Shower Transfer Bench

This is how I get in the shower!  Versa Transfer system
5 years ago I was in the Vacaville reporter, a local newspaper.  Every Christmas they do a spotlight called "The giving Tree"  They focus on different families, with different needs.  I was given this wonderful gift that really changed my life.
It makes it easier when you don't have a roll in shower.
It's truly wonderful to be able to get into the shower everyday!  I think people take it for granted! 

Last year I was the recipient of the giving tree once again when I got my new van!
Stay tuned for that story!

IHSS Advisory Committee Chair! This is what keeps me busy!

I'm the Chairwoman of the Advisory Committee for Solano Counties In Home Supportive Services and Public Authority.  We put out a newsletter 3 times a year and this year (2011) we added "Always Looking Up - Comments from the Advisory Committee Chair.  This is what I wrote:  I hope everyone had a Happy Holiday Season and are looking forward to a wonderful new year!  I wanted you all to know what the Advisory Committee has been up to in 2010 and tell you what some of ours plans are for 2011.  

First and Foremost, we have been actively involved both at the County and State level, trying to keep provider wages at the current rate.  Provider wages have so far been spared, but consumer hours were cut by 3.6% across the board.  IHSS provider wages are near and dear to my heart - currently I have 5  wonderful providers and it is important to me that all providers receive a living wage!

To advocate on behalf of a living wage for providers, we spoke in front of The Solano County Board of Supervisors, we recently met with Supervisors individually and we met with Assembly member Mariko Yamada in her office at the state Capitol.  We attended a Senate budget hearing when there were talks of cutting provider wage to minimum wage and attended Capitol Action Days in May.

Currently we are in the process of planning this years Spring Conference set for April 20th,   "Simple Lifestyle Changes to keep Moving Forward" and I hope you will all attend!  Keep your eyes open for further information!

Lastly I invite all consumers, providers and family members to attend our Advisory Committee meetings on the third Monday of every month, with a few exceptions.  We meet from 2 - 4 in Fairfield.  We are your voice so we would love to hear from you.

Remember to "Always Look Up" Keep smiling and God Bless!

-Donna Brown

Honesty!

I'm teaching a lesson in church tomorrow on "Honesty"!  What did I learn from preparing this lesson?  I realized that people have so much more respect for you when they know you are a "truth teller" and not a "liar"  Don't ever lie and then you will never be "caught in a lie".  "Honesty is the best policy" 

What a great lesson so much great material I can't wait to teach it to the girls!

What exactly is MS?

I often get asked that question.
MS is an inflammatory disease of the Central Nervous System (CNS) The myelin sheath around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged.   Which leads to scarring in the brain and a broad spectrum of symptoms. 
Everyone with MS experiences different symptoms, depending where the scars are in the brain.  Usually people with  MS have fatigue, sometimes severe.  Most people who live with MS have difficulty in hot temperatures and sometimes have trouble getting warm.  Also muscle spasms seem to be common.   I'll tell you more about my life with MS and how MS affects me in future posts.

I love this song!

I was watching Ellen DeGeneres last week and Bruno Mars was on singing Just the way you are.  The song is so sweet.  I just love it!  I can listen over and over.  I had to download it as soon as I heard it!  To be completely honest I'd never even heard of him. 
I love  Ellen she makes me laugh and her attitude is amazing!  I wanna be on her show some day! 

Always Looking up?

I was being creative when I came up with my Blog title.  Anyone who knows me knows I use a wheelchair, a high tech wheelchair at that!  So therefore because of my positive attitude and the chair "Always looking up" fits me perfectly.  My friend Teri asked me yesterday "is your blog name because you use a wheelchair or because of your outlook on life?"  I said "both" so now I can write about it in my blog.  Thanks Teri!

Letters to Juliet

I watched Letters to Juliet this morning such a cute romantic story about destiny and love.  Of course I'm a sucker for a feel-good romance.  Italy is a beautiful setting for any movie and definitely doesn't let us down here again. 
Amanda Seyfried is the star, but Vanessa Redgrave is certainly a star here as well.   Definitely a chick-flick, but I'm a sucker for those too!  Very refreshing in this day and age to have a PG rated romatic love story.  You should absolutely see this movie, I highly recommend it!

How I use my computer!

I sit in front of my computer, usually my laptop.  I wear glasses so I put a reflective dot in the center of my glasses.  I use a mouse that looks like a camera and with infrared technology called Smartnav/Naturalpoint I can operate my cursor around the screen like a pro!  The camera picks up my head movements, (slight head movements).  There is a toolbar at the top, or wherever you want it on your screen,  called a Dwell clicker.  I select single click, double, drag or right click.  I just dwell slightly like less than a half a second and then I use an on screen keyboard called Click-N-type to type or I can use Dragon naturally speaking voice recognition software.  You customize your natural point to your own needs. 
I LOVE IT!!

And life goes on!

Well it's October already and I realized as we get older time goes by faster and faster!  The holidays are right around the corner! 
Five years ago almost to the day, October 7, 2005, my husband left us!  He kissed me good-bye, dropped our son off at school and hit the road for his new life in Idaho.  It was surprising to me that he could do that.
He left a detailed letter explaining how he had reconnected with a former high school girlfriend and he loved her since he was 15.  WHAT?  Looking back it all fell in to place!  I was so busy trying to figure out how to make things work; I should have seen he already had 1 foot out the door.  This woman had mailed my husband a cell phone so they could speak without me finding out and of course there was e-mail.  He let my son speak to this woman and showed him pictures of what was to be his new family, she had 3 children.  He had asked me earlier in the year to see a counselor with him, a woman we had seen earlier in our marriage (1999) after I had discovered his infidelity.  It was during that session he said he wanted a divorce and was taking our son and moving out of state.  As luck would have it Susan, our counselor, was a children s court advocate and told my husband he could not legally take our son.  This threw a wrench in his plans.  Unfortunately he had been sharing all of his plans with our son since before his 11th birthday he had turned 12 by now and had turned 13 before his father left.  What a horrible burden for such a young child.  My son  left in February of 2007, when he was 14 to live with his father and new step mother.  They were married and divorced in early 2006.  This was more difficult for my son than I knew.  First the two people who came together to create him had moved on, his father to a new relationship and myself struggling to make our life work.  My family and friends were here by my side through it all.  My son was feeling more and more disconnected from us all.
It's been 5 years now and life goes on.  I'm so much better off now.  I miss my son everyday and I'm sorry he is the one who will be permanently scarred by our divorce. 
I am now an advocate in our community for the Elderly and disabled and hope to be an example to others who live with disabilities like Multiple Sclerosis.

Overcoming Adversity!

I think people should decide before challenges happen in their life how they will handle them!  I've made up my mind that I will be positive and keep looking up!  I'm not saying I don't break down at times because at times  a good cry is good for your soul! 
Everyone experiences Adversity during their lifetime!  Some of my challenges and adversity are a little more obvious because I use a wheelchair, but I have had a lot of adversity that's not quite so obvious. I embrace my challenges and adversity because it makes me who I am today. 
This is my journey and my faith will guide me!
There is so much adversity in people's lives mother's losing babies, husbands losing wives too early in life after struggling with illness, families with children addicted to drugs, daughters losing mothers, divorce, cancer or  other disease's, heartache, families unable to conceive so many things.
We learn from all of our experiences in life.  We all need to learn from each of our trials.  Learn and endure!  Never quit and endure to the end!

God loves me!  I know he does and I love him too! 

God doesn't make bad things happen, he just promises he'll be with us when they do!

My baby boy is 18!

Got my license!

My son turned 18 on Sunday!  It's a milestone birthday!  They still need us, but think they don't.  He got his drivers license Monday, would have gotten it on Sunday if that darn DMV would have been open! 
I hope and pray he gets his act together!
I Love that Little Boy!

Food for thought!

I was talking with a friend who also lives with MS.  Kathleen told me she had a quote put on the back of her wheelchair, "This is my cross, what is yours?"  She said no one had approached her yet. 
I was thinking that it was a great way for people to recognize we all have our own "crosses to bear"  some are more visible than others.  You might see someone in a wheelchair, using a walker, cane, crutches, guide dog, sign language and so many other aids that make it seem obvious.  There are so many people who have "silent crosses to bear"  The young couple who are trying to have a baby, someone living with chronic pain, migraines, addiction, maybe someone just lost a child, their Mother, Father, or a close family member or friend.  So much of what happens in our lives hopefully makes us stronger. 
I remember reading in my friends blog awhile ago, her Mother, my friend had passed away.  She was reading someone's blog someone who had lost a baby and the post brought tears to my eyes!
"It has been interesting to just go to the grocery store or be out in public knowing that all the pain I have inside is completely unknown to most people I come in contact with.  There is no outward indication of what is going on in my heart.  As I watch people now, I find myself wondering what they might be experiencing that goes unnoticed to everyone else.  If I can feel such intense heartache and still appear to be functioning normally I wonder what all  these "normal looking" people are thinking about, worrying about what burdens are weighing them down"

Eat Pray Love

I haven't read this book, but I really enjoyed this movie!  I love Julia Roberts and I think she was great in this movie.  I had been wanting to see it since it came out and after seeing some reviews I guess I wasn't expecting too much from it.  I went with my mom and some friends and we all really enjoyed it.

The scenery in this film was stunning.  I loved Italy, the countryside and all the tourist spots were beautiful!  India was awesome as well and Bali was amazing!  I look forward to seeing it again on DVD and hopefully reading the book.  I recommend this movie!

I'm normal!

I'm a mom like so many of you!
I would like to talk a little about "Disability Etiquette"!  There are so many misconceptions about people living with disability! 
I live with Multiple Sclerosis, I was not "stricken" with Multiple Sclerosis!
I use my wheelchair, I'm not confined to it!
Being crippled, retarded, hearing impaired and so many other terms are no longer used..  Disabled, developmentally disabled, deaf are acceptable terms. 
Disability is a natural part of human life.  People with disabilities come from all walks of life!  Those of us living with disabilities contribute to society because of who we are!  We are brave souls determined to live life to it's fullest!
There is a booklet you can download from United spinal.org  Check it out!    Click here 

Heat wave!

We've had a perfect summer, weather wise!  It has been so cool in the evenings we have been able to open the house and it drops to around 60 degrees overnight.  Unusual for summer here!
Today topped off almost 100 degrees!  That's okay though because a typical summer is over 100 several days in a row.  On Saturday my air conditioner never came on.  I was actually "cold" in the early evening!  So you won't hear me complain!!
I can't handle to much heat, most people living with MS don't handle the heat well!  I will just stay in my air conditioned house and keep cool, it won't last forever!

Walking Barefoot in the Sand!

One of the things I miss is "Going Barefoot"!  When I was little, especially living in Spain.  I loved walking on the beach, feeling the sand between my toes, walking in the waves, strolling in the cool grass.  I can still remember how it felt! 

Donna, Living with MS for 21 years

Beautiful Day! There are so many people living with MS!

Hummingbirds!

Hummingbird!

I love hummingbirds, they truly are one of Gods most amazing creations!  I have a hummingbird feeder outside my bedroom window and I love to watch them eat and just hover around the feeder.  Sometimes you'll see two birds chasing each other and then one will come back to feed while the other comes to chase the other away.  It's cute, don't they realize there's room for four.  Sometimes you'll see two feeding together.  I think they're living in the bush near the fence.  I really enjoy them and thank God each and every time I see them!

I am very Blessed!

People often tell me I'm "lucky", but I prefer to think of myself as Blessed! 
Everything happens for a reason!  I believe that, I wouldn't be where I am today if I didn't honestly feel that way!

My wheelchair!

I love my wheelchair because I'm able to control it with slight head movements!  I used to use a chair with a joystick control until I lost the use of my hand.  I "googled" until I found something that would work for me.  Magitek  I love how much freedom it gives me to be just a little independent!  I also love when I'm out and about how people look at me and wonder "how's she driving that?"  Occasionally someone will ask and I just love telling them.  I love it when kids just look and are eager to learn they are always intrigued. 
It also has a tilt control that allows me to tilt back to take the pressure off so I don't get pressure sores.  I'm not napping, I'm just "relieving pressure"!

Free Hugs!

Click here, Free Hugs!

Just Google it!

How often do you "Google" stuff?  Think about it.  How much we depend on the internet to find information, whether important or just something you "Google" out of curiosity!  When I was little my brother and I were lucky enough to have a set of encyclopedias at home so we had that sort of information at our fingertips.  Who would have thought that we would have "Google" at our fingertips today!  What was something you recently "Googled"?

Glee!

Matthew Morrison

One of the shows I love to watch lately is GLEE!  I didn't enjoy it so much the first time I saw it.  I will admit I only watched because Josh Groban played a small part on one of the episodes.  Thanks to my friend Raychel, I am now a huge fan.  Every episode is funny and always emotional.  My favorite character is Will "Shu" played by Matthew Morrison he is a "HOTTIE"  

You should check it out!

He was that little boy...

Eric Jr. age 1 1/2!  Look at that smile!

He was such a cute little boy! 
He was that little boy...
who would sneak in my room in the morning and stand next to the bed and gently tap my arm  until I would open my eyes so he could climb in bed to cuddle!
He was that little boy!
My son who is now 17, soon to be 18!

Anniversary?

I just realized that yesterday would have been my 25th anniversary!  I've been divorced for almost 5 years and I realized now July 28th just comes and goes and I don't think of it! 
It's tough going through a divorce, but I made it!  I know I'm much better off and I'm so much happier now.  The divorce was hardest on my son. 
I'm not sure what my future holds, but I know My Heavenly Father is in control! 

Things you don't say to someone with a disability....

I really should write a book!  "101 things you don't say to someone with a disability" 
I've been a wheelchair user for over 20 years.  I thought I'd heard it all, until someone said to me "I wish I could be like you and just lie around and let people do things for me"  My quick response "You don't mean that, I mean think about it!"  " I'll trade ya"  I really don't mean the last part though! 
I'll keep my own challenges and keep looking up!

Check out this great U2 video posted by the MS Society
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Akx56XL8udw

Just a Nice Guy

I needed more repairs done to my wheelchair. My medical insurance contracts with National Seating and Mobility. I really enjoy the gentleman that comes to my home to do the repairs. He came a couple of weeks ago to assess my lift and while he was here I asked him about problems with my chair. Lately, I've been having trouble making my chair turn to the left. Frequently, while trying to go straight it turns right. I should mention that I use a head control to steer my chair. The nice technician was able to quickly assess that my bearings were shot in the front left wheel. He went to his truck to put an order in for parts. He returned today to replace the parts. He says he really loves his job and I can tell because he's always smiling.

Josh Groban!

Okay!  So I love Josh Groban, anyone who knows me knows that!  I love his voice!  His new album will be out this fall, so there's definitely a concert in my future.

Here goes...

I've been setting up my Blog for a few weeks and I didn't like anything I did so I scrapped it all and we'll start with this for now!