Thanks friends for all your comments. First of all I am VERY grateful to have the use of both hands and all fingers. When I came out of my coma I couldn't lift my hands. Things gradually got better and I had a lot of occupational therapy and played with putty a lot. I hadn't knit in years so taught myself all over again. (PS: you can do it Vi)

The knitting has been therapy for me both physically and emotionally. My ribs are better and I'm hoping to start exercise later this week. I did 10 min on the recumbent bike yesterday and did a few arm free weights (2#) ... so it's a start. I have to remember to rest every 10 min or so ; when I am energized I can get on a roll and forget to rest!

So much for being a type A personality which doesn't exist any more but is still trying. A really good book is "Strong at the Broken Places" by Richard M Cohen about 5 people with different chronic illnesses and how they all cope. Richard himself has MS. A sentence I read about Denise who has ALS which hit me is "Test the illusion of normalcy and Watch Out if you do. Anything can happen, anytime, any place. More to the point, Denise had been trying to do too much at one time and without backup". That is exactly what I have experienced and I know I need to look at my condition realistically and deep-six the illusion.

It's cold in Tucson - 40 degrees - snowed in the mountains - who would have thunk!!

Leah