August End of Month Review

I am making a conscious effort to properly document the past month. This is a valuable exercise that forces me to place events in perspective, and helps guide future activity.

August End of Month Review – Walking

Completed 234.38 miles in August for a 2016 yearly total of 1,453.57 miles. Despite the best of intentions, there were seven off days with no recorded walks. This seven day figure for missed walk days has been consistent over the past several months. This month’s walk interruption was due to a persistent cramping in my right calf. This occurred for no reason i.e. it was not a use injury. It continued to be painful and sensitive for three days despite massage, warmth, and rest. My only experience of anything similar was from June 4th to 12th when I had an unexplained shin splint in the right leg. This also persisted over several days.

August End of Month Review – TAQ Process

This has ground to a halt. There are two reasons. Until this month, I believed I was holding up the process, that the Tribunal was waiting for me to complete all my submissions. In a recent communication with the Tribunal Secretariat, I learned they have a case backlog and are still working to complete cases logged in 2014.

The second delay was due to the Condo Association installing new windows. This required the movement of furniture, bookcases, and several mountains of paper. This two day interruption in my TAQ effort was followed by a much needed general clean-up. I have yet to return to the TAQ files.

August End of Month Review – General Observations

The forced break due to the window replacement brought the parlous state of the household into focus. When I engage in the TAQ submission process, all else is subordinated to this effort. When I prepped for the window replacement, I realized the place was a total disaster. The time since has been spent putting everything in order.

The rearrangement required for the window replacement created problems with my established routine. Without fully realizing it, I had created set placements for the phone, my hat, the backpack, and all the other items that go with me on walks. Each of these items had a standard “fixed” location. The location may have been totally unorthodox but it worked for my purposes.

In making preparations for the arrival of the work crew, these locations disappeared. This created great difficulty when departing the house. Objects were not where they should have been, the location no longer existed, I had to undertake lots of confused searches and return to a reliance on lists. Until this disruption, I was unaware of the degree to which I routinized my behaviours.

The concern over CTE / ALS has resulted in a reduced focus. My world has become a place of small details: the plants, kitchen utensils and organization, the sock drawer. This is a big shift from the TAQ work which demands a much greater awareness and is very difficult because of this demand for a greater perspective. My preference would be to forget everything about TAQ and simply focus on organizing the household. This change in focus appears to be bound up with an increased acceptance of the mTBI injury. I have less inclination to fight to recover my prior sense of self and appear more willing to accommodate the actuality of my present circumstance.

August End of Month Review – ALS / CTE

Presented the letter and an appendix to Dr. H. The appendix contained the results of an ALS/CTE diagnostic instrument, a reference to a second diagnostic instrument, and a reference to a scientific paper linking head trauma to an ALS-like disorder.

Not referenced in the appendix submitted to Dr. H, but very helpful and sobering, is a blog written by a Registered Nurse who has had ALS for more than 10 years. This has been very informative but discomforting reading. My sense is that my present focus on the minor day to day details of life has been driven by what I have learned about motor-neuron disease. If I focus on the details, I can push an unwelcome outcome out of mind.

Dr. H will refer me to a neurologist for follow up. This topic is very difficult for me to address. Just in writing the past few paragraphs I have noted a significant change in mood.

August End of Month Review – Garden Therapy

I have a number of observations on the benefits of Garden Therapy. These will be the subject of a future post.

August End of Month Review – Sleep Problems

My sleep log consists of entries dispersed throughout the Accident Log. While I attempt to record the time and duration of all sleep events, I am uncertain as to the consistency or quality of this recording effort. During the period of hot weather I would wake early, spend four cool morning hours in TAQ work, then break at the onset of fatigue and headache. This would be followed by the noon meal and a walk in the forest which was typically cooler and more comfortable than the house. Subsequent to the walk there was a nap followed by an evening meal and then a second work period once the evening cooled off.

Now that temperatures are moderating, I appear to be returning to my prior schedule. This results in retiring at an appropriate hour but then awaking in the night and being unable to return to sleep.

August End of Month Review – House Clean Up

The process associated with Garden Therapy has application to the house clean up. This too will be the subject of a future post.

August End of Month Review – Other Issues

On September 21st I must travel to Montreal for a TAQ hearing. If I decide to take the car then I must recharge and replace the battery.
I have a set of documents that need to be forwarded. At present these are buried under the pile of moved articles. The documents need to be found and transmitted.

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