Pinot grigio!

For probably 7 or 8 years I have had a personal motto:  "I can drink or I can walk, but I can't do both."

I have always chosen option B: walking.  Boring, responsible me.  After breaking my ankle in 2004 trying to ice skate (DON'T ASK!), I became a firm believer in avoiding any activity that might ever put me back in that situation.  So far, so good.

Since my Liberation adventure began, I have had a dramatic reduction in the spasticity in my legs.  That has allowed me to reduce the amount of Baclofen I take each day.  To you lucky spasticity-free readers, Baclofen is a muscle relaxant that allows  people like me the ability to walk smoothly, and not be mistaken for Frankenstein.

I used to take 20mg of Baclofen four times a day.   For the past six months or so, I have been able take only 20mg in the morning, and 10mg at bedtime.  What that means is that I am pretty much drug free for my entire afternoon and evening!  This wonderful change in my body chemistry has allowed me the pleasure of a half a glass of wine with dinner, or a (weak) margarita if I want it.

I am no lush I assure you, in fact my husband tells me that I'm a cheap date!  I'm not drinking anywhere near enough to put me in any danger of returning to the plaster cast days of my past.  But being able to toast a friend's birthday with real wine, which I had the good fortune to do on Saturday, is a delicious treat!

So while today's installment of my occasionally meaningful blog is pretty lite, little things do mean a lot!  The rest of my life is humming along nicely.  I am getting ready to run some errands, then meet two wonderful friends for a belated birthday lunch.

I type these words so easily, but I don't know if I will ever take any of what I tell you for granted.  I don't know that I ever want to!  I'm running errands, then meeting friends for lunch?  Really?  Less than a year ago I might as well have said, "I'm off to climb Mt. Everest, then write a quick best seller!"  Virtually impossible.

I haven't said it lately, so it certainly bears repeating, "Thank you Drs. Zamboni and Haskal."

You have made my life exponentially better with your respective wisdom and clinical expertise.