Inspiration

Shawna Coronado's Front Yard

This is not my photo, but I wanted to be sure I always had it handy for inspiration.  This photo serves as the powerful concluding comments to a Garden Rant post.  Not only is the photo an inspiration and serving to fuel my creative juices for tackling more of our front yard, the subject of the post is also inspirational.

Actually, maybe I better be careful here.  I hate going to PT or the gym, or anyplace physically about; have strange people come up to tell me what an inspiration I am.  I don't want to be an inspiration, I just want to be relatively healthy and semi-mobile.  And I would appreciate much more if we didn't have to buy my mobility aids ourselves.  Insurance be damned.

BDD*, we had very good insurance.  Excellent in fact.  Thank heavens for a least one small thing in our favor through this whole mess.  The thing is, our insurance is through hubs very small company.  And because of some loophole or something or another, the year of the drunk driver, the fact that we were an outlying state from the base of the very small company, we had very excellent coverage.  So excellent in fact that I think my medical bills that year were a drastic loss to the carrier.  So, they promptly closed the loop and raised the small company premiums in the triple digit percentages.

Very small company insurance broker went shopping.  I had to complete reams of paperwork over and over.  Company switched to UHC.  I've come to hate this company with a passion.  Pulled them in with excellent rate quotes the first year and then the second year raised the rates to match what excellent company prior had been raised to.  I shudder every year when I do our tax return at the amount we pay in insurance premiums.  Then the amount we pay over and beyond the premiums for the direct medical expenses we pay that UHC will not cover.

Oh, you need special braces in your shoe for an ankle issue?  Too bad, we don't cover that.   Oh?  You have a skin issue caused by aggravation from a knee brace?  Sorry, we've determined this lotion is cosmetic use only and it is not covered.  Like I care about cosmetic issues on legs that have umpteen ga-billion scars.

As I sit here today with my good leg immobilized and ponder the question - do I call the surgeon?  I know he will prescribe PT - and we just can't afford it.  The state program where we are not suppose to have to make an co-payments?  The one that requires the insurance carrier to cover any of my out of pocket expenses?  The victims of felony programs?  Well - UHC is such big sh*ts, they can just choose to ignore that rule.  And expect me to pay $20 for each PT visit; but only up to 24 per year.  Excuse me?  If I go in for surgery again; I'm looking at 6 - 9 months of recovery.   Sadly, I've proven I am not to be trusted to my own devices in the recovery arena because I tend to overdo physically.

Sigh.

But, lets talk positive thoughts.  Yes, I bungled my good knee up somehow; but given the condition of my knees; we know it is just a matter of time before we have to start looking at knee replacement.  In the mean time, I need to do the most I can to preserve and strengthen what I have.

Riding a stationary bike is boring.  Boring I say.  Rumbo on crutches?  I suspect not.

I've always enjoyed gardening, and enjoyed the physical exertion and interaction with nature.  Post BDD, it seemed kind of pointless to go out and work and toil in flower gardens.  Then, I got the bug to tackle food gardens.

What FUN.  Fun I say with a bold capital F.

Food Garden Fun Benefits

- improved mobility from repetitive walking on uneven surfaces
- improved balance from repetitive out of the ordinary movement
- significant reduction in vertigo
- weight loss
- muscle gain
- better self image
- a feeling of peace with myself when I'm out in the garden
- good eats from the garden
- we are eating more greens and healthier meals
- I suspect at my next annual physical I'll be able to reduce some of my meds

Lets talk about those meds just a moment; I take medication to lower my blood pressure and to balance my mental state.  Also, my cholesterol was high but I didn't want to start on meds for that.  It is a bit of a vicious circle I am in.  I cope with constant pain; that wears on me mentally and according to the doctor -  chronic pain and the co-conspirator chronic sleep issues contributes significantly to raised blood pressure.  Impaired mobility contributes to high blood pressure and high cholesterol.  Impaired mobility wears on me constantly and mentally.  A vicious circle.

I am going to get up from this chair; hoist myself on two crutches and hobble out to harvest lunch.  And relish in sunshine, fresh air and the cycle of life.  Food for the soul.  Then we will have food for our belly's.  Ripe and fresh from the garden, exploding in a rainbow of mind blowing flavors and nutrients for the body.  Full of life from our garden.


*BDD - Before Drunk Driver