Articles

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Details: Category: Journal; Published on Friday, 06 August 2010 20:17; Written by Nathalie Caron; Hits: 4723

Brian and I are getting ready to go for our long-awaited baseball trip. We are both looking forward to seeing two games between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Tampa Bay Rays, hopefully catch a home run, eat some hot dogs and yell at a few players. Taking the train to Toronto and back, we’ll have plenty of time to fill and plan on playing a while.

I will be starting into Zen Bound 2 on the iPod Touch. The first game was very cool and I had been looking for a basic puzzle game - something without a story or characters that can be picked up for brief interludes. I plan on reviewing it when we return. Read More...

Feeling the Heat

Details: Category: Journal; Published on Monday, 05 July 2010 15:42; Written by Brian J. Papineau; Hits: 3928

While I know to expect a flare up of joint pain and increased frequency and intensity of muscle spasms every year when the weather turns cool, I always seem to forget how hard Summer is on me until it hits me like a ton of bricks.

The onset of the hot and humid weather here in Eastern Ontario brings with it swollen joints and trouble breathing from environmental allergies. I’m not going to lie; the joint pain I feel today is enough to make me cry and something that even my beloved extra strength Motrin can‘t handle.

I know others have it worse and I certainly don’t want to complain, but I find writing it down helps me deal with the worst part of my pain; feeling more “disabled” and unproductive than my relatively mild Palsy could ever make me feel. Read More...

Step it Up

Details: Category: Journal; Published on Wednesday, 14 October 2009 18:37; Written by Brian J. Papineau; Hits: 7913

In an effort to alleviate by back, hip, knee and neck pain, I was fitted for prescription orthotics this week. Maybe fitted isn’t the right term actually. The technician had me walk across an electronic pad that measured the pressure of my steps and this information will be used to mould my inserts, which will take about two weeks.

I learned that I overpronate quite a bit and that I’m placing an unusual amount of pressure on my heels when I shuffle along. Limping around for 30 plus years has certainly taken its toll on my body and I was surprised to learn that the limp is likely caused my weak/paralyzed muscles in my ankle and not a discrepancy in leg length as I had always thought. Read More...

Quality Family Time

Details: Category: Journal; Published on Tuesday, 26 January 2010 19:29; Written by Brian J. Papineau; Hits: 6931

I must admit that I’m rather enjoying playing caregiver to Nathalie so far. We just got her home from getting her wisdom teeth out and she is resting comfortably. I thoroughly enjoyed collecting supplies, getting her antibiotic and pain prescriptions and renting a couple of mindless movies; partly, I guess because I was allowed to pick up a copy of Mass Effect 2 while I was out.

It’s not very often that we buy games for “ourselves” any more since we spend so much on software to review for the site. Nat took a week off and I am too. It’ll not only give me a chance to dive into a game I’ve been seething for, but also to catch up on some backlogged games like Demon’s Souls, Darksiders and after reading a buddy’s blog post earlier, I’m finally going to try and polish off Persona 4. Read More…

Let's Get a Physical

Details: Category: Journal; Published on Wednesday, 14 October 2009 18:31; Written by Brian J. Papineau; Hits: 7373

I’m scheduled to go for a full physical exam this Friday (Aug. 21, 2009), my first in about five years. Frankly, it couldn’t come at a better time. I have been experiencing extreme pain and perceived weakness in my right (good) arm and leg for a while now and am looking forward to seeing a doctor in a non-rushed, walk-in clinic scenario.

Doctors usually just chalk up my pain to the fact that I’ve been limping and shuffling around off-kilter for 30+ years because of my Palsy. While I tend to agree with them, the pain has amplified quite a bit over the last year or so and I’ve had far more numbness and vertigo-like symptoms than ever before in that time. I think I may have one or more pinched nerves in my neck and back. Read More...