Iowa Hawkeye Football

Over 30 years ago the Hawkeye football team went 1 – 10. The next year they were winless with 11 losses. Iowa football was horrible. A few years later Hayden Fry came on board and I expected more of the same. Amazingly turn the program around and they became not just a good team but often a national power. When he retired I was afraid the good days were over. I was wrong.
Ferenz had a few “not so great year” s but I think he is the best type of coach Iowa could get and retain. He has some really good years. He Is not looking to move up in the coaching ranks so that we worry about them leaving every year he does good. Now the team is 12 – 0. To me this is amazing. If they keep winning great if not this is been an amazing year.

Trigeminal Neuralgia Update

I had a doctor appointment Monday to discuss trigeminal neuralgia and its ongoing problems. One of the medications had side effects that did not work with my MS. Another one prescribed did not help the pain. The doctor had mentioned I was on a very low dose of Gabapentin, the first medication I was on.

The result of the visit is that I have a much higher dose of gabapentin now and it seems to help with the pain with very little side effects. The only side effect is a little bit of sleepiness but not much. It has not totally eliminated the pain. Before gabapentin the pain was a 8 to 12 on a 10 point scale. I say 12 because the pain was beyond anything I imagine possible. We used to have a very old-school dentist and he would often drill after the Novocain wore off. The pain with trigeminal neurology was beyond the pain I experienced from that!

Now the pain is from a three to an eight. It seems to be decreasing as the higher dose has longer time to work. I’m hoping the pain is taken care of soon. If not the pain is tolerable now but not ideal. It hurts when I drink anything. It also hurts when I talk. Sometimes it doesn’t hurt at all. Last night I had almost no pain while I slept.

My primary care physician Dr. Roof, is going to contact my neurologist and discussed options for the future. I had read on the Internet there are couple procedures that somehow kill the nerve and relieves the pain permanently. The doctors are going to discuss it and see which way to go. Hopefully the Gabapentin will work enough in the interim.

Busy Weekend

Well since I have MS I suppose I should mention it once in a while on my blog. Friday was a busy day. Had a doctor’s appointment, went out to lunch and then there were some taxing hygiene activities to deal with later that day. The trip to the doctor included a few hundred yard drive in my wheelchair. This really taxed my right hand capacity. So at the end of the night I was having serious problems driving my chair.

I could go forward fairly easy. Backwards was okay. Pulling my right hand to the left was fairly easy but going to the right my hand kept slipping off the joystick. I had one beer with lunch and my wife said “the beer probably caused problems”. I said "no way", but in the back of my mind I needed to find out if she was right. I don’t drink much but I do love the taste of beer. Dark beers, Ambers, and Browns are my favorite.

I decided the next time I had a beer or two (two is about the maximum) I would see if that caused my problems driving. Saturday we went to listen to our nephew at a local barbecue spot. I had a couple beers and found my hand worked as well as could be expected. My conclusion is that one or two beers is not a problem. The difficulty was from a fairly abnormal amount of activities on that Friday.

We had a great time Saturday evening. I was glad to get out and find out for sure what my capacities are again. This is how the disease works on the mind. There is always a constant assessment, reassessment and adaptation to deal with this ever-changing disease.

Revelation Chapter 22

To finish up some of my thoughts on revelation I will discuss the last few verses in the book.
“Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keeps the sayings of the prophecy of this book. And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that hears say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
He which testifies these things says, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”
Revelation 22:7, 10, 17, 20 KJV

I see a promise in these verses that in a sense open up the entire book. It says it is a blessing to keep the sayings of this book. So it is a book of blessing not terror. How many times did Jesus or his angels say “fear not”. I’ve been told that if you’re afraid it surely is not of God. Fear is used by the enemy of our souls to make us not trust our God.

I think we “keep the sayings” by having the attitude that is shown in the very last verse. We know there is a day coming. Actually a moment coming where this world will pass from the condition it is in right now and the world will fall under God’s judgment. We don’t know when this will be but there is a cut off time and date that God knows. When we think of all of our relatives and friends who don’t know Jesus we want that date to be further away. We love these people and we want them to be in heaven with Jesus. This concern would make us ask God to withhold his judgment. But the last portion says “surely I come quickly”. In our hearts we say “Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus”. The attitude I see in these verses is that we long for HIS coming and know that his judgment is true and holy.

Revelation Chapter 21

What I see and enjoy in Revelation chapter 21 is that it is a chapter that leads into the “eternal state”. After all the trials and tribulations seen in the previous books here we are with a new heaven and new earth. God is with man. No more pain, the former things are passed away!

John is told to write these words and that is far benefit and edification. I particularly enjoy the phrase “I’m Alpha and Omega”. In the Gospel of John chapter 1 the Word is there at the creation and now we find the same one at the end of all things, the Omega.

“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.” Revelation 21:1-6

 

Revelation chapters 4 – 20

I got to the end of the book of Revelation Tuesday. Chapters 4 – 20 deal with the coming judgment upon the earth when Christ returns. I think most people have some knowledge of Armageddon and the coming judgment. I think most people have heard of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. I was no different and I knew a few things and found them unsettling to say the least.

I started working at LeFebure in the late 70s and I worked with a man named Lonnie. Lonnie was knowledgeable about many things. He told me of the coming judgment and Armageddon. After that, anytime I read about fighting in the Middle East or terrorism against Israel I was filled with fear. I thought Armageddon was coming and I knew I was not prepared. I had no idea how to become prepared. Neither did Lonnie.

A few years later I started reading the Bible and the chapters in Revelation that pertained to the coming judgment were terrifying. I knew I was not prepared. I was in this condition for a number of years. I came to the Savior when I was 25 years old. I learned then that I would be spared from this wrath to come. See Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 10. At the bottom of my blog there is a page that has my Christian testimony. Pop down there if you want to read it.
So I had mentioned previous to this post that Revelation was three parts. Up to chapter 3 are the “things which are”. Chapters 4 through 20 I believe are “the things which shall be hereafter;” Revelation 1:19 KJV
“After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.” Revelation 4:1 KJV

I feel very inadequate writing these things about this book. I know so little and advise you to find ministry to further study this book. What I find in chapters 4 through 20 would terrify me if I did not know the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior. Paul wrote “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men;  2 Corinthians 5:11 KJV. My personal testimony is that you can find peace in knowing Jesus and I agree with Paul, I persuade you to seek the Lord while he may be found!

Video Test – Strange Problem

I added a video yesterday to my blog. It was a movie taken with my iPad so I was afraid there would be problems playing it on a PC. Surprisingly it runs fine on my PC but does not show up on my iPad. This seems so strange. I really don’t understand how computers do stuff anymore. Back in the DOS days I sort of understood but things have changed so much that I don’t really follow anymore. I just click on stuff and hope it works.
Let me know if you have problems dealing the video and what type of device you tried it on.

video test– beast mode

 I spent yesterday's capacity trying to load a video. Today I realized that wasn't a video that I was trying to load. Here's the video. It is of Macy in what I call beast mode. She doesn't like her paws touched. you may notice when I scratch her chin or ears she is fine. When my hand drifts down to her chest. or paws it's a beast mode! Even in this she does not really bite but just puts her teeth on my hand. I have had to quit playing like this because I can't get my hand away without her teeth catching on my skin. I really enjoy when she tips her head back and bears her teeth. Such a fierce creature!‭‭‭‭‭‭‭‭‬‬

Speech Recognition:

I was recently asked “how did you add a lengthy posting to your blog”. The person who asked knows that I have almost zero capacity to type. He also knows speaking is difficult for me. I told him I used speech recognition software on my PC. I will attempt to explain how I benefit and some of the difficulties.

My iPad and my iPhone both have Siri enabled. The bottom line on Siri is that is not very useful for people in my condition. One is required to hold the home button down to enact Siri. Siri is not very smart and misunderstands almost everything said. One annoying example is that I will ask it to open Kindle, and e-book software. I know I don’t speak the best but Siri hears open Kendall. Then Siri tells me I have no application named that and do I want to look for it in the app store. Now I am stuck with Siri open and I must hit the button again to close Siri.

In one recent iOS update one feature was added for Siri. You are supposed to be able to engage Siri by saying to the device “Hey Siri… And then the request”. You also must have the device on a power cable at the time for it to work. I have an iPad on a swingarm and it is plugged into power all the time. Unfortunately the hey Siri feature only works about half the time. I end up yelling at my iPad and still no Siri. Sometimes it engages hey Siri for no apparent reason. Again when Siri engages I must push the home button to disengage. I have tried saying cancel Siri but that does not work. Siri also seems pretty touchy. When Siri functions incorrectly I mutter things like “stupid Siri”. Of course Siri hears this and expresses hurt feelings. Poor Siri!

So the answer the question of how I add to my blog – is that I use my PC, Microsoft Word and a speech recognition software named Dragon Naturally Speaking. I acquired a newer PC earlier this year so that I could open a blog. The software works much much better than Siri. The biggest advantage in the software is that I can correct mistakes in spelling and grammar. It still requires that I noticed them so some make it into my “writing”. As I learned to use this software I can dictate in Microsoft Word almost totally hands-free. I tell the software to correct a certain word and it brings up a list of words that I may want to substitute. If my word is not on the list I can say “spell that” and I can tell it letter by letter how to spell the word I want. This makes it so much more functional than speech recognition on my Apple devices.

I transcribe my blog posts in Microsoft Word. That I am able to do a few voice commands to copy my writing. I can then open my blog manually and paste in what I have written. I can add the title by voice but it won’t capitalize things correctly. I must do that in Microsoft Word, then cut it from my file and then paste it into the heading. Same thing when I share it on Facebook. If I don’t cut and paste then there are no capitals. Some days I have the strength to correct this and other days I just let it ride.

My only complaint about the software Dragon Naturally Speaking is that – I thought when I purchased the latest version it would be smart enough that I could run my PC hands-free. This is not turned out to be the case. I can still control the mouse and mouse clicking by voice but I can’t say commands and have it actuate them. When I was still working I used Windows XP and added a previous version of Dragon Naturally Speaking. I could control and dictate to any Microsoft product and it would understand the menu commands as they spoke them.

This current version with Windows 8 does not function as well. Strangely the voice commands work a little bit in Facebook. I can say mouse commands and things like page up page down. All of a sudden though this function ceases in the Facebook app and I must use the mouse pad on the PC. I can only do this for short while. My pointer finger just quits responding and curls up. If I rest for a while it will come back for short periods of time like to close my PC and shut it down.

With all this technology it seems to me that the speech recognition software and the PC would work better now than it two years ago. I’m afraid Dragon software is going direction where they want to be useful for specific industries like medical transcription. Their development for disabled people seems to have gone away. Oh well, is it is what it is and I find I can still function better than I could without it.

New Capability:

I have a tablet holder made for a car mount. It is attached to my little table I use in the living room. My friend Bruce modified it so that it swings out of the way when I use my PC. Now I have a similar one and Bruce modified it so I can use it on my wheelchair. My son Matt added Velcro so that I can Velcro my phone to the tablet holder. I can now take pictures with my phone. These are a few photos from Sunday. If you look close you can see the tablet mounts I mentioned.

One of my wife’s sister’s brought her grandson, Carson over to visit. He also brought Lucy the cute little doggie. Carson had his Davy Crockett, raccoon skin hat with him. It was a short visit but I was so glad to see them.

I hope to be able to add pictures that I can take and possibly videos. I haven’t tried adding a video so I hope it goes as easy as adding photos.

Paris – Cowardly Attacks

Yesterday I watched on the news about the terror attacks in Paris. I have thought of little else. I find I have so many thoughts and emotions perhaps documenting them may help me sort them out.

The people who perpetrated these acts knew they were going to die on suicide missions. These fools think themselves as warriors for mighty cause. They are not. The press speculated that they had military training. That does not make them warriors! If they had training, they used it to mercilessly kill unarmed, unaware and innocent people; they are not warriors. These perpetrators have believed lies! There is no war that warriors wage that includes these cowardly acts. All I can say is fools of fools fools!

Their handlers and enablers are sitting back chuckling and high-fiving each other over all the press these acts are providing. They believe it furthers their cause and it probably does resonate within a certain group of disaffected slightly mad people. Again these handlers and instigators are not warriors.
ISIL and Al Qaeda are also organizations that attack military targets. While I disagree with their methods and goals in this capacity they are combatants in war. Their terror activities are beyond reprehensible and are disgusting. They bring shame upon the entire Arab and Islamic world.

I’m also somewhat distressed by the way the media is covering this. I understand the need to report it but this non-ending coverage is just what the terrorists want. They want to see the fear. They want to see the stadium emptied in the soccer game stopped. I feel it is just too much coverage that may spur further terrorist attempts.

The media keeps mentioning that they were sophisticated attacks and coordinated. One official corrected them and said that they were complicated but not sophisticated. They were neither complicated nor sophisticated. They were thugs with military equipment shooting those totally unable to defend themselves in any way. I am completely disabled. Their “victory” is the equivalent of coming into my home and attacking me when I cannot defend myself in the slightest. There is no glory in these acts. If they think there is they are ABSOLUTELY WRONG on all counts!

Hebrews Chapter 2 – some thoughts

“Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with diverse miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?”
Hebrews 2:1-4

Earlier this week I was enjoying Hebrews chapter 2. These verses stood out to me. Of note is the verse containing “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation” Truly God is love but God is also just and righteous. God’s holiness and love uniting in Christ’s work on the cross. All the work was done for us and offered freely to “whosoever will”. With this in mind the author asked the question “How shall we escape”. It is a rhetorical question in the answer is obvious, we cannot escape. God’s provision of Christ on the cross is the only way to escape.

When I first became a Christian one of the verses I memorized was John 5:24. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that hears my word, and believes on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life”.

Of note is that it is written in the present tense. Hearing and believing yields everlasting life immediately. It is not after I die and the good and the bad are weighed against each other. If that were the case I would have no escape! Another verse that ties in with this theme is ““Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men;” 2 Corinthians 5:11 KJV

I see a lot of political and moral topics discussed on TV and in social media. All of these pale in comparison to the question of "what will you do with Jesus?

Trigeminal Neuralgia update

Yesterday I shared some of the problems I’ve been having. I wanted to report that today when I woke up my right arm and hand were very close to being back to functionality. As much as I had a week ago. Now I can log on to my PC and do most things with my iPad. I appreciate your prayers and thoughts.

I still have a fairly significant amount of pain in my cheek and jaw. For some reason it gets worse at night. Usually it fades during the day after I started eating. Today it hasn’t gone away after I got up like it has previous. The pain is tolerable but hurts every time I talk, eat or drink. I’m hoping with continued use of the new medication this will be more manageable. I see the doctor the 23^rd as a follow-up.

Hopefully I can post more on my blog. As soon as I was going to use it this morning Macy got in my lap and prevented me. She ran off later because she saw leaves blowing around. We think she thinks they are little birds. Silly kitty

trigeminal neuralgia two

I tried a new medication for my trigeminal neuralgia pain. I don’t remember what was called but it really messed up my MS. I felt hot all the time and overall very weak and sleepy. My spasms were worse and my right hand was curled up in a ball most of the time. Very difficult to run an iPad or PC without at least one finger. I called the doctor Monday.

They called back that afternoon. One choice was to increase the dosage of gabapentin. They chose to switch me to an alternate painkiller. It happened to be one I took a year ago for neck pain. I started taking that yesterday. Pain is still there but the side effects are much easier to deal with. So far I don’t notice any side effects.

Please continue to pray for me. My right hand is come back a little bit but not like I needed to be. I required my son to log on to my PC so I could post this. Thank you so much.

Trigeminal Neuralgia

Around a year ago I started having a strange pain in my mouth and jaw on the right side of my face. As time went on it increased in severity. The pain felt like an electric shock. Sometimes it felt like a 9 V battery shocking my jaw or cheek. Sometimes the pain would linger and sometimes it would be intermittent. Sometimes it pulsed. The pain progressed and started to feel like a shock from an electrical outlet. It followed the same pattern of lingering, intermittent or pulsing. Sometimes the pain was so terrible I could only tuck my head down and wait for it to pass. At these times any contact of my cheek on my teeth would set it off. Pulling my cheek away with my hand or tongue did not help. The contact from my hand or tongue would increase the pain. I assumed I had some type of sore my mouth and that it would go away.

This did not happen, so earlier this year I went to my primary care doctor. He was out and so an Associate doctor saw me. He poked around and said that I needed to see a specialist. We were surprised at how quick he was to wash his hands of the issue. We then went to the specialist he recommended. The specialist looked around also and found no obvious source. He prescribed a lidocaine based mouthwash called “magic mouthwash”. He said the type of pain I had a normally referred people to an Iowa City dentist that he knew. I’m not sure why I went to him as a specialist.

The mouthwash helped a little bit but not for long periods of time. I kept using it more and more and still the pain was there most of the time. So I called my doctor back. I needed an opinion from my actual doctor, Dr. John Roof. He has been indispensable as my MS is progressed. I’ve been disappointed by my neurologist and look to Dr. Roof almost entirely now.

Dr. Roof researched the issue and prescribed Gabapentin for the paint. About the same time I went to the dentist to get their opinion. She said Gabapentin was what she would recommend. She thought I had a condition called Trigeminal Neuralgia. I came home and looked it up online. I found this condition was obviously what I had. I’m not sure what the first doctor or the specialist were thinking. I am a layman and it was obvious that I had Trigeminal Neuralgia. The gabapentin helps for about six months. After that the pain started coming back.

I called the doctor again to report the pain. They increase the dosage. That helped a little but the pain still lingered. I called again to ask what the next step is. I got an actual call from my doctor that afternoon. I just think the world of Dr. Roof. How many times do you get to actually speak to a doctor on the phone? He suggested either an increase in Gabapentin or a new medication. The new medication is actually anti-seizure medication that is found to be effective for my condition. I have a pretty good supply of Gabapentin. I could always go back to it so I decided to try the new medication.

I’m on the second day of taking it. I’m still taking Gabapentin and decreasing the dosage each day, tapering off. The new medication I have to ramp up from a small dose to a little higher does each day. Right now the pain is nowhere near as bad. I still have a lingering pain in my cheek. It is more of a pain than a feeling of electric shock. I consider this a big improvement and hope for continuation. If you are a praying person please pray for me. Thank you!

Facebook memory – five years ago

This picture showed up on Facebook this morning. It says it was from five years ago. Seems like just yesterday. I think this was the last time I went out in a kayak. My son Dan, paddled me around the Wapsi River on a gorgeous cool fall day. I think it was in the 40s that day and very breezy. Thank you Dan for the memories.

I’m so blessed to have three wonderful sons. They each care for me in different ways and I’m glad for everything each of them does.

MS Symptoms

At the bottom of this blog there is a page that discusses the progression of my disease. Feel free to read it if you have time. Today I wanted to mention some of the cognitive problems I have been facing lately due to MS. Fortunately these have been very late coming.

As an example I woke up this morning and it took me literally five minutes to decide if it was Thursday, Friday or Saturday. After some time I concluded it was Thursday. Then for some reason I kept thinking it was Wednesday until I open my iPad and saw it was Thursday. Not really a big deal but it shows some of the issues that come with MS. I know age has some effect but this is above and beyond that.

At night, when I am in bed, I think of many things to post on my blog. The next day I can remember none of them. I need to start making a note in my iPad or iPhone when I think of these things so I have them the next day. I want to make my blog somewhat interesting so people will read it. Mostly it is just an outlet for me. Gives me something to strive for each day and I feel a sense of accomplishment when I add something to it. It is an extra blessing when I see that other people have read.

Today I added information to my profile. Now I am pretty please with myself. I can muster up about an hours worth of PC time before my right hand curls up in a ball. Then I can no longer use the mouse pad. Then it's tilt back and rest. after an hour of holding my head up to speak into the microphone my neck is very sore and needs rest.

The Book of Revelation

Recently I’ve been reading the book of Revelation. Many people find this book difficult and intimidating. I am one of those people. Years ago I read ministry about revelation and that made it a lot clearer at the time. Unfortunately I don’t remember much that and so I am back to being not very sure. I do remember there was a verse in the first chapter that delineates what follows into three parts.

This is the verse: “Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;” Revelation 1:19 KJV

So I see the book broke out into three sections. What John has seen, the things which are, and things which will be afterwards. The letters to the churches seem clear enough. I have read that they are prophetic in relation to the church on earth. The first ones follow the early church historically. The last ones continue until the Lord's return. In all of these there is reward for personal faithfulness regardless of the outward condition of the professing church. Jesus said behold I stand at the door knock if any man open to me I will come in to him. There is always a call to the individual. Answering that call is faith.

When he gets to the part about beasts, elders and angels with vials I must admit I am out of my element. What I do get from these chapters is that those with faith who follow the Lamb will be rewarded. Those who oppose the Lamb will face tribulation as no one has ever faced on earth. It is so bad men cry out to the mountains to cover them so that the Lamb cannot find them.

I can’t say I have a very firm grasp on revelation. As I put these thoughts down they seem pretty feeble. I may write more on Revelation as I get to the end of the book.

health insurance

 

Just to balance out some of the things I posted about health insurance I should mention there have been some positive outcomes. When it is something in the normal course of healthcare like injuries or when I had my bladder stone and infection, insurance has been fine. It is in the nonstandard things like my MS condition brings up that health insurance falls down. They’re supposed to be the experts and make all the rules but they don’t know anything about my disease. It adds a level of frustration.

You Gotta Be Kidding Me – ESPN College Football

Most days I turned the TV on after Matt goes to work near 2:00 PM. I have ESPN sports on around that time. There is a college football report and I find it pretty ridiculous. Ever since they started the football playoff of four teams, that’s all those knuckleheads can talk about! All they talk about is undefeated teams and whether they’ll make the four team playoff. The other subject is whether one loss Alabama can make the playoffs!

That’s all they talk about anymore. They seem to have missed what was awesome about college football was all the different levels teams could achieve that were significant. They could win their division. They could win their conference. They could when the rivalry games. They could win their bowl games. They could qualify for a bowl game. These guys seem to have missed all the other opportunities college football provides.

All they talk about is the four team playoff and then they show commercials for other games that aren’t for teams that can make the playoffs. I don’t understand why they think I would want to watch those games after the only thing they think is important is the four team playoff! When this show comes on I now mute the TV and either read or transcribe to my PC. Thanks ESPN for giving me something better to do than listen to your drivel!