I have been a very uneven blogger here lately, in part because this past winter has been a physical disaster for me. After developing Giant Cell Arteritis (GCA), a major illness that requires me to be on massive steroids in a maintenance dose for possibly years and the pain and difficulties I went through with that before it was diagnosed and treated, I then contracted the awful H3N2 flu that turned into bronchitis and knocked over a month out of my life.
As we began to come into spring, and I was just getting starting to get back on my feet slightly after the flu and bronchitis, I fell and shattered my right shoulder. This has left me almost totally disabled. I am right handed, and it's not just the arm that I cannot use but the shoulder, as well, so it's basically the whole upper right side of my body that cannot be used. You would be surprised how much you cannot do if you cannot use the upper right side of your body. Even hauling yourself out of the recliner you must spend most of your time in can be difficult—or impossible, in my case. (Luckily, I have a lift recliner chair arriving Tuesday, which should allow me more independence.)
My right arm and shoulder have been immobilized by the doctors. Because I'm on all the steroids and because I have lymphedema in that arm from my radical mastectomy for breast cancer, I am a really poor risk for surgery, even though that shoulder requires a complete shoulder replacement. We are, instead, trying to get the shoulder to heal in some jury-rigged way without surgery.
I
have, after the first week, continued to do work on freelance writing
and editing contracts and teach a large, intensive online class in
writing a novel. The only way I am doing this is with voice
recognition software, which is also how I am completing this blog.
Because of all this, I will probably still be rather hit and miss
with this blog for awhile here. Voice recognition software has not
reached a great pinnacle of efficiency. It does save me a lot of time
and a lot of work with my left hand, which is excellent, because my
left shoulder and elbow have damage from lupus, and I don't need to
injure them further. But after dictating, I must go over and correct
multiple mistakes that the software puts into my text. Random
capitalizations all over the place. Words that may have been mistaken
for others. Typos. Egregious misspellings. It's quite time consuming.
(So please forgive any typos I've missed.)
Just
as I went down with the flu, my next book of poetry was published.
Dark Sister is truly a book of my heart. It is a book of poems
that are based in my family, in my heritage, and in my community.
They deal with some of the things that are most important to me in
the world. Unfortunately, I have not been able to do what I planned
or would have wished to promote this book. I hope to be able to do
more in the future. I would greatly appreciate anyone who is
interested in buying or reviewing the book. Dark Sister is my
10th book to be published, rather a significant milestone that I
would like to celebrate by promoting the book and helping it to find
its readership. It had been seven years since my last book of poetry,
Heart's Migration, which brought me awards and opportunities,
but in those seven years, I published seven other books, including
several anthologies of other poets' work.
I
also had hoped to bring back my blog series, Books of Interest by
Writers of Color. So many wonderful writers of color are publishing
terrific books right now. This is a golden age for these books by
diverse authors. Unfortunately, most of them are from very small
houses without promotion and publicity budgets, and they get very
little distribution and very little publicity. So I would really like
to be once again promoting these books and letting readers, teachers,
and librarians know about them with links to buy them. That will,
unfortunately, have to wait until I am a little further along in
recovery, I'm afraid. That's a big disappointment to me.
I
do hope, however, to blog more regularly here, as I get better at
using the voice recognition software and begin to heal and regain use
of my right arm and shoulder little by little. So I hope to visit
with you more often and begin my Books of Interest by Writers of
Color series again soon. There are SOOOO many terrific books I want
to tell you about!
Prayers for healing. Admire your persistence. Thanks for updating us.
ReplyDeleteHere's to healing.... Having read Dark Sister, I can attest that it is a wonderful book. As it gives voice to your personal history, heritage and community,it raises thoughts and consciousness for those from other backgrounds.
ReplyDeletePrayers and smoke for healing.
ReplyDeleteLinda, I'm so sorry to hear about all your health challenges. I look forward to reading your book recommendations when you're able to blog again. Meanwhile, how can I buy Dark Sister?
ReplyDeleteDebRo