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Ray Kemble avatar

"Looking forward." Has PN taken that away from me, too?

Neuropathy | Last Active: Jun 30, 2025 | Replies (75)

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Good morning, arcuri24 (@arcuri24)

Like your, all the events of my life can be best explained as pre- or post-PN. In my case, too, events can be related as either pre- or post-sepsis. Until I had my sepsis attack a year ago last April, I'd been doing a pretty good job of forestalling the isolation that too often comes with having a chronic disease. Sepsis changed all that. Sepsis made my balance worse. Along with worsening balance, I allowed myself to become more and more isolated. It was only a month or two ago that I began to take notice of how, whenever I'd call my two voicemails (I'm one of the remaining 11 people on earth who still has a landline 🙂 ), I'd hear "You have no messages." Whoa! What gives? What have I done to myself? What have I allowed to happen? Since then I've been making a concerted effort to keep up with my friends, if not always able to see them, at least having rich, unhurried phone chats.

People at Connect now regard me as a broken record (or, to keep it 2025, a malfunctioning Spotify) because I so often quote choreographer Twyla Tharp's book "Keep It Moving," but something you said recalled something Tharp says:

"As we get older and our bodies enjoy less natural freedom of movement, we tend to take up less space both physically and metaphorically. Here's the end point of this tendency: our backs arch forward, no longer straight and long. Our steps shorten from a stride to a shuffle. Our vision narrows, slowly erasing the periphery, leaving only what's in front of our nose. No wonder we prefer remaining at home, our life lived in fewer and fewer rooms."

That's exactly what had been happening to me –– or what I'd been doing to myself: living my life in fewer and fewer rooms. I'm trying now to fight back. It's not easy, but I'm trying.

Here's wishing to a wonderful day today!
Ray (@ray666)

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Replies to "Good morning, arcuri24 (@arcuri24) Like your, all the events of my life can be best explained..."

I, too, have a land line. I only use my flip cell phone to call for cabs when I am out--which is mostly doctor visits. I am trying to fight back as well. This disease has changed me physically and mentally. I have this anxious, edgy feeling all the time--no doubt due to the methylprednisolone which caused this malady in the first place. I am also coping with physical issues--wobbly legs and feeling of weakness in my hands. You articulate what most of us are feeling. It could be a better day if we had more support or cure.