Living with Scleroderma

Reflections on the Messy Complexity of Chronicity

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52 Pick-up

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Sunday was one of those Goldilocks-and-the-Three-Bears kind of September days—not too hot, not too cold. Just right. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, the air had a crisp edge and there was a pleasant breeze. Perfect weather for combining exercise with a fun outing—a mile-and-a-half walk to the annual fall arts-and-crafts street festival in my hometown.

chalk heartAl and I set out around 2:30 with a goal of finding a wedding present for some young friends who are getting married next month. As we walked along shaded streets, he noticed a plastic strap, the kind that binds packing boxes, lying near the curb. He picked it up.

“Please don’t collect any more litter until we’re on our way back,” I said.

“I have a halo,” he said, placing the packing strap around his baseball cap. I had to laugh. We continued on our way.

Al makes a habit of cleaning up litter wherever we go. This used to drive me crazy, but I’ve made my peace with it—just his way of being a good citizen and tending the planet. He’s promised me he won’t pick up cigarette butts or food. And he washes his hands thoroughly when we get home. This is the one piece I insist on, so he doesn’t pick up germs or spread them to my hands.

Soon we reached the street festival and poked around hundreds of booths selling jewelry, photos, ceramics, skirts sewn from recycled T’s, henna painting, candles, soaps, jams, weaving, hand-spun wool, recycled sweater mittens, hand-turned wooden bowls and more. We ran into friends. We watched a fencing exhibition, a West African dance demo, a juggling unicyclist. I stopped to draw with sidewalk chalk. We found a wonderful local artisan whose woodworking we admired for the wedding gift. Al bought a ceramic snail; I found a burgundy fabric purse for evenings out.

On the way back, Al pulled out the plastic shopping bags he’d stuffed in his back pocket and began picking up litter. There was no shortage. Plastic water bottles were abundant. He scooped up soda cans, cigarette cartons, aluminum pastry trays, plastic bottle caps, random bits of paper, nips bottles. I started spotting for him—a plastic bottle stuck in a stone wall, a whisky bottle, lids from drinks. Really, it’s astonishing when you start paying attention, how much trash people toss on the street without thinking about the consequences. I’m sure a cultural anthropologist could draw some interesting conclusions. But, basically, a lot of people are just plain careless.

We moved to the side to let a couple pass us on the sidewalk. “That’s so great that you pick up litter!” said the woman. “Thank you!”

Al just smiled and kept going. He separated recyclables from garbage and emptied one plastic bag in a park garbage can along our way, then refilled the bag as we walked. By the time we got home, he had collected dozens of bottles and cans for our recycling bin and more trash for Monday morning’s pick-up.

I commented that there was hardly any litter on our street. “You’ve probably picked it all up!” I said. Al laughed. He went straight to the bathroom sink and washed his hands with plenty of soap. He’d lost his halo earlier. But, not.

Gotta love him.

Evelyn Herwitz blogs weekly about living fully with chronic disease, the inside of baseballs, turtles and frogs, J.S. Bach, the meaning of life and whatever else she happens to be thinking about at livingwithscleroderma.com.

Hands On

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How did it get to be July, already? With Independence Day behind us, summer is really here. It’s sunny and lovely and warm, and my hands are happy. I’m down to two bandages for my digital ulcers, one on each thumb. Always remarkable this time of year when I can feel with most of my fingertips.

photo-24This has been especially helpful because I’ve been sewing dresses. We’re getting ready for vacation, traveling through Europe to mark our 30th wedding anniversary (last December) and to do some research for a novel I’m writing.

It’s been unseasonably hot there (no complaints from me, although I’m encouraged that the forecast does not include temps upwards of 100 F, which was the case this past week). Dresses, as a friend observed, are easy. You don’t need to figure out what goes with what. Just slip one on, and you’re ready for the day.

One of the great joys of sewing is feeling luscious fabrics as your create your outfit. I’m working on a pattern for a wrap dress, and I found a buttery soft, beautiful rayon matte jersey print to sew.

I’ve learned from many mistakes that it’s best to test the pattern and any alterations first, before risking the good fabric, and I found some black and white cotton jersey in my fabric stash—perfect for experimenting.

So now the test garment is completed, and it looks and fits well enough to take along on the trip. I cut out all the good fabric and began constructing the second version on Sunday. It sews and serges like a dream, and I’m on schedule for finishing before we leave.

Best of all, my hands are fine. Despite whacking one finger on my serger and pricking another with a pin, they feel good as I write. I sew mostly by machine. The serger, which sews, trims and overcasts seams all in one step, is a tremendous help, saving time and extra hand motions. Even though it requires a lot of care when threading (and can be persnickety if I miss a step), it is a real boon. My other essential tool is a good pair of bent-nose tweezers, which helps with all the tiny manipulations I can no longer do with my fingertips.

I was marveling at the fact that my hands aren’t sore after all that work, and then I realized that fewer bandages really do make a difference. I’m so used to having at least four or five fingers wrapped to protect sore ulcers that going bare is full of surprises.

Travel will undoubtedly cause me to revert to more digital protection. I have all my supplies plus antibiotics ready, just in case. But in the meantime, I am savoring the freedom and enjoying the feel of wonderful fabric. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to sew this much, successfully—a real summertime treat.

Evelyn Herwitz blogs weekly about living fully with chronic disease, the inside of baseballs, turtles and frogs, J.S. Bach, the meaning of life and whatever else she happens to be thinking about at livingwithscleroderma.com.

Beta Test

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This summer, I’m in charge of Emily’s fish. He’s a cobalt blue Beta named Stitch, and he lives in a large glass bowl on our living room mantel, our little guest while Em’s away at an internship for her master’s degree program.

So far, I’ve succeeding in keeping him alive. This is remarkable, because when our girls were in grade school and went through a phase of having Betas (notice the plural), at least three of them died in fairly rapid succession.

This may have been due to the fact that we kept the fish bowl on top of the shelving that held our TV, and the water could have overheated. Or, more likely, it may have been due to the fact that I tried to clean the bowl and change the water every so often and probably shocked the poor fish to death.

This time, all I have to do is give Stitch two pellets of food every morning and add a little distilled water to his tank when the level drops by about an inch. Easy enough.

It took me a few tries to figure out how best to give him the pellets. They are very tiny, and I can’t grasp them with my fingers. So I scoop them out of their bag with a plastic spoon. Then I drop them into the water, being very careful not to drop the spoon in the water, too. That would not go over well.

For Stitch, this is the highlight of his day. As soon as I walk over to his tank and say hello (yes, I do talk to him), he swims over and jiggles around, fluttering his translucent blue flippers in what I can only describe as great fishy excitement. He doesn’t always find the pellets right away, so I tap the bowl in the right direction to give him a hint. Then he gulps them down. And swims back to see if I’m going to give him any more.

At this point, I say good bye and walk away, so as not to raise his expectations that there’s more food to come.

Really, it’s amazing how much you can commune with a fish.

I wonder what he’s thinking in his little Beta brain. Clearly, he’s learned how to recognize me, even if he doesn’t have a clue who or what I am, other than his source of food. I wonder if he hears the music on the stereo or the radio. Or our voices when Al and I are talking.

Mostly, he just floats gracefully around in his bowl, up and down, around and around. Sometimes he sleeps. Sometimes he zig zags. Sometimes he flutters. He seems content. Nothing to do, but just be.

I almost forgot to feed him one day last week—trying to do too much in too little time, juggling a lot of projects and family events and other responsibilities. I’m traveling on business again later this week, and I’ve been pushing to finish one thing and another before I go away overnight.

I’ll be sure to say goodbye to our grandfish before I leave (Al’s in charge while I’m away). And try to remember, in the midst of all my busyness, what Stitch does so well—just be.

Evelyn Herwitz blogs weekly about living fully with chronic disease, the inside of baseballs, turtles and frogs, J.S. Bach, the meaning of life and whatever else she happens to be thinking about at livingwithscleroderma.com.

Coat Check

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Would someone please explain to me, when it’s still 50 degrees out, why stores are out of coats? I know it’s the end of April, but we’re far from the dog days of summer here in New England, and I don’t do all my shopping online.

104419903_e9171aaf64I discovered this strange fact of retail seasons over the weekend when I went hunting for a coat to replace my old spring/fall standby, which I’ve worn for at least ten years and is looking its age. I had a simple mission: find a shorter, wool coat that will keep me comfortable during transitional weather. Apparently this is something I should have thought of last August.

When I walked into a local Burlington (formerly Burlington Coat Factory, an off-price retailer specializing in outerwear—where I bought my now-ratty coat a decade ago), I encountered racks of summer shifts and prom dresses and all kinds of sports clothes. But where were the coats?

I asked a sales clerk. She brought me deeper into the store and showed me a few aisles amidst all the other clothes. “It’s the end of our coat season,” she said. “You’ll find the smalls over here.”

Did I mishear? I thanked her and went to look. There was one rack of small coats—including left-over winter jackets, a few raincoats and a collection of picked-over styles that clearly weren’t going anywhere. I walked around to the other side. All mediums. The next row were large and plus sizes. That’s it.

How could this be? I came here because of the coats. It can snow here in April. I know everyone else is running around in shorts and flip-flops because the sun is out, but I’m still cold, dammit!

So I started picking through the rack. I tried on long coats and short coats, designer labels and unknown brands, black, taupe, camel’s hair, red. Nothing looked good. They were either too big or too long in the sleeve or too wide in the back or too tight. Another woman was sifting through the rack, and we commiserated.

I was about to give up my quest when I discovered the clearance rack, with a few smalls mixed in with the rest. And there, hiding between an ugly black wool duffel and another black coat with a garish brash zipper, was a chocolate-brown-wool Calvin Klein trench, mid-thigh. I tried it on. The back didn’t ripple or buckle. The sleeves were roomy and didn’t bind. The pockets were in the right place, easy for my hands. I liked the color and the cut. And it cost only $55. The only drawback was the fact that the sleeves were a bit long, but I figured, at that price, I could always have them altered. Meanwhile, they’d keep my hands warm.

So, I bought it. One of life’s little victories. I’ll be wearing it when the rest of the world is going barelegged, but at least I’ll have style.

Photo Credit: Doug Ellis via Flickr

Evelyn Herwitz blogs weekly about living fully with chronic disease, the inside of baseballs, turtles and frogs, J.S. Bach, the meaning of life and whatever else she happens to be thinking about at livingwithscleroderma.com.

A Dog’s Life

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Last week, on Friday the 13th, we lost our wonderful Ginger. At 16 ½, she had outlived the average Golden Retriever by almost five years. But still, her end came too soon.

It all started when Mindi wrote a grade school report about Goldens. After our first dog died in 1998, she was adamant that if we ever got another, it had to be this breed. About a year later, we began our search, and in October of 2000, we learned of a family that was looking to sell a two-year old, pedigreed Golden.

As Al arrived at the owners’ home, he noticed an electric company truck in their drive. It turned out that the family was behind in their utility payments and about to have their power shut off. So he went to the bank, withdrew $200 to pay their bill and got Ginger in exchange. She jumped in his car and never looked back. That afternoon, Al greeted Mindi and Emily after school with Ginger in tow. At first, they thought he was just holding her for another parent. Needless to say, they were ecstatic to learn she was our new pet.

Neglected by her owners, ten pounds underweight, loaded with fleas (we soon discovered), never spayed, she needed a lot of love and attention. She took refuge under the kitchen table, and that’s where we placed her new bed. But she often liked to sleep on the hardwood floor, perhaps because that’s all she knew before coming to us.

At first, Ginger didn’t have quite enough energy to walk all the way around the block. But as she put on weight and gained strength, she gleamed and grinned. And, despite the former owners’ claim that she would swipe the baby’s meal, she never stole food.

In fact, she never stole anything that I can recall. She never climbed on the dining room table to snarf up a pound cake, like my childhood beagle, Snoopy, nor snatched socks and tissues, like our first dog, Sukki. She never snapped at us, only at dogs that got in her space. She only ran away once, chasing after a skunk on a frigid January night. When Al found her and brought her home, she reeked as she galloped around the house. I don’t recall how many baths it took to remove the scent.

Simply put, Ginger was just a love bug. Hugs and ear-scratches and snuggles were her ambrosia. She adored company and was totally oblivious to social cues from anyone who was skittish around dogs. Any resistance to her sweet face just encouraged her to persist until she got a pat on the head.

The squirrels always got away (thank goodness she never brought dead animals to our door), but she loved the woods. She would race back and forth between Al and me as we hiked, making sure we were both there, then wander a ways to sniff and explore. Her fur, such a beautiful russet, always blended with the fall foliage.

For the past five years, after I was laid off and began my consultancy at home, she was my constant companion. By this time in her life, she had mellowed considerably and was content to sleep, curled up under my desk or next to me in my office as I worked. But come 2:30 in the afternoon, somehow her internal clock would always go off and she would rise to nudge me for a walk, often nosing my hands off the keyboard to get me going. A good thing, for both of us. Those walks always cleared my head and gave us quality time together. I even finally taught her how to heel and not chase other dogs that passed us. Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?

Most of all, she was a loving, comforting presence. We had our own way of communicating. She would let me know what she needed by pacing to and from the desired object—her water bowl, the back door, the kitchen to remind me it was time for pills (in ricotta cheese, of course), the back door again. Whenever I came home, she would always be there to greet me. And whenever I offered a walk, she was ready to go. On Shabbat afternoons, she would curl up nearby while I napped on the couch, and, sometimes, she could still climb up to cuddle next to me.

A hardy girl, she was beloved by her vet, who called Ginger her favorite Golden and always remarked on how she still had such “pep in her step.” But by last year, she was finally beginning to show her age. Arthritis, thyroid issues, weakened sight, loss of hearing in her right ear, lessened smell, confusion—all took their toll. Two weeks ago, she began to have trouble keeping down any food, and after a blood panel, we learned that her liver was failing. I thought she was rallying with medication and new bland food that she loved, but that was wishful thinking.

On Friday, I was writing at the kitchen table before going to the vet for some more anti-nausea meds. I got up to put on my coat and began telling her I’d be back soon, thinking I had let her back inside from her morning rituals, only to realize she wasn’t there. I called for her and looked all over the house, upstairs, the basement, out back, out front, in a total panic. It was as if she had vanished. Finally I clambered through the deep snow in the back yard, following the path she’d carved for herself in the drifts, and found her, collapsed. She was hemorrhaging. Blood stained the snow by her muzzle.

I stumbled back through the snow to get her a blanket, then called Al in hysterics. Thank goodness he could come home from work, because there was no way I could lift her and my fingers were going painfully numb in the frigid weather. He carried her to the car and we took her to the vet, but we knew it was over. She died, peacefully, in loving hands.

Of all the things I learned from Ginger, here’s what I will remember most: Live each moment fully. Be sure to take a nice, long stretch when you wake up. Ask for what you need. Find the good in everyone. And remember that whatever is troubling you, love is the strongest force in the Universe.

Rest in peace, Ginger. You are forever in our hearts.

Evelyn Herwitz blogs weekly about living fully with chronic disease, the inside of baseballs, turtles and frogs, J.S. Bach, the meaning of life and whatever else she happens to be thinking about at livingwithscleroderma.com.