More Delights and Disdains . . .
of a diminutive nature of late . . . Number 30
Disdains:
Being reminded, much more often than not, that a lack of stamina is inherent to Parkinson’s Disease. In my younger days, I counted on my ability to just plough through and to get the job done. Whatever the job was. Success is 99% effort, right? I keep reminding myself that a lack of stamina should not be confused with a lack of willpower, which is more akin to that other hidden Parkinson’s symptom: malaise.
Asking myself if feeling stigmatized due to a chronic disease is the same as being stigmatized . . . or is it a precursor to victimization . . . or a successor. A question that I will address in a future post.
Reading that New York has legalized physician assisted suicide or Medical Aid In Dying (MAID) for those patients or family members who request it. Now that’s a pleasant acronym for an unpleasant service and gives new meaning to calling up Merry Maids for a house cleaning. Just think about poor old grandpa. The Maids can just scoop him up with the cat litter and throw him into a conveniently provided Earth-friendly body bag. No. Seriously, America already has a clash between drug companies who want to drag out patients lives and health insurance companies who want to shorten them. And we all know that the drug companies and the insurance companies are all owned by the same huge “healthcare” providers . . . like United Healthcare.
Delights:
Remembering my sister, Susan, who would have celebrated her 73rd birthday this past week. She, like my oldest brother mentioned in my last post, was called home way too early. She is sorely missed.
Having my brother-in-law and nephew respond almost immediately to my text message asking for help in loading my old riding lawnmower into my soon-to-be-gone rental dumpster. Not only did they show up at the appointed time, my brother-in-law had his son-in-law in tow to provide additional muscle. So, a son-in-law helping his father-in-law help his brother-in-law. That’s gotta be at least three degrees on the in-law separation scale. Actually, I have always considered my brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law to be true brothers and sisters to me.
Doing a proper Spring cleaning with a particular focus on all things visibly political. Political signs, donation cards, legislative manuals, and old voter surveys - physical proof of campaigns past - are in my crosshairs. Hardest to get rid of? The campaign signs of my defeated opponents hanging in my hallway. Just kidding!
Reading that researchers have discovered the long eluded source of the lysergic acid (LSD) found in morning glories that give them their psychedelic activities. This source, an ergot alkaloid fungus, might possibly be added to the list of ergot-based dopamine agonists used to treat Parkinson’s. I must admit that I feel way too old to drop acid. Then again, I was born in the middle of the psychedelic era.
Making gains on my quest to understand the role of chronic disease in the context of being a Christian. I suspect that disease, for some, could be a spiritual sacrifice acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. He has suffered already what I suffer, but that still doesn’t take away my physical or mental pain. I am not calling any chronic disease a blessing, but suffering, or at least the spirit in which we take it, counts for something.