I will leave existing writings up for archival purposes, especially since an insane number of fans of Yao Defen as well as amputee devotees seem to like dropping by here. And who knows, I may feel like writing again in the future, although I would not count it. For those curious as to what is going on with me, my flickr is usually up to date.

Anyway, thanks for reading.

I have about three more weeks of on-site rehab to do and then I should be able to do most of it as an out-patient. I have started walking a bit with my prosthesis, about 30 minutes or so a day, and they have been having me do various simulations, like walking outside, walking up a hill, walking up and down stairs (although there is just no way they will ever be able to simulate the broken-down stairs I have here), etc. The objective is to get me, at the very least, to the same point I was in terms of mobility and autonomy before I broke my hip. We are also working on adjustments to the prosthesis because, by inserting that titanium rod in my femur, the doctor straightened my thigh. This has resulted in my leg being over a half inch longer as well as having a very different alignment.

Finally, I am happy to report I am still smoke-free. It has been 37 days since my last cigarette and I must admit that I am very pleased with myself. Although, to be honest, it was actually very easy. Of course, I have been tempted a few times but the urge was fleeting. I think the radical change in context is what has helped the most.

Anyway, for those who are curious, I have been taking a few photos of my experience (although never with as much zeal as the first time around).

Happy Hallowe’en everyone!

I think part of it is obviously the fact that I am still healing, my body is still working on things and it indeed has a lot of stuff to take care of. And of course, I am also dealing with a lot of stress. Not to mention low blood pressure which is something new. The other part of it is, I think, that I have not smoked a cigarette since the accident (which is hardly surprising, what with being unable to move much for the first week or so, let alone get out of bed and go outside to have a smoke). Every time I have tried to quit smoking, it has had a similar effect on me, i.e. being tired and practically stoned, although never quite so intense.

So I have decided to try to stick with it. I do not know if I will succeed because although the physical withdrawal is pretty much over, it really is the psychological withdrawal that is the hardest and the longest to deal with. But I am going to try because I have been hoping to quit smoking for a good while and, ironically, this seems like the perfect opportunity.

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So yeah, I broke my hip September 24th, as evidenced here. As y’all can imagine, breaking one’s hip is not fun. It is actually quite traumatic not to mention very, very painful. And going through this a second time does not really make it any easier. Well, except maybe for being able to deal more adequately with the amazing amount of bureaucracy one has to contend with despite being in a rather bad way.

Of course, on a personal level, this whole thing has me stressed out because it has, once again, put my life on hold. Besides the inescapable fact that I have a lot of work to do, the truth is things were finally starting to make sense for me. I felt like, four years after breaking my hip the first time, things had finally, for the most part, gotten back on track (because it may not be obvious but breaking a hip is a very disruptive thing). And then BANG!, I break my hip. Again.

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I found it funny because while I was out walking around looking for a decent restaurant with a nice atmosphere to have supper in my neighbourhood that would actually be open on a Monday night (I eventually gave up and ordered in Chinese, which ended up being pretty good), I was stopped by a young man on a street corner who asked me what was wrong with me. Needless to say I was thoroughly annoyed but I will get to that in a minute.

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Yes. I actually used a freaking contraction in the written English language for the first time, to the best of my knowledge, in more than four years.

So y’all are probably thinking, euh, wtf?! And yeah, I know, I know, wtf!

But whatever. This is an important and disconcerting, euh, quelque chose.

PS. “y’all” does not count.

Je ne sais pas trop pourquoi ; l’hiver cette année n’a pas été particulièrement difficile, du moins en ce qui concerne la température. Mais, pour une raison qui m’échappe en ce moment, l’arrivée du printemps m’a fait sourire, comme ce souvenir éternel de ressentir le souffle chaud du soleil sur ma peau, d’entendre les bruits nocturnes de Montréal filtrer au travers la fenêtre ouverte de ma chambre, de sentir le parfum floral des parterres et balcons dans la fraîcheur d’une fin de soirée de mai, de laisser cette première gorgée d’un mojito absolument glacé couler doucement le long de mon œsophage et atterrir, avec un léger fracas, dans mon estomac.

Évidemment, vers la fin de juillet, je vais commencer à me plaindre [discrètement] qu’il fait trop chaud, qu’il y a trop de guêpes à Montréal et vivement l’automne ! Et rendu à la fin d’août, j’imagine que vous ne pourrez sans doute plus me blairer.

Mais d’ici-là, comme on dit en anglais, there is no time like the present.

Déjà qu’on qualifie un fauteuil roulant de « véhicule » pose problème. Un moyen de locomotion, certes, mais pas du tout dans la même veine que des autos, motos, vélos, etc. Certains compareront un fauteuil roulant à des jambes ce qui se rapproche un peu plus de la réalité mais encore là, je trouve que l’analogie est pauvre. Simplement, cela représente un moyen pour certaines personnes handicapées de se déplacer, de bénéficier de plus d’autonomie et il n’y a vraiment rien qui puisse s’y comparer.

Certains groupes de personnes handicapées ont dénoncé cette mesure; il paraît qu’il y en a qui seraient même prêts à interpeller la Commission des droits de la personne s’il le faut et je leur souhaite merde. Mais la réalité est que la communauté est partagée. Sans doute le fait que la plupart des gens qui travaille dans le milieu et qui représente les intérêts des personnes handicapées n’est pas handicapé y est pour quelque chose…

Je ne me lancerai pas dans des longs argumentaires parce que, de toute manière, les chialeurs à l’origine de cette mesure discriminatoire s’en foutent et j’ai d’autre chose à faire que de perdre mon temps à essayer de convaincre des gens qui ne pigent pas. Mais je me permettrai de dire « tassez-vous calice au lieu de rester plantés là à nous dévisager ou à vous imaginer que vous êtes tout seul sur la planète ». Déjà ça, ça règlerait bien des problèmes.

Mais bon, si on se permet de limiter la vitesse à laquelle on peut se déplacer en fauteuil roulant, eh bien moi j’exige qu’on oblige les fabricants de vélos, skates, patin à roulettes et compagnie de limiter leur vitesse à 10 km/h. Car après tout, tout compte fait, ces « véhicules » sont beaucoup plus nuisibles à la santé de tous ces pauvres bipèdes.

Comme on dit en anglais, « fair is fair ».

PS. traduction googlienne de « tassez-vous calice »  : « pack your chalice ». Trop mourant.

PS2. Un article sur la question sur le blogue de Parole Citoyenne signé par Pierrot Péladeau qui explique infiniment mieux que moi la sournoise gravité de ce geste.

I have boxes and boxes that I have to go through and I have not really looked in them in a very, very long time. I usually just store everything in a spare closet from move to move, thinking that I will get around to it… eventually… and then totally forget about it until the next move. But because this apartment has NO STORAGE SPACE, I have no choice now. I have some serious “decluttering” to do.

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