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When Monika Slack was diagnosed with spinal stenosis, the future looked grim for the avid dancer and lifelong blues fan. But a GoFundMe page created by her blues family has given the Kingston woman new hope for the future.
Spinal stenosis involves the narrowing of the spaces between sections of the spine, usually in the neck or lower back. For some diagnosed with the condition, symptoms never manifest. Others can experience loss of mobility and severe pain, among other things.
For the 56-year-old Slack, the degenerative spine condition affects both her lower and upper back. Most days, she walks with a cane, sometimes two. The condition effects her ability to walk and, at times, to fully use her arms.
“I just was not able anymore, and I’ve never known myself not to be able,” she said.
Three years ago, when Slack started to experience symptoms of spinal stenosis, she was already going through a dark period: A series of deaths culminated with the passing of her last surviving blood relative.
“I kind of disappeared from everybody,” she said. “I guess I didn’t want to burden them.”
It took about two years to receive a diagnosis for her medical problem, but that helped her to begin to turn things around. With a firm idea of what she was up against, she started to let friends back into her life.
“I lost my village (the family who had passed away) and the blues community in this country became my inner circle in a really short period.”
Slack also suffers from two forms of lupus, as well as fibromyalgia. Lupus is a chronic inflammatory disease that causes the immune system to attack other body parts. Fibromyalgia causes pain throughout the body, along with sleep, mood and memory problems. It also, at times, amplifies external pain, making even slight injuries unbearable.
Slack used to be an avid festivalgoer known for her enthusiasm on the dance floor.
“Now if I dance for one or two songs, with two canes, I can’t move for two days.”
Seeing her friend’s struggle, Irene Ippersiel put out a rallying call to the blues community from her home in Montreal. She launched the GoFundMe page on April 22 in an effort to crowd fund a scooter that would keep Slack — who she called “a blues cheerleader” — coming out to events.
Slack’s reaction when she found out about the page? “I cried. Tears of joy.”
The fund has so far raised more than $500 toward the $1,500 goal. Ippersiel hopes to buy Slack a used power scooter and a shed in which to store it at her home. Slack lives in an affordable housing complex for seniors sponsored by the Kinsmen Club of Kingston. Her building is not accessible, so the scooter would need to be stored outdoors.
“She really needs the wheels, because we can’t carry her everywhere,” Ippersiel jokes. The pair met five years ago at the launch for Dawg FM, the Ottawa-based blues radio station, and have been friends ever since.
“We had a lot of things in common — namely blues.”
Ippersiel is a well-known blues fan and served as the president of the Montreal Blues Society for years.
When asked to describe the community, she said with a laugh, “It’s mainly a bunch of old farts who love the blues.”
Ippersiel said blues societies promote a genre that has gradually lost its popularity in recent decades. That’s one of the reasons she hopes to keep Slack coming out to events.
“She’s that ‘go get ’em’ girl. She’s the motivator.”
Ippersiel’s hope is that Slack will have her wheels by the time music festival season gets underway this summer.
查看原文...
Spinal stenosis involves the narrowing of the spaces between sections of the spine, usually in the neck or lower back. For some diagnosed with the condition, symptoms never manifest. Others can experience loss of mobility and severe pain, among other things.
For the 56-year-old Slack, the degenerative spine condition affects both her lower and upper back. Most days, she walks with a cane, sometimes two. The condition effects her ability to walk and, at times, to fully use her arms.
“I just was not able anymore, and I’ve never known myself not to be able,” she said.
Three years ago, when Slack started to experience symptoms of spinal stenosis, she was already going through a dark period: A series of deaths culminated with the passing of her last surviving blood relative.
“I kind of disappeared from everybody,” she said. “I guess I didn’t want to burden them.”
It took about two years to receive a diagnosis for her medical problem, but that helped her to begin to turn things around. With a firm idea of what she was up against, she started to let friends back into her life.
“I lost my village (the family who had passed away) and the blues community in this country became my inner circle in a really short period.”
Slack also suffers from two forms of lupus, as well as fibromyalgia. Lupus is a chronic inflammatory disease that causes the immune system to attack other body parts. Fibromyalgia causes pain throughout the body, along with sleep, mood and memory problems. It also, at times, amplifies external pain, making even slight injuries unbearable.
Slack used to be an avid festivalgoer known for her enthusiasm on the dance floor.
“Now if I dance for one or two songs, with two canes, I can’t move for two days.”
Seeing her friend’s struggle, Irene Ippersiel put out a rallying call to the blues community from her home in Montreal. She launched the GoFundMe page on April 22 in an effort to crowd fund a scooter that would keep Slack — who she called “a blues cheerleader” — coming out to events.
Slack’s reaction when she found out about the page? “I cried. Tears of joy.”
The fund has so far raised more than $500 toward the $1,500 goal. Ippersiel hopes to buy Slack a used power scooter and a shed in which to store it at her home. Slack lives in an affordable housing complex for seniors sponsored by the Kinsmen Club of Kingston. Her building is not accessible, so the scooter would need to be stored outdoors.
“She really needs the wheels, because we can’t carry her everywhere,” Ippersiel jokes. The pair met five years ago at the launch for Dawg FM, the Ottawa-based blues radio station, and have been friends ever since.
“We had a lot of things in common — namely blues.”
Ippersiel is a well-known blues fan and served as the president of the Montreal Blues Society for years.
When asked to describe the community, she said with a laugh, “It’s mainly a bunch of old farts who love the blues.”
Ippersiel said blues societies promote a genre that has gradually lost its popularity in recent decades. That’s one of the reasons she hopes to keep Slack coming out to events.
“She’s that ‘go get ’em’ girl. She’s the motivator.”
Ippersiel’s hope is that Slack will have her wheels by the time music festival season gets underway this summer.
查看原文...
