Since my last update, there has been little change physically, or so I had noticed. I am still in the rental in Tampa.
We continue to move ahead on creating our Florida Hacienda. The place for friends and family to visit and unwind for a little while. We have Identified the architect (The same gentleman who built our home here the last time). As a matter of fact, he is using the same plans to start. We are making some modifications. Bringing it up to the current standards and adding a little space here and there 🙂
We have also, identified the Lot / Location for the home. I may provide pictures, in a future posting, of the construction process. Also since my last update, my Son and Niece have also moved to Florida. We have a Grandson and Grandnieces. All have visited and my son is close enough to drop by every now and then.
Back to a sentence from above. Though I have not noticed any physical improvement, we just had some longtime friends visit. Bill, my friend, noticed, while I was showing him my exercise routine, I actually have made physical improvements in my lower extremities. The improvement he is referring to had gone unnoticed by me until he pointed it out. My legs (Hamstrings) are stronger, allowing me to step over some things I could not have before.
They also noticed my mental acuity is as it always has been! We went out to dinner a few times, which I never would have felt up to before. I have an issue, where after 2pm I start waning as far as energy is concerned. This visit however, I seemed to have more confidence, not that I was not down in energy, but I was able to get around, eat and enjoy their company. I didn’t even have to go directly to bed upon our return. Another thing, I always have rose and still do pretty early and prepare breakfast for everyone. Bacon, Eggs, Toast. Add pancakes the next day, and the even had a taste / meal of my Bar-B-Que Ribs and Chicken. I had made Patt her favorite cake, Carrot Cake.
Yes, I am more comfortable moving around on my scooter, but it doesn’t define me. I love to cook and will continue to do so, thank goodness. So yes, though I had to stop being an IT Manager due to MS, where I loved to mentor and show my employees, they are better than they think, I still assist others in every way possible.
Thanks to the HSCT Procedure, I can still do this. Yay Me! I say this to stress, MS is simply a disease, it is not who I am. I have spent 58yrs defining me. MS is not it.
Until next time my friends. Love You
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FEB
2018
About the Author:
A little about myself: I was born Carl Levon Jones in Conway hospital in 1959 to Hazel Elizabeth Jones. I am the third of four children. My mother never married. This today would be normal but in the old days, it was different. Maybe it was the beginning of the change in view. I was raised by my grandparents from the age of 1 when we moved to Maryland. My mother was still a big part of my life, as she and a few sisters had moved to New York to try to make a living instead of the depressed south. I lived and grew up with my grandparents, brother and sister and cousins until I entered the military at 19 years of age. I spent 12 years in the Army learning to be an electronics technician, just to have computers take over the industry. I, therefore, had to relearn electronics with computers being the main focus. No, I am not talking Windows and Microsoft, but Fortran and different flavors of UNIX creating GUIs. I rose through the IT Field from the bottom, to be a Manager at different DOD Contractors. I was married to my wife, Patt in 1981. We have been together ever since, 38yrs. We had one son, Carl Levon Jones II the following year while still serving in the military. I am a man who believes strongly in family and relatives. I am as close to Patt’s family as I am to my own. Closer in some cases. Unfortunately, my rise in IT was interrupted when I contracted the Autoimmune Disease, Multiple Sclerosis in 2012, diagnosed in 2013. I had to leave work in late 2014. I have been dealing with the nerve damage(Neurological) the disease caused. I went to Clinica Ruiz in Puebla, Mexico for a procedure called Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT). It is not offered for my type of MS PPMS in the United States. A battle we have been fighting for some time now. This Blog is about my; MS Journey, my thoughts (Poetry) throughout the years, my experiences and my friends and family (Photo Gallery). Hopefully, this Blog will help at least one person in their decision to conquer the MS Beast, and help to get this procedure available in the United States and covered by the Insurance we pay so much for.