May Update and Wedding Plans

Well, the good ole' MS has been acting up a bit over the last month or so. A full blown exacerbation seems to have hit me fairly hard. The Dr. sent in the Home Health Care nurse for some steroid IV's for 5 days last week. Seems to be working fairly well. Sometimes my increased energy level due to the steroids makes me feel like a genuine 'whirling dervish'. Other times I seem to wear down and wilt like a flower in dry summer heat. I have a follow-up MRI and another Dr. appt. this Friday. There we will be not only looking at the progress of the disease but evaluating the effects of the steroids. At least there hasn't been a significant weight gain this time. My wife has been having to play nursemaid and attend to the IV's. She does very well, although it makes her somewhat nervous. A lot of responsibility has been thrust on her because of the effects of my MS, and I can only envision that it may get much worse in the future. Not a nice thought, so I tend to push it away for the time being. We're making plans for her to get used to comfortably handling the Segway because in the future I may find myself in some position where she will need to bring it to me (like at a hospital, etc.).

Any of our immediate travel plans have been put on hold due to the upcoming June wedding of our youngest, Cynthia, to Tracy Bruno. I am indeed getting another very fine son-in-law. Lucky me. Another educator will be entering the family also, as Tracy is currently an Assistant Principal at a middle school in Nashville, TN. This makes an old man like me very happy. This also completes the makeup of the Pruitt family's' chosen professions, what with everyone serving public education either as a teacher, retired teacher, or similarly a retired or working school administrator. Makes for some nice converstions around the family table.

We had been trying to figure out what role the Segway was going to play in the wedding. I truly felt bad at not being able to 'walk' down the aisle with Cynthia, but reality sometimes bites one hard in the tail and I do realize that this is not possible. My foolish pride is still keeping me out of a wheelchair and I do recognize that this is her day and I don't want to steal the attention away from her (besides, I figured her wedding dress might get all messed up with Segway tire tracks emboldened on it - not good), so, we worked out a plan by which Mike (son-in-law No. 1) will walk her down the aisle and give her to me down front (where I will have already Segwayed down behind my wife and be waiting using a cane for support), and henceforth I will be able to 'give her away' in the traditional sense. One extra little caveat - I'm still trying to figure out at the end of the recessional if I'll do a donut with the Segway as we exit. My happiness might just push me over the edge. I haven't told them (wife and daughter - because I can just picture their startled reaction) and I figure I'll probably have to 'pay the piper' and get fussed at after the wedding, but it just might be worth the fun I could have - We'll see. Stay tuned! Hey, lifes not fun if you can't laugh.