Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Feeling a little stronger

Yesterday was an exhausting day, and I ended up taking a long nap during much of the late afternoon/early evening. I was coughing continuously and it really wore me out. But I'm coughing a lot less today and definitely feeling stronger. In a little while I'm going to take a shower, so I can spend all of tomorrow resting until it's time to get dressed to go out to the MAMH (Massachusetts Association for Mental Health) event.

When we left the hotel the other day, a little piece fell off the scooter and Marty was concerned that it wouldn't run, so this morning he got it out of the car and set it up and in fact it wouldn't turn on. We called the company and got someone who talked him through where the little piece (it was a fuse) went, and it's running fine. It would be a disaster if we needed it tomorrow and it wasn't working.

I can feel my heart working harder and harder as I struggle more with my breathing. I can see that, even on a day like today where I feel somewhat better, the general trend is downward. But I'm still able to do things that remind me of my old life. I wrote greetings that were read to attendees at two different conferences (in New York and Virginia)--the original idea was to make videotapes but I never got that together. My friend Betty just sent me a bunch of interview questions for a magazine article, about women and mental health, that I will try to work on in the next few days. And I want to give some thoughts to the brief remarks I will make at the ceremony tomorrow. All these things remind me that I am something besides an invalid.

1 comment:

  1. From the perspective of a fan and a friend, you are not an invalid, but an inspiration. It was so good to see you looking gorgeous last night--beautiful outfit, painted toenails, acerbic observations and all--I was very sorry to have missed your speech to all the people at the drug tables at the MAMH conference, but look forward to hearing about it. I don't know what it takes out of you in exhaustion, but you were beautiful last night, and an uplift and shining star to all of us. Thanks for being there, and thanks for the work of the last thirty-five years--

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