[nagdu] cane and dog?

[Tamara Smith-Kinney]

Julie,

Glad to hear it!  Tha tyou kept yourself safe and still managed to do what
you needed to do is the important thing.

Meds suck, so I hope you're able to get off them soon and get back to
normal.  I've been trying out a new on the past couple of weeks to cut down
expenses and tide me over until I can afford to finish up with acupuncture.
Now I remember why I'm willing to pay such a huge percentage of my so-called
budget on treatments that actually do work for fibromyalgia -- even if it
takes forever and is not covered by all insurance plans.  I get to start
acupuncture again next week, and the meds have kept me from going downhill,
despite a minor injury (Daisy-related), so that's a big relief.

I've been working on the fibro for the entire time Mitzi's been with me, so
she has had to go through some difficult phases with a completely
out-of-whack handler.  She sends Monty her condolences.  /grin/  What I've
been amazed by is how well she adjusts to off times and then how well she
adjusts again when I reach a plateau and she can just deal with guiding a
stable, well-balanced human.  Sounds like Monty is doing the same thing.

Glad you're doing better!

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Julie J
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2010 11:26 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] cane and dog?

Thanks to everyone who offered suggestions on my dizziness issue.  It is 
resolved for the most part.

I ended up using only Monty.  I didn't have time to purchase a support cane 
and there was definitely not enough time to figure out how to best use it. 
Monty was really great, despite my best efforts to confuse him with my less 
than helpful handling! *smile*

My pain levels were to a level where I was able to decrease the medication 
somewhat, which helped a lot with the dizziness.  I rested when I needed to 
and was able to get help with carrying things.  I took everyone's advice 
about the stairs.  For the first day and a half I used the hand rail and 
heeled Monty.  By the last half of the camp Monty had figured out my new 
stair needs and I was able to hold onto the handle on left and the rail on 
the right to steady myself.  I can't explain the difference in how we used 
to work stairs and how we ended up doing it, but it does feel different and 
much more secure.

The teen leadership camp/retreat thingy was really great!  The kids had a 
good time.  I learned a lot.  Monty was great.  He was accepted with no 
questions or problems.  Everyone was very respectful about not interfering 
or petting, well 99% of the time anyway.   I am very glad I went.

Thanks again for all the help and support.  It means a lot to have people 
you can go to who understand and are there for you.  Hopefully by convention

I will be completely off the medication.  That is my hope anyway.

Thanks!
Julie



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