jim’s and my next vacation – a 17 day eastern Mediterranean cruise in October, with stops in Istanbul and Greece, and with 5 extra days in Rome. Perhaps I’ll feel up to a blog by then!

For now, my plate is full, and my attentions are elsewhere. Everything is fine. I learned a lot while writing my blog and am totally happy I did it for even just the 8 months. It takes a lot of time to do each blog entry, and the shorter ones are sometimes harder than the rambling longer ones, so I’ve gained a lot of respect for bloggers, especially those who write every day. I got a lot of amazing feedback, from people I would never have expected, and it increases my desire to write overall. I still have a lot to say, about paraplegia among other topics.

Today is the 38th anniversary of the day I was shot, and this day is always one of reflection for me. If you reread my post from a year ago, you’ll see many of the same words I still write today. This is a day of reflection and quiet for me, not traumatic or anxious, just a sadness as if a good friend had died. I appreciate the good friends I have now, who would share this day with me. Thank you.