On March 24, 2016, Otis Donald Anderson was born. This new life is precious to me. He is my only grandson. I never knew how moved I would be when holding my grandson in my arms for the first time. He is perfect, a blank slate as my son, his father, says.

The first day we went to Ethan and Andrea’s house to see Otis, my tremors were very bad. So bad that I worried I would drop him when they handed him to me while I was still in my wheelchair. The tremors continued throughout the day, and I struggled to be calm when holding him. I got to feed him his bottle twice, and marveled at the daintiness of his fingers and the whispers of his eye lashes. I stroked his black hair with my shaking hand, praying for relief from the tremors that prevented me from fully enjoying being with him.

My physical therapist had suggested I ask my primary care doctor for a prescription for Lyrica for nerve pain. Lyrica was developed as a sleep aid, but when given to patients with MS, it was discovered that it quelled their nerve pain. I took the Lyrica, and within one half hour, I was without the pain in my ankles and legs that I had lived with for at least four years. One side effect that surprised and delighted me was a lessening of my tremors. The shaking that rocked my body from my hands to my feet had almost been silenced.

Two weeks later, we visited Otis again. This time, instead of the ratchety movements of my arms and hands holding the baby, calm arms and hands caressed him in his coverlet. I was able to trace my finger along his cheek to feel his newness, and loved touching his little legs and felt his tiny feet inside his onesie.

My only job is to love him. Now I can be tender and calm. My body doesn’t betray my wishes to caress his face with a loving touch. I still have minor tremors, but the difference between the two visits is profound. This has been a gift to me, in the midst of a very happy phase in my life.

In one year, I am a grandmother four times over. My son Jesse and his wife Ines adopted three sisters, age 3, 4, and 5 this year. Marissa, Ally, and Clare know me only through Skyping and phone calls, but they are due to visit in July.

The blessings abound. Four precious little lives are enriching my life daily. My tremors are quieted to a degree I can deal with, and I can be the grandmother I want to be. Just when I thought I needed to accept the pain and tremors as a part of my post-polio syndrome progressing, I was pleasantly surprised by a pharmacological intervention.

There is hope. There is always hope. In the midst of a struggle, we might be blinded by the waves of difficulty washing over us. But sometimes, just sometimes, we get through it with a better understanding of ourselves and the gift of some sort of intervention.

We don’t have to do it all alone. Accepting help has been very hard for me, but I have learned it can mean the difference between suffering in silence and living fully in the moment.

To Otis, Marissa, Clare, and Ally, my lap is open to you now. My love is for you.

To my readers, take heart. If an intervention doesn’t present itself for you, look outwards for help in your struggle. Learn to ask for it. Learn to know you deserve to feel better.

Until then,

With Love,

Gail