Keeping spirits up is our No. 1 challenge – or it is for me, anyway, and I suspect it is for you, too. It has been hard for me to accept changes over which I have little or no control, An example: last evening, at the end of dinner, my partner said, "I have to bring the trash barrels in off the roadway" - a silly little domestic chore in the past I would have volunteered to do, but I can no longer walk safely across the rough ground between the house and the road, not in the thin light of early evening So I remained at the table and, for a split second, thought, "How helpless I am!" Fortunately, that split second passed and I quickly salvaged my somewhat bruised pride. That's why I say for me keeping spirits up is my No. 1 challenge.

Regarding PN, canes, and feeling prematurely "old," I've recently had to undergo a much-needed attitude adjustment. Some here have seen my posts in which I've told of succumbing to sepsis or a stubborn blood infection that sapped my legs of much of their strength. At rehab, it was suggested I use a walker. Now, don't get me wrong, walkers are great, as are canes. But the first few times going up and down the rehab corridor using a walker, I caught myself thinking, "Oh, how I miss those good ol' days when all I needed was a cane!" 🙂 –Ray (@ray666)