Friday, August 29, 2025 – Day 381

Friday, August 29, 2025

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for being here today.

Last night we had dinner with my old IMC work friend—my “work wife”—Terri, and her sister Marilyn. (For those who don’t know, IMC was the company I worked at before it merged with Cargill and became Mosaic.) Terri and I worked side by side for 20 years, so it’s always a treat to reconnect.

Marilyn lives with a rare neurological condition called Transverse Myelitis (TM), which causes inflammation of the spinal cord. In her case, she went to bed one night and woke up the next morning paralyzed in her legs. Imagine the fear of that moment. After two years of therapy, she regained her ability to walk…not fully. She’s not “cured,” but she’s fought her way forward and found ways to live with the disease.

For me, it was a chance to meet Marilyn, hear her story, and learn about her successes with certain treatments. She wasn’t there to hand out advice or tell me what I should be doing for ALS. Instead, it was about listening and gaining perspective. I trust my medical team and their approach, but it never hurts to learn more—especially about other neurological diseases and how people manage them.

The moment that stuck with me most was when Marilyn said: “Walk as long as you can.” Simple, but powerful. She’s right—it would be easy to give in and stay seated all day, especially as walking becomes more of a challenge. That’s why I haven’t brought the power wheelchair into the house yet. I worry that once it’s here, I’ll lean on the convenience and give up the effort it takes to walk.

That said, to my medical team—don’t worry. I’m mindful of energy conservation and use my steps wisely. My limits are real, and I hit them quickly. But for now, I’ll keep pushing myself to “walk as long as I can.”

On a lighter note—or maybe not so light—last night at 2:00 a.m. my bladder decided it was time to get moving. To get up, I had to take off my respirator mask, which is secured with two little clips. They’ve become tricky for my fingers. I must have done something wrong, because the next thing I knew I had the straps in one hand, the mask in the other, and nothing connected to anything. When I tried to go back to sleep without the mask… let’s just say it was a disaster. My breathing lying down is too shallow, and it felt like I was fighting for every bit of air. I toughed it out until 3:00 a.m. before giving up, which means today I’ll be running on fumes.

This respirator has been my single biggest challenge. I need to get the mask adjusted properly, the humidity set just right, and a middle-of-the-night routine figured out for when my bladder sends its urgent wake-up calls.

So if you can’t reach me today, it’s probably because I’m catching a nap. Love you guys! ❤️

Ummm Terri…we forgot to take a photo for the blog…so today I give you Wyatt posing as the Statue of Liberty. Thanks Nikki and Zack for always sending me backup photos.