The Roving Activist’s Blog

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone! It’s 6:15 am, or thereabouts. I haven’t gotten up yet, and really don’t intend to for another couple of hours. The whole famn damily is in bed – me, Lisa, Sammy, and JoJo. Lisa is snoring softly with visions of sugar plums and other holiday stuff in her head. She’s excited about Christmas, so I imagine she’ll be up soon. She’s a large kid like that; its one of the reasons I love her so. Little things make her happy.

Sammy is at my head purring contentedly, and JoJo is at my feet under the covers. It’s cold out, but warm inside. The Christmas tree is up, with presents beneath it, the lights are on, and the stockings are hanging. Lisa and I will make Christmas dinner, and friends will come over to enjoy the day with us. I’m happy that I was able to get Lisa a couple of presents though I’ve not been to work in almost two months. I know that things will work out fine in the end.

I’m still dealing with the effects of the pneumonia – my chest still hurts, and I’m easily winded, so I’ll probably nap and rest a lot today.

I got an early Christmas present on December 18th. Washington, DC mayor Adrian Fenty signed the same-sex marriage bill that passed the city council 11-2. Sure, it’s controversial, but so what! I believe that every loving, consenting adult should have the right to get married if they choose. Check out the story:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/12/18/same.sex.marriage/

Now, it’s up for the 30 day review by Congress, but it is highly unlikely that Congress will overturn this.

What else will I do today? I’ll most likely call my sister and talk with her and my nieces. I’ll also call my mum, my nephew, and a couple of friends.

What do I want for Christmas? World peace. Justice and equal rights. The earth to be taken care of. The Community Choice Act passed, and real, effective implementation and enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act along with an Olmstead plan for every state. Good health and a good life for myself, my family, and friends. Oh, and one more thing – check out my articles at Associated Content. Just in case you forgot, here’s the link:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/691438/anita_cameron.html

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and have a joyful, blessed day!

Arrrgghh! It seems that every time I make a comeback, doggone it if right after, I don’t disappear again! I have been dealing with illness since October. Let me tell you all about it.

It all started during the ADAPT action in Atlanta back in October. That Monday, the 12th, had rains of epic, biblical proportions, but we are ADAPT. As I told one newcomer, paraphrasing the Postman’s Motto, “Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor dark of night will keep ADAPT from doing our duty”. So, of course, we went forth. While some of my ADAPT sisters and brothers suffered the demise of their power wheelchairs due to the effects of the rain, I was hit with the ADAPT Crud, a singularly nasty bug that invades the bodies of ADAPT members either during, or just after an action. I was quite familiar with the Crud from my early days in ADAPT, but hadn’t been visited in almost a decade, so I guess it was my time. It put me down HARD for over a week!

I finally went back to work, but got sick again with a viral upper respiratory infection. This time, I sucked it up and pushed on through because we had really important stuff going on with Governor Paterson’s proposed budget cuts. During this time, I learned that at least two folks had H1N1 (swine flu), and I had been in close contact with them for several hours on more than one occasion. The Albany trip was intense, and I literally wore myself out. I couldn’t even get up the next morning to go to work! When Day 2 arrived, and I was feeling beyond horrible, with fever, vomiting, chills, diarrhea, and mass body aches, I knew it was time to see the doctor. He told me what I didn’t want to hear – that Miss Piggy had come to visit.

Despite taking the Tamiflu, the swine flu persisted, and I wound up in the emergency room suffering from dehydration. Needless to say, during this time, I did not go to work. I was back and forth to the doctor, who told me that the diabetes was why this flu was hanging on. He was worried that I would wind up with pneumonia, but I’d taken a chest x-ray at the hospital, and everything was fine. Yet, I was still sick…

By this time, I hadn’t been to work in a month. Financial pressures sent me back on December 1st, but I didn’t last past three hours. My chest was hurting, and I was finding it difficult to breathe. I still had a fever, even after a month. I went back to the doctor, who told me to be patient, that I was slowly getting better, though he didn’t want me back at work, just yet.

It seemed, however, that I wasn’t getting better, and in some ways, I was getting worse. I went back to the doctor, who listened to my chest, and ordered another chest x-ray. Later that afternoon, I received a called. I had pneumonia.

The doc started me on antibiotics, but they weren’t working, so they started me on another one that covers a broader range of bugs to kill. To be honest, I haven’t seen much change and I am sick as a dog! I have another doctor’s appointment tomorrow, so we’ll see how that goes. I must say that I have never been continuously sick like this in my life, and it is extremely frustrating. Hopefully, I’ll get back to work soon, and in the meantime come around here more often. I miss you all!