Living Life In A Wheelchair

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November 2020 Newsletter Edition

The month of November has been very full. I've done the most I am physically capable of in marathon bursts. What I've worked on his been rewarding. As I write this months newsletter I am thinking about how I structure my days and reflecting on what is best for managing my physical disability so I have the best quality of life possible.

My Registered Disability Savings Plan has my attention. This is a very generous program offered by the Federal Government of Canada to help finance disability related expenses in retirement. I have some inheritance money coming that I want to contribute before the end of 2020 to maximize the matching grant component of this particular program. I have requested the particular details on my account to find out what my contribution should be. Then this gets arranged through the local branch of the bank that handles my account.

The new family doctor office is continuing to try to improve my pain control. I've been asked to consider some supplements that has medical evidence to reduce arthritis symptoms. I am finding benefit with the use of oral magnesium bisglycinate and Epson salts. Also I damaged the lock box I keep my medications in and had to purchase a replacement. Finally I have a pesky wart that I am treating. I hope I can get the upper hand on it with freezing followed up by acid treatments. I will be glad when the wart is gone. It has lingered for several months.

With my use of Epson salts I have tweaked the timer settings on my electric hot water heater. I use this as a money saving device. I focus on running the water heating cycles that match my life style. I find myself having really warm baths in the morning and in my bedtime routine to help me stay asleep at night.

I have a hazmat face mask. The hazmat cartridges needed to be replaced. In common English these are the cartridges that filter the air being breathed. The model I use is rated 40 hours. I use this when spray painting, when using lubricants with my power wheelchair and when doing electrical soldering. I am glad I have this piece of equipment to protect my lungs.

The metal roof on my shed is now installed. I am hoping in 2021 to start working towards renovating this into a home office. I need to make the space usable year round. I plan to add Ethernet and insulation. This would give me an optimal physical space for filming my youTube videos. For now my focus has switched to my annual Christmas lights photos. I am starting to take photographs of the Christmas yard decorations from around town. Then I turn these into a photo montage video with me playing Christmas carols on my digital piano. I especially dedicate the video to people who aren't able to get out and see the beauty of the season. I really enjoy working on this project each year.