Herman Munster Ain't Got Nothin' On Me

Okay, so I’m walking through Wal-Mart (an adventure for anyone on a good day), and I start off pretty well. I’m able to heel-toe walk like a typical human being. But, the further I go toward the electronics section(which is obviously located furthest away from the front door) the more I get that overwhelming fatigue in my hips.

I decide to keep going.

Maybe it’ll pass. Maybe it’s not going to get any worse than this. I can tough it out. Heh, heh. Nope…nice try, buckaroo, but that’s not how the game is played.

You get tired, you sit down…period. There is no “pushing through.” That leads to bad, sometimes comical things. The wife and I like to call it my “bag of random tricks.” I may knock something, or someone over, may stumble and fall myself, drag my foot (which leads to the lurch forward, like I’m drunk), or, and this is the best: the Herman Munster walk. That is awesome! It’s Halloween everyday! Imagine looking like Uncle Fester and walking like Frankenstein…no weird looks from anyone, then, huh?

Oh, and the tremors are even better. Give me a whisk and a stainless steel bowl and I’m a human Kitchen-Aid. I’m probably one of the only people who can create merengue without an electric mixer.

It’s okay…laugh! I am! This disease is what it is. Things happen to everyone. Nobody gets out of this world alive, much less unscathed. Yes, this disease sucks, but there is nothing more I can do to change it than what I’m doing. So, I decided to have fun with it the best I can!

*Laugh at the things that are funny. Walking like Herman Munster, I’m sorry, is funny.

*Keep a positive attitude about the things that aren’t funny (the pain, for example). It WILL pass. And, it usually comes from over-doing it, and I can be thankful for what I was able to do.

*Remember, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Maybe not physically, but emotionally, mentally and spiritually. But you have to be willing to take the experiences and LEARN from them, not just chalk them up to chance and something to be ignored.

*Try not to hurt yourself…easier said than done. Especially when you’re not the one pushing the wheelchair. Not going into detail, but I thought I’d lay that out there.

*And, finally, don’t let your condition define you. I am Aaron Taylor, and I have CIDP. I am NOT CIDP. It is a part of my life but it is NOT who I am. I will take it and use it the same way that I use anything that God has given me: as a gift and an opportunity.

“Are you nuts? A gift?”  Heck yeah! I’ve learned more about the nervous and immune systems in the recent past than I ever knew, before. I’ve learned about medications that I never knew existed (that’s awesome for us nurses). I’ve met so many new friends through support groups that I would never have had the blessing to meet, otherwise. And, to me this is the most important, I get to help others. I get to be a support to someone else, and maybe help make this a little more tolerable for them as they go through this.

So, next time you’re in the Corydon Wal-Mart…watch out. You just might get run over by Herman Munster.