Phillip Sherwood

Late Friday afternoon, I stopped by the post office to mail a package. I was in my manual stander wheelchair and had finished what I had to do and got back into the mini-van. I reached backward to grab the aft tie down but it was just a little out of my reach so I rolled back just a bit just a tad to extend my reach when my brakes gave out and I flipped upside down on my head with my feet pointing upward as I was buckled into the chair. This was not a good situation to be in. I first got my keys out of my front pouch in the chair and started the vehicle to get the AC going. After I got myself unbuckled and untangled, I then made repeated attempts to lift myself up and my butt onto the back seat but I kept coming about ½” short. Man, if I only had ab muscles! I reasoned that if I kept going I’d deplete all my strength so I opened the door and flagged down a little guy going into the post office who admitted before commencing that he’s not very strong and he proved that to me real quick although now I was only coming up about ¼” short. I then flagged down another small guy but this one was a bit more stout. With the two of them lifting up on the sides of my pants, I was able to grab hold of the aft seat belt/hand mounts and pull myself up the rest of the ½”.

I then went to the gym but after my stretch, I felt a searing tear in my right shoulder as I crossed my reach to set the chair brakes. Thinking that it may have just been a peculiar position I was in, I did it again but using my left arm this time for the left brake and no problem. I then proceeded to pull up on the rings to lift & extend my chair to stand and chat and BAM! I felt it again. I stopped what I was going to do, turned around, got my keys, went home then on to bed to rest. I was pretty worn out because I didn’t wake up Saturday morning until 11:30am. I was sore Saturday and much less on Sunday but now I don’t feel any pain from that site at all.

This weekend I had the pleasure to see 28 recipients of the military’s highest decorated me all wearing the Medal of Honor. I didn’t realize only 87 remain alive. The 28 were the largest gathering ever in Huntsville. I was quite impressive and what they had to say was equally humbling. I finally had the laundry room painted yesterday usin Benjamin Moore Eggshell Fresh Butter 290 and it was a lot of work for me and I wasn’t the one who even did the painting! I was fortunate that after everything was done and I hooked the home automation system back up that it all worked on the first try! How lucky is that? I then updated the firmware in all the items in the house I could to help stabilize my Home Automation and Home Theatre systems. For some reason I’m really tired today. My next project on the list is the backyard landscaping. This will be a very big project expected to take about two weeks and will hopefully be done before Mom gets here for my birthday. I will be glad when that’s done. The landscaping company hired by the builder did a terrible job and the grass is all uneven. It’s nearly impossible for me to get out onto the lawn to pull weeds without either getting stuck or exerting nearly all my energy to not get stuck. I’ve lost count the number of times I’ve called Trugreen® to come out and treat the yard but the effectiveness of their weed application eradication is terrible.

I woke up the morning of August 8th and my feet were very discolored and it concerned me what may be happening because I have no idea about why this was. On the top of both feet and on both insteps were red bloches that looked horrible. I went to see the doctor who then referred me to a vascular surgeon who did tests on arterial flow. This was good but it has been the blockage that’s been troubling me. My feet looked like they had blood poisoning or something. I was told this will be a common occurance and to just manage it. If they look like they are worsening, I need to go back in. Needless to say, I was not comforted with this information but the situation is what it is.

The following day I went to the Women’s & Children’s Hospital for my sonogram (Bone Scan) and the results revealed that I still have Osteopenia so getting off the Fosamax pill I have to take every week is not going to happen. I’m looking at the possibility of changing to using Reclast which is an IV I would only have to do once a year. This is primarily for post-menapausal women so I’ll be in good company. I should hear something back from my new family doctor soon. She is very responsive and my favorite of them all.

I woke up Friday morning with my elbow in excruciating pain. I slept on the same side, must have spent too much time in that position. I got my monthly B-12 shot also so I have all kinds of energy now! My Vascular Surgeon sent a letter of recommendation/request to the VA in Augusta for them to provide me with a set of pneumatic trousers I can wear while I’m laying down to help with the swelling. If the VA denies this then we’ll pursue the acquisition through my regular insurance with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama. They were the ones who purchased my stim bike so I hope they’re still feeling benevolent should I have to go down that road.

I bought a bunch of indoor tropical plants Friday night at Home Depot so thought it would be a good idea to take a picture of them while they still look healthy before I kill them. hahaha

I spent about four hours Thursday night totally rewiring my home automation system and made a nice and clean looking wire harness to route all the wiring in the most efficient manner I could think of. It was a lot of work but it looks much better than it did before. The painter was supposed to come today (Sunday) to paint the laundry room so it will be interesting how we navigate this part of the wall. He never showed up or called so this kob is on hold.

Tuesday this week I have the electrician coming to do some more stuff then on Aug 30th the back yard will begin to undergo its transformation from a weed farm to a botanical garden. The front yard is still looking nice despite the fact one of the trees the developer planted died last week in the extreme heat.

Orkin exterminators came this Friday to spray for critters inside and out. Jack & Bob were funny because they didn’t know what to think of his spray mechanism since he looked like something out of the movie Ghostbusters. One of my front wheelchair caster wheel bearing seized up so I need to tear it down today and fix that so my chair stops veering to the right. I have a lot of other tasks to do from now throughout the week.

I had a lot of fun on the water Saturday boating mith my long time friends the Mobleys. I also did some tubing myself. It was not as difficult getting in and out of the boat or on and off the tube as we were dreading but looking back it’s a good thing I didn’t fall off the tube into the water. While being dragged on the tube by the boat, the tops of my feet dragged in the water behind me and this hyper sensitation caused my legs to go into a continual spasm. Between the legs in a constant spasm and holding my head up to see as I lay on the tube on my belly, it didn’t take long for me to get exhausted. Later that evening after coming home and taking my shower, I sat down on the sofa to watch a NASCAR race on TV and fell asleep mithin minutes. I must have been more exhausted then I thought. I had a lot of fun.

I’m feeling better now with more energy and able to get through a full workout finally. Friday night’s gym workout was really good. I’ve been elevating my legs as high as I can get them from 3-7am so I’m getting some pretty good drainage but they still fill back up by the end of the day. This Friday afternoon I have an appointment to get my hair done so I’m looking forward to seeing my harem again as always. The girls there are all sweet on me which means they’ve got great taste This week it’s forecasted to be in the 100′s. When it gets that hot, I have to wear gloves because within ten minutes of being out in the sun, the rims on my wheelchair get so hot they blister my hands. I’m supposed to start on the landscaping project this week and finish up on the security camera installation. I went to drive my pick-up Saturday night but the batteries were dead. I need to get them on a charger but the batteries are too tall to reach from my chair so it’s going to take some real finagling. I need to get the lift in the bed installed so it can pick the chair up after I transfer and put it into the back. I had to take Bob to the vet on Saturday to have a bad case of ear mites treated and while I was in there, a couple was having a C-Section done on their German Shepherd. I talked to them for a while and they said they’d sell me one of the purebred AKC registered puppies when it reaches eight weeks at a much lower than market value. I’m thinking of getting a female this time but I’m hoping I’m not getting myself in over my head trying to get through the first year puppy stage. That’s the gist of things for now. Last night I had a really good workout on my stim-bike. It seems as if my legs start to poop out after about 17 minutes but I went a full half hour. This time last year I was easily doing an hour. Gotta run to the gym and get a good work out in.