POA - How It Was Decided

At the time it sure made sense to do it.  It wasn't until later that my eyes were opened.

Spring, 2004 – fell down mowing the yard.  No pain, loss of consciousness, dizziness or paralysis.  I just couldn’t get up for about 5 minutes.  It was like my body wasn’t planning on obeying me.  About four weeks later I fell over in my garage and hit my elbow on concrete floor.  As that hurt, figured I better see my doctor.

Mar, 2007 - let go from DCL as disabled.  It was that or they said they were just going to let me go.  I was just shy of my four year anniversary.

May, 2007 or May, 2008 - we were discussing feeding tubes and how neither of us would want that done so I/we decided it might be a good idea to create a POA to avoid any misconceptions.

June, 2007 - after waiting 3 years and seeing 4 other doctors, I was given the news I had MSA.  Look for MSA FAQ and that should give you a good place to start.  No known cause, not heredity, no treatment and wasn't even named until the 60's (aka Shy-Drager).

June, 2008 - I was falling down after just a few steps so decided to use the wheelchair full time.  Sometime soon after that I moved out of our bedroom and started sleeping in the lounge chair so I would be closer to the bathroom.  I also figured I didn't want to disturb her sleep just getting in/out of my chair.

Nov 2008 - we were sitting in the living room, maybe watching TV, and she said

"I'm no longer going to give into you.

I've been doing it since Beech Hollow"

Besides the thought "what does that mean?" the only thing I could think of at that moment is the movie Sleeping With The Enemy.  Since I'm sure nothing like that ever happened, I was left with that first thought.  After a moment, I asked her what that means and all she did was get up and go into our office (which later became her bedroom).  I waited about a month (I know.  Sometimes I can be too patient) and got the same answer.  I've not asked since but am hopeful that someday I'll find out the answer.

May, 1996 - We moved from Beech Hollow in Indy to Cross Creek Circle in Westfield.  She said the town had good schools and it was between where we both worked at the time - Sheridan and Castleton.