My last blog entry is dated September 11, 2015. I broke my rule to post at least every 3 weeks. Instead, I enjoyed a wonderful, liberating trip to the west coast of the USA. So maybe my readers (and my Google reader) will forgive me.
I flew from Paris to Seattle on Icelandair via Reykavik. I was stressed and exhausted, not fully recovered from the summer shingle’s attack. It took me 3 days to arrive in Bellingham near the Canadian border where my mother and sister live. ( It appears I’ve gotten the MS “attacks” more or less under control by keeping the fluids flowing, so instead, this latest stress attack, was a zona (shingles).) I should accept that I am fragile and just stop whatever I’m doing rather than steam ahead into a breakdown.)
Anyway, I spent over 2 weeks in Bellingham (with a 2 day side trip south to Seattle. I showed my younger brother and his wife where I swam across Lake Washington when I was 18 – at least a 3 km crossing.) I “hiked” in the forest near Mt. Baker, I walked along Puget Sound at Birch Bay, I visited my childhood beaches. My old friends all rallied to see me and help me visit my childhood home and environment.
Then I flew to Northern California to enjoy a summer sun again – wine country near Healdsburg and then San Francisco. The summer shingles crisis had really weakened my legs because I had stopped walking regularly. On the trip I gradually built up my strength and ended by walking a great deal. (Yes, I used the wheelchair service in the airports. No way could I have walked all those distances, especially with a carry on valise.) The Tennessee Williams quote “I have always counted on the kindness of strangers” (I may not have the exact words but you get the idea) applied to me wonderfully on this trip. People WERE kind and so helpful.
I returned to Seattle again. A visit with the daughter of my ballet mistress I had not seen for 35 years. Then a drive to Olympic National Park which my grandfather Preston Macy helped create in the 1930s. Then to Tacoma for a last visit with my College friend and her husband (with a short visit to their beach house – views on Puget Sound and Mt. Rainier.)
I’ve decided to establish an American Salon in Paris with the following rules:
- No one monopolizes the conversation.
- Everyone has the right to speak.
- No interruptions.
During my absence the site MS Cure Enigmas.net lost it’s ranking. My brother didn’t believe that anyone at Google actually reads what I write, but I told him that once a pro-drug “reader” picked out the one sentence in the middle of the post which negated my general thesis. (So I removed the sentence.) In general I would say I have had excellent Google “readers”. I don’t know who decides what, how any of this works. But I hope when someone types in “MS Cure”, MS Cure Enigmas.net will appear at the top because I believe MSers need the information. (In the USA it’s a hopeless situation. Big Drug Money rules, everywhere. )
So, I will be getting back into the swing of things. This long absence will allow me to revise the site with a fresh eye. And the trip has freed me from succumbing to the negative attitude that I can’t do this or that. My husband opposed my trip, saying I couldn’t possibly do what I set out to do given my health. I said I was leaving, I had friends everywhere who would help me get around, and would be delighted to see me. (I spent 5 weeks talking – and listening -non stop which in itself is tiring.) Actually, it’s just that CAN DO attitude which is the force of Americans. It’s my force and I’m not going to let it weaken again. (Too bad the US elites have been trashing the world. The people – certainly on the West Coast - are actually generous and friendly, but the big money elites are despicable. MSers should remember that before being suckered into treatments which may not be in their best interest.)
Tags: Multiple Sclerosis, MS treatment, Dr. Zamboni, CCSVI, Matt Embry, Joan Beal, Michael Flanagan, Preston Macy
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