SIS S.O.S.

I've noticed that several of the bloggers of SIS have blogged about what's going on in their lives. Well I guess now it's my turn. I'll try to keep it short and to the point, and hopefully after I'm done you will read it all the way to the end, and out of the kindness of your hearts, offer me some advice which I may or may not take.

I was born with a birth defect called Spina Bifida, which is the most commonly occurring birth defect. Most babies born with it will end up permanently in a wheelchair. I was not one of those babies. I took my first steps when I was four and have been walking ever since. More like waddling, I would say, but it got me to where I needed to go. I played youth soccer for a year in my teens, and that was the pinnacle of my body's strength and stamina.

During the years that I went through puberty, I developed scoliosis, which is a side to side curvature of the upper spine, and lordosis, which is a front to back curvature of the lower spine. My right hip, which was malformed when I was born, slowly became arthritic. The curvatures of my spine stopped just short of the point where surgery would have been necessary. The past several years I have been walking with a cane, and for longer distances or when a lot of standing is involved I do have a wheelchair I use. Using the chair for long periods of time causes my shoulders and upper back to ache.

Fast forward to now. Every day is a crap shoot, and I never know what part of my body is going to hurt or how badly. I have very little feeling in my feet, which makes it easy for me to trip and fall on things like doorways or table legs or something of the like. There's nothing like tripping and falling to magnify the pain you already feel.

The way I see it, I have two choices. Try to ignore the pain and get as much accomplished as possible, which might cause more pain. Or take the meds I have for pain and get loopy and not accomplish much.  I've done both and neither is a very good solution. It's getting very depressing for me and frustrating for my wife, because there's very little that she can realistically do to help.

I guess that's pretty much all you need to know. Some of you don't really know me that well, but I'd still appreciate any advice you could give me. Thanks.