IntrinsicTina

Today is my sister's birthday. It may well be her last birthday. We should be throwing her a blow-out party...But we're not. We are unable to. She has cancer, multiple myeloma to be precise. And after three years of fighting, coping with chemo and radiation, embracing baldness, and keeping a positive attitude, she appears to be losing the war. Multiple myeloma is a tough row to hoe; it leaches calcium from the bones, weakening them. We found out about the cancer following a sudden and catastrophic spinal fracture out of the blue. One minute she's bundling groceries into our mother's house...CRACK...groceries drop to the porch. Fast forward to today, she sits in a room at the University of Washington Medical Center, recovering from water in the lungs, discovered during the administration of a new drug. She's been given 3 to 6 months to live. There it is. It's been declared. My baby sister, Renee' was wanted. My mother and stepfather wanted another baby ...

Imagine a disease that depletes your muscles so thoroughly that your body collapses on itself, suffocating you. A disease that progresses so swiftly that there is no equilibrium or status quo. A disease with symptoms so diverse that caregivers cannot keep ahead of the declines, putting you at risk (of being killed, not just dying). Imagine a disease that will likely snuff out your dreams, hopes, and bank account, Including that of your surviving spouse. Imagine having no treatment and no cure. Imagine if the unthinkable happened to you. Imagine if you were healthy, non-smoking, non-drinking, cooked low fat, exercised, and were mindful of your environment. Would you feel betrayed to learn that your disease may well have been caused by toxins in products we use day to day? I am outraged!  I watched "the Human Experiment" narrated by Sean Penn and I'm a true believer. Even though the movie did not name ALS as one of the diseases caused by toxic chemicals in our environ...

My new passion is swim aerobics . Yup, that thing that old ladies and fat people do (I am double-qualified or triple, if you count handicapped.)  I love it!!!  With the strength and dexterity in my limbs receding, I have found the thing that gives me back the ability to move my limbs and body more freely (at least whilst in the water).  I was shocked to discover that I can do the high intensity aerobic workout with a few modifications to accommodate the severe weakness and lack of extension to my right hand and arm.  This is great news to me for feeling as healthy as possible as my lungs are as yet unaffected by my disease and this keeps it that way...for awhile. Potential drawbacks were removed as my mother and sister pick me up, help me undress/redress, and drop me back home.  It is also a bonus to be able to do a positive activity as a family that actually helps us all; mom with fibromyalgia, sister with multiple myeloma (cancer), and me with ...