Astrologer, published author, conference presenter, world traveler, founder & editor of Crone Chronicles: A Journal of Conscious Aging (1989-2001) , and founding visionary of Green Acres Permaculture Village (2010 to present).
I notice that when I segue in any way to my 58-year-old son Colin’s healing journey, I don’t get nearly as much interest!
Hmmm . . . wonder why.
That’s ok. I’m not writing this blog to please others.
Here goes again, another huge 24 hour period for him. From caringbridge:
Colin relayed something to me this morning that I find very “exciting,” though I shouldn’t use that word, as you will soon realize . . .
He said he was watching a Superbowl from the past last night, actually the third time he had watched it. Why? Because, he points out, thanks to all the drugs, his short term memory is temporarily disturbed —so he doesn’t remember watching them. Result? Each one is new, each time!
Okay, this particular Superbowl is a very famous one, between the Atlanta Falcons and the New England Patriots (remember, he spent most of his life in the Boston area). It was the end of the third quarter and the Patriots were down 23 to 8. And then, in the fourth quarter they pulled out in front and won! It was the largest come-from-behind that the Superbowl has ever had.
Now, for Colin, it’s always exciting (cue the word above), very exciting, that fourth quarter . . . and the excitement, of course, revs up his nerve pain tremendously. So what he does is switch back and forth between the exciting game and something that calms him. Like Kenny of all Trades (see youtube), the adventures of a truck camper who lives in Minnesota. So he did that last night, switching back and forth.
They didn’t bring him his meds at the usual hour (new nurse), so he was up until 11 pm, which he appreciated because it meant that rather than falling asleep at 8 PM, and waking up for endless hours without coffee at 2 AM, he slept through until 6 AM. So this inadvertent mistake helped adjust his sleep schedule back to somewhat normal.
So, after the game was over, he once again, pulled out his pad and pencil and continued drawing out his latest invention. (Please realize that, given that he’s drawing in bed, the quality and precision aren’t up to his usual standards.)
Then, when he woke up at 6 AM, he pulled out his pad and pencil and did the same thing. BTW: he’s very good at drawing in 3D; something he taught himself to do. Which means he does not need CAD. Very unusual in that way. (His brother Sean was drawing in 3D as a child, but over the years gradually returned to “normal.”)
At this point in his tale he reminded me on how the games he loves excites his nerves, as does the larynx movement when he talks, etc. So that his only recourse has been to try to rest, i.e., do nothing, or fall asleep.
Today he noticed that both last night and this morning, when he was drawing, his nerves were completely calm. That creative expression is the key! Or, as I put it, when his mental/emotional/spiritual focus is total, and aimed in a certain direction. Or as I’d add now, when he allows/invites his corporeal self to function as a channel for divine energy.
Whew! What a discovery!
Oh, and BTW: notice the synchronicity between his watching his home team come out ahead from behind and his own journey over these nearly six months that resulted in the discovery! He has turned into our come back kid.
At some point today, he asked me, “When I come home, besides my inventions, how can I be productive?” I told him to just concentrate on his creativity, that this is his gift to the world.
Yesterday, they didn’t get him in the chair until just before dinner, so he elected to stay in the chair over the dinner hour, and ended up there for three hours, before being hoyered back into bed. His legs were at 45° for that entire time, and it was no big deal. Just a week or two ago, 3 hours at 45° would have been a big deal, ramped up nerve pain — but all the bicycling, and knee folding exercises in bed are already showing results.
Note: I don’t have time today to do a special post for this blog, so decided to copy here today’s post on Caring Bridge. Journal entry by Ann Kreilkamp — February 6, 2024: Saw Colin today; current difficulties, plus huge energy boost from afar!
I was the one to see Colin this morning, and wil again tomorrow morning. Took puppy Shadow out there with me, and of course, everybody loved him.
Colin told me that yesterday was a particularly bad pain day. Said he figures it’s because he’s been doing so much exercise with his legs for the past several weeks — nerve pain has ratcheted up several notches, and yesterday it ratcheted up several notches more — but has gone back down to what it was the day before yesterday. Also, there is never a time now, when he is not in some level of pain, not even those 20 minutes that he used to count on when waking up in the morning.
Keep in mind that as he tells me this, he’s not at all self-pitying; just very matter of fact, and in the usual good humor.
Yesterday, for the first time, he practiced getting from the bed to the chair by himself with two PTs standing by . . . and he says it’s much more difficult than he expected from all the videos he watched. On the other hand, his legs are unusually heavy (I remember a doctor told him he had unusually dense bones) and always have been unusually muscled, so each one likely weighs 40 pounds! Then, the fact that, because he can’t feel his legs or feet, he can’t do what the brain remembers doing, plant his feet on the floor and then use them to balance as he exerts great effort to haul himself from bed to chair. Which means the brain gets confused, and it’s very disorienting. He figures he’s going to have to practice this maneuver endlessly to get to the point where the brain figures out how to balance during the swing without feet on floor. He figures a bar above would be useful, to use to swing himself, and the PTs both agreed. In any case, he now has a realistic assessment of just what it’s going to take to get himself swinging in and out of bed to chair with ease. He figures his upcoming weeks in the rehab will be where he really learns how.
Next, we talked about the coming rehab of the house he’s in, just what will be necessary. Vlad, who will do the bathroom, asked for a slow video to be taken of that room, so I did that and sent it on to Colin. Vlad will be here sometime this week to assess the situation for himself.
I include here a pic of some initial sketches of the chair improvements that I mentioned I think yesterday.
Oh, and, very exciting! I took a card to him that one of his CB followers, Shannon, sent to him via regular mail, very appreciative of the journey he is on. (She found out about Colin, via me, says she has been following my writings since the turn of the millennium!)
Here’s what she said in her letter to me. (Much more in her letter to him.)
“Recently I have followed the progress Colin has made since the incident and have been sending healing energy his way since the moment I heard. I knew something was going on when there was time when there was nothing on your blog. As this is almost never the case, I knew something was up. when I saw the post, informing of what had happened to Colin, I had a very intense energetic response. At the end of the post, you make a plea for all who could help to do so. I immediately felt myself going into the deep place of energy healing and transformation and energy flooded up and out of me in a broad channel. I could feel others doing the same in a strong collective and directed energy to Colin.
“I have done work in these places for all of my adult life, but even for me this was a potent and intense experience. I have been following Colin’s progress on CaringBridge and have, along with many others continued to send him positive healing energy. I too have seen the vision of him beginning to walk with a walker.”
And, in her long beautiful letter to him, she said she has seen that vision “many times.”
Oh, I’ll take that! he said, excitedly. And then remarked, I’ll take all these wonderful women’s healing energies and visions over the three doctors who said I’ll never walk again.” And about Shannon, he remarked, several times, on the beauty of her handwriting.
Shannon also sent me a Goddess deck and booklet that she created using both tarot and astrology. Haven’t had a chance to look at them yet, but thank you, Shannon, so much for everything you sent to us. A huge energy boost!
Was there for about an hour before Shadow signaled that he’d had enough. Plus, Colin’s pain was beginning to ramp up, so with a quick kiss and hug we made our departure.
Scheduled to see him again tomorrow, and Saturday.
”And you? My teacher looked up, his left eyebrow arched, pencil poised. 'I want to do a paper on the concept of time.’” I mumbled, timidly. 'Time?' He sniffed. “I wouldn’t touch the subject. Too difficult.” — AK, 1967
Ph.D. 83
Astrologer, published author, conference presenter, world traveler, founder & editor of Crone Chronicles: A Journal of Conscious Aging (1989-2001) , and founding visionary of Green Acres Permaculture Village (2010 to present).
Copyright © 2025 All rights reserved.
Yep! Totally agreed.