Health is complicated

Health is complicated for many of us humans. There are bacteria, viruses, cancers, allergies etc. ready to affect the smooth functioning of our bodies and brains.

Dorothy, my wife, has serious dementia and knows so little of what has happened to her. I, however, can feel the full effects of any viruses, my bone cancer, and my mysterious Grover’s Disease. The latter is a skin disease attacking men middle aged and over, and causing unbearable itchiness on the back, chest, under the arms and down the sides even to the crutch. Mine is also affecting my neck and head. It keeps you awake at night and makes lying in bed, a continuous nightmare without resorting to sleeping tablets which are usually semi-effective. Dermatologists know little about Grover’s Disease and are unsure how to treat it. It may go away if I can recover so well from my recent operation to pin my left femur and give me back more strength. That will mean I can spend less time in bed.

Others go through much more with their disabilities so I shouldn’t complain; and anyway I have known since September that I had only a year or so to live. But it is not easy and as I write the tears fill my eyes. I am so not the person I used to be — shattered beyond repair, a write-off. Even writing has become a burden. My blog posts will dry up, but please remember Rob’a Write as he was some of the time during his past.