Scooter used mostly for for outside- author

July 4^th, 2023

It was another day to consider independence and freedom especially for America. Most of us remember that France was our ally. In fact, more Frenchman than American revolutionaries died at the Battle of Lexington. But Spain was aiding France against Britain and Britain was already stressed in in its trade relations with India. In other words, the battle for freedom from British rule directly or indirectly involved other countries as well. We were interdependent in order to achieve our independence and our newly founded nation thereafter required maintaining healthy relations with the world as it was then, just as it does now.

Freedom from Britain was just the beginning of illuminating just what our fledgling nation meant by freedom. Our constitution gives broad definitions concerning the freedom to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” We are well aware of the consequences of vagueness involved in stating that, “all men are created equal,” originally excluding other genders and races in this novel document written by wealthy privileged white men, themselves owners of slaves.

We are witnessing the wish to control the rapid and inevitable changes of our world, by turning back the clock to the formerly well-defined social values of the past. These values happen to favor white culture, especially white men. This endeavor to go backwards for security against change is bound to fail. From breaking the mold of gender identity, the dissolution of old cultural dominance, to the rapid advance of social media, and the much-vaunted progress in the use and potential uses of AI, it is impossible to halt the need for inclusivity to reweave a healthy national fabric. The false picture of demographically white America denies the resources of integrating the new faces, cultures, religions, and skills so essential for our collective future.

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From the national to the personal, I can say that I also am maintaining my independence by becoming more interdependent. My years of MS clearly now show up on my recent MRIs as a large accumulation of lesions in my brain and around my spine. I am losing more and more neurological messaging to my legs and back muscles. I am so very fortunate to turn to my OT and PTs right down the hall from me. My PTs agreed that it is time for me to have an electric wheelchair. I have been overusing my upper body to help me walk with my rollator. My arms and shoulders have been holding me up as my lower body cannot support me for very long. I am overusing them and they are always sore these days. I cannot afford to lose my ability to transfer myself in and out of a wheelchair which requires strong arms to accomplish.

This is the beginning of significant changes to my everyday life. I have been given a loaner electric chair to get used to a joystick maneuvering myself around my room. If only I had the experience of being a gamer! I saw my neurologist this week and he and I agreed that I would not be able to tolerate receiving the chemical infusions available to slow down the progression of my escalating MS lesions. Instead, I will soon begin using a subcutaneous injection of a drug called Kesimpta. It has a 66% chance of doing the job. I am relieved as I knew just leaving Kendal to have the infusions would take a huge toll on me, let alone the likelihood of my hyper reactive body incurring some nasty side effects.

This new drug may also give my body some new grief, but giving myself these injections is something I have done in the past and feel that I can easily stop if needed. After the first three weeks, the injections are once a month. The preloaded syringes will be mailed to me.

As to my personal freedom, even as my body declines, I am as happy, joyful, content, grateful – as I have ever been in my life. I am loving my life every day, even the days of more physical distress. I attribute this to years of supported work on myself, healing past wounds, and the consequential freedom to reframe my identity as I regain wholeness. That is Grace. I am embedded within a deeper consciousness that observes and cherishes my human journey. I feel my place in the impersonal/intimately personal universe is always evolving and I am beyond blessed to have this time in my life for the ensuing freedom of ongoing discovery. May we all find independence based on healthy interdependence. May we all find more and more freedom within while actively supporting more freedom for all Americans.