This really happened. I woke up a few weeks ago with a very clear conviction that I needed to find a naturopath. I've never been to a naturopath in all these years of butting heads with "regular" medicine. I've tried acupuncture (helpful for a while) and therapeutic touch (helpful only if someone who really loves you does it), meditation and hypnosis. But not a naturopath. I'm not sure, but I think the reason is that I was put off by the cost. Not that a naturopath is typically more expensive than an M.D., but until recently, having their fees covered by insurance was usually not an option. Then there are all those supplements and homeopathic "remedies" and other unkowns. Whatever the reasons, I had no idea where to find a naturopath but I was pretty clear I needed to do exactly that.

As it happened, that is the morning two friends stopped by on their way out of town and I asked them if either one knew a naturopath. Jenny offered that indeed she did and it just so happened that this wonderful practitioner was having an Open House at her office the following day. Perfect! It was a lovely Open House and the doctor was happy to chat with me. Did she know much about post-polio? Was she interested in it? Not a great deal but yes, she'd be intersted in learning more. The conversation boiled down to my description of a recent episode of what I have termed a "massive muscle Shut-down" and my discomfort with the conclusion determined by the M.D. I saw. That conclusion was that fainting happens sometimes for unknown reasons and the muscle fatigue that rendered me non-functional in most of my voluntary muscles for several hours after I had regained conciousness must be post-polio. Dr. DiGasparis had a different perspective. There had to be a reason for the fainting and there had to be a mechanism that linked the profound muscle malfunction to post-polio -if indeed that malfunction was caused by this nebulous condition. I found myself feeling hopeful and excited. Maybe there would be some answers that would make me feel more comfortable about the upcoming trip to England. Since the episode mentioned above was the third and most severe round of "muscle shut-down" and occurred on an airplane ready for take-off and since it ended up in a very expensive ambulance ride to visit to avery expensive emergency room, I have been feeling a little timid about getting on a plane alone for an 8 hour flight in a couple of months.

So here's a question. Are other Post-Polio Land dwellers experiencing acute "massive muscle-shutdowns" and what do you suppose the mechanism is? Or... any other ideas of what may be going on? Meanwhile, I've had an initial assessment visit with Dr. DiGasparis which was amazingly different from any assessment I've ever had in the past.

The weather has been truly awesome. (That poor word has been terribly abused and flung around carelessly by the younger set the last number of years but it's still a good word when used appropriately.) What it means here in Seattle to me is that it is the time to garden. The humble, tiny blue forget-me-nots are fading. The rhodies have made their appearance and are on their way stage left for a stunning exit while the irises come trouping across the stages of both front and back gardens in an extravaganza of color. I'm not sure who put those dazzling yellow giants front and center where they have no choice but to be seen against the wild raspberry color of our house but the effect is less than ideal. On the other hand, they look lovely with the nearby purples and my favorite all time iris, "Sweeter Than Wine" is in beautiful bloom so all is well. I'm still working on the concept of the word "win" having a different meaning.