Stiff Neck

This past week has been a stiff one in the quad life. I have had more time to sit and take in my surroundings as a result.

On one of my forums recently, someone asked if anyone had noticed muscle stiffness and spasticity increase with age. I am leaning toward yes with the past few months.

After sitting in one place for a while, I expect to be stiff when starting to move again. Sometimes just an arm will twitch, other times my neck will become like cement and I can only move my eyes. The most fun is when legs and arms fly and and then my neck gets stiff afterward. The result is I end up sitting wherever I am and have to wait until everything loosens up.

On Wednesday, I had a few things I needed to get so my assistant and I headed to Walmart. Getting up in my chair, I was a little jumpy, but not bad. After arriving at our destination though, I could tell it would be a long trip. Every tiny bump in the cement or just going down an aisle I would tighten up and have to sit for 30-60 seconds before moving again. My body was acting like it was winter and I was wearing shoes and not liking cold temps. Unfortunately, being barefoot and not sitting on wrinkles wasn't helping.

Thursday was my first day to volunteer at the Iowa State Fair. The first hour went well, but as my morning meds wore off the stiffness started to return. I had gospel tracts under one hand that I had people pull out as I talked with them. Thankfully, nobody got kicked, but I had a few strange looks as to why I was talking strange sometimes and not moving my head.

Hopefully something is just being irritated and this phase will pass. I'm scheduled to be at the fair again this week and it would be great if I could be a little more mobile. Whatever happens, I'm thankful I can still get out and be active. As long as I'm not in the middle of the road, being stuck in one place for a while lets me see more of what's around me. I'll see what this week brings and go with what I'm given.