I know I’ve gone off about smoking before but I really loathe the stuff. I smoked for nearly 20 years and gave it up a year ago (again). I live in Japan where the stench of smoke is a part of daily life. I read something today that picked up my spirits. This article gives me hope that I don’t have to sue the Japanese government for making me sick from second-hand smoke. It turns out that Japan Tobacco has nearly doubled their profits but sales in Japan has gone down 2.7%. The Japanese government may be able to divest from the company (the Japanese government owns 2/3 of Japan Tobacco) and once that happens there may be more of an effort to promote quitting smoking to the population.
I had a good scare yesterday. Something I won’t forget for a long time. I caught a virus of some sort, a regular bug that caused a fever and stomach nausea. In my case I lost the ability to walk for a day. Woke up the night before at about 4:00 a.m. needing to pee and I found that I couldn’t stand. It seems that the fever from the virus was affecting my MS which was affecting my legs in a severe manner.
My live in girlfriend, Makoto, was so kind and helpful. She was as freaked out as I was but it didn’t stop her from helping me achieve my prime objective, get to the toilet and pee (me not her). I have a desk chair on wheels so her idea, a good one with the fact I outweigh her by 25 kg, was to get my ass into the chair and wheel me to the toilet. It worked fine and I am happy to report that no animals were hurt or killed in the making of this urination. During the day we went to a Japanese hospital and with translation by Makoto I told the doctor to give me steriods. He did and we left shortly afterwards.
I’m feeling much better today with mobility returning but still freaked out. Is this my future? To not walk? I think I can deal with that fact but it would be difficult here in Tokyo. Many train lines in Tokyo have antiquated subway station lacking any means for the disabled to get to a train without getting some person to carry a wheelchair up/down stairs. My apartment is pretty typical where there are elevated floors so the plumbing can connect separate water rooms (shower and toilet) under the floor. I am in the job market now so I have to be careful that the place of work has elevators and a modern train station nearby. I plan to move so I’ll have those new considerations to mind to. All to be ready for the day I get into the chair to stay.
Don’t tell anyone my dirty secret but I have Multiple Sclerosis. Don’t get crazy over the wording of that last statement, it’s a bit of a joke. I live with a disease not well understood by the general population or by the medical community. Even moreso here in Japan where it affects 1 in 10,000 (I may be wrong in that statistic, please correct me).
Hi everyone. Today I decided to disclose something that I find personal. I take my privacy seriously but I will tell just you the secret, you must promrise to keep it to yourself. I am living with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). I was diagnosed way back in 1997 and I have been expiriencing a slow steady decrease in my motor functions. These include a gait in my walk where I need a cane to help me get around, a bit of double vision lately that may or may not go away, some numbness and tingling in my left hand, and a giant horn growing from my forehead. I don’t really mind the horn so much (great at dinner parties) but the rest of the stuff really sucks. It is much worse in the summer and with my luck this has been the hottest summer in Tokyo for many years, eh whatareyougonnado?
I try to be physically active as my love of diving will attest to this fact. Diving is the anti-excersice really. The more work you do the worse the dive (use too much air). I love it but I have run into ignorance like having a dive master ask me after seeing my cane, “What are you gonna do with that?? The correct answer is of course, “Leave it in the boat.? Other things not so annoying but bothersome just the same. I’ll try to post those things here and open up the forums for communication of the topic.
