I Can't Do Sit-Ups

It's a dull day outside, dreary grey clouds passing in a sheet across the landscape, blotting the sun, leaving dampness and chill all round. It's raining. The rain here in southern Alberta is not like the rain in other places. Here the flat-bottomed cloud drift in their ever eastward and southward dance, splish splashing rain mixed with a few snowflakes, some here, some there, wandering on their way like a drunken waitress in a two bit prairie cafe, spilling beer with each turn and twist.

It's a lazy kind of a day, so lazy that when Katherine got here at 2:30 PM I was still laying in bed, reading the news on my phone, drifting in and out of sleep as the moment chose. Even Katherine struggled to rouse me from indolence; it was a full hour before she finally convinced me to get up and get dressed. When finally induced to arise, I found I could not sit up, at least not without using my M-rail.

This is happening more and more of late, where I am laying down on my bed and find myself completely unable to move into a seated position without first rolling on my side and then using something, or someone, to pull myself upwards. The other day I was putting on my compression socks when my hand lost it's grip. In the ensuing counterbalance, I fell backwards onto the bed. There, I tried to sit up, like a normal person would try. I'm not talking about a full blown exercise-worthy sit-up. I mean just sitting up, using whatever muscles I had available. I could not do it.

Instead I rolled over onto my side, reached out for my M-rail, and pulled myself sort of vertical after a couple of tries. I wanted to do something similar after exercises yesterday, but found myself unable to reach the M-rail. So I used the edge of the mattress as a grab point, rolled myself on my side, and finally managed to get to a position where I was near sitting then once again used my M-rail to complete the transition from flopping whale to sitting orangutan. These are my new ALS Yoga poses.

It's clear I can no longer sit up on my own any more. This has been a long time coming. I have already found alternative methods and there will be more to come. It's all a part of this horrible process. But at least I am sitting up now. Oh, and I am having coffee with Bailey's. It's not all bad.