47 Loneliness

3 Deccember 2016

Yes, that's me in the picture on the left but I'm not in bed yet. Bedtime will be about 8:30 pm! I entered "Introvert" as a search in Google and this image caught my immediate attention. About 40 years ago Cheryl gave me a personality questionnaire and I scored maximum on the scale measuring introversion. Cheryl, as you could guess, scored quite high on the opposite scale, extroversion. Well, I guess it's true that opposites attract; she talks, and, I listen!  You may be wondering what this has to do with my health but right now you are reading about a rarity - a lonely introvert!  I love time alone and when Cheryl is away on trips I spend just the right amount of time with friends but bike alone, hike, read books and take photos etc..

Now, much of my day I am sitting connected to a feeding tube. My lungs are weak so going out into the cold air is not good and any physical or social effort quickly exhausts me. What this means is that for my health I am almost in solitary confinement. There are several friends that I would be normally spending much more time with and I miss them and for one of the first times in my life, I feel lonely. Cheryl does her best and often suggests inviting people around but I know my limitations. So, my friends I apologize for not visiting or calling but by next year I should be almost back to my normal introverted self!

It seems that aspiration pneumonia does take a long time to heal and it is frustrating not to see any significant progress each day. But, today I was on the indoor exercise bike for 30 minutes, I did some core and strength exercises and walked (well insulated) around the garden twice. I am also doing OK on my reduced dose of morphine so things aren't so bad.