Author: Robb Towns

Hello Friends and Followers

Sorry for my absence for most of the the summer, I have been on a bit of medical journey that has kept me away from the camera, computer, screen time and work.

First off, this is not a post looking for sympathy or anything of that nature. I am not that kind of guy. If anything, believe it or not, I prefer to fly under the radar as a bit of an introvert. Some will disagree with that 😉

In January of this year a regular blood test for my regularly scheduled physical showed an unusual result. Long story short and after multiple blood tests, an endoscopy, some kind of electricity test on my leg muscles, an actual muscle biopsy (I now have a cool 5 inch scar on my left leg) I was given the diagnosis that I have an auto-immune disease called Necrotizing Myopathy. Basically my immune system cant tell who the bad guys are and its gone rouge on everything. Most effected are my core muscles and hip flexors.

On Wednesday afternoon of July 21st , things got a bit real.

After my 2nd dose of my very first (chemo like) treatment for my Autoimmune disease (they take 2 days to get), I came home from the hospital and my legs gave out and I fell backwards off the front step of our house on to the drive way hitting my head. Several skull fractures, a broken orbital bone, a broken nose, a black eye, and a small brain bleed (maybe as many as 4), and a concussion means I was out of commission for almost 8 weeks. Good news though if you keep reading.

So with the treatment for my autoimmune disease that I have started, the Doctors are very confident that I will make some kind of recovery but it will be weeks, probably months, maybe years. There is no cure for this but it is manageable. I had been keeping it quiet hoping treatments would get me back on track and no one would be the wiser, but this got real enough to share.

We are so lucky to have the Riverside, the General and the Civic Hospitals here in Ottawa. The care has been 5 all the way despite all the Covid issues. All my Doctors and every person I have had the pleasure to meet on this journey so far have been Superstars, Angels, and Superheros. Last but not least, my amazing family at home has been a god send of help and support. Brenda, Kendra, and Heather are Superstars in their own category. Amazing support and caring even from afar in Kendra’s case.

My poor Mom and Sister who have known since June and been worried sick and not trying to show it are also superstars.

Work has also been super supportive.

Thanks to the few people who also knew but kept this on the down low until I was comfortable enough to share.

If you want an overview of what I have, look up Polymyositis. My Necrotizing Myopathy is a relatively new sub diagnoses. Do your physicals annually as that’s how they caught this early and is giving me a great chance if not actual chance to return to some kind of near normal. Peace out. Love you all. Lets keep moving forward and lets try to be kind to each other.

So for those of you wondering about my weight loss plan, this has been it. For anyone counting, my last weight on this past Wednesday morning was 140.3lbs. When I came out of the hospital (after 6 days) I weighed 130.2lbs. As of today, I am up to 143lbs. This is good news. My most recent blood work is showing that the treatments are working. My numbers are still well above normal but nothing like they were earlier this year.

I am really looking forward to getting back out and taking photos. However it might be kind of sporadic until my muscle strength returns as the camera is simply to heavy to hold for any length of time and I am still walking with my walker at the moment. Good news is, my strength is slowly returning along with my balance.

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We took our first drive out of the city since January 9th this past weekend. Took a picnic and found a nice little spot along the St. Lawrence River in Morrisburg, Ontario. We could see New York State across the River. The weather was perfect and even the wildlife seemed rather friendly.

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I try to walk 5km every day for my virtual walk challenges. Sometimes I bring my camera along. May and June have been quite dry with little rain and that makes walking very pleasant. However today, we had rain in the forecast and I thought I would get a quick walk in before the rain arrived. I almost made it before the rain came down, but not quite. These interesting cloud formations passed over our neighborhood about 20 minutes before the heavens opened up.

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Came across a Public Bell Telephone Booth in my Travels today. I looked up some Stats from Wikipedia as these seem to be rare and harder to find. It is interesting to note that the CRTC put a moratorium on the removal of Public Pay Phones in 2013. I know we had several Public Pay Phones within a few blocks of our house, that are now gone.

Not sure which ones I like better. The colour or black and white. So here they are for comparison.

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Canadian Pay Phone History (Wikipedia )

Most payphones in Canada are owned and operated by large telecom providers such as Bell, Telus, and SaskTel. In the last 20 years, customer-owned coin-operated telephones (COCOT) have also appeared in the market, but their numbers are smaller due to the emergence of mobile phones.

The cost of most local payphone calls is 50 cents CAD, having increased from 25 cents since 2007. Newer phones allow users to use calling cards and credit cards. For coin-paid long distance, COCOTs are less expensive for short calls (typically $1 for three minutes) than incumbent providers (whose rates start near $5 for the first minute).

Dialing 0 for the operator and 911 calls are still free.

The Toronto Transit Commission deploys payphones on all subway platforms as a safety precaution; a blue “Crisis Link” button on 141 payphones connects directly with Distress Centres of Canada as a free suicide prevention measure.

As of 2013, there were about 70,000 payphones across the country.

In 2013, the CRTC issued a temporary moratorium on the removal of payphones in small communities.

In September 2015, the CRTC remarked that “32 percent of Canadians used a payphone at least once in the past year,” and that they are used “as a last resort in times of inconvenience and emergency.^“

Took a little walk around the neighbourhood and came across this interesting Dandelion. Not sure if it was a mutant or just some street fluff it picked up. I though it made for an interesting shot. We also planted a little garden on our patio and these cosmic looking petunia really stand out. I am mesmerized by them.

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Clear Skies and the International Space Station directly overhead was just too good to not try and catch a few shots. I should have headed down to the local park rather than just in front of my house. I never realized how many people are driving past my house at 9:30 at night.

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We went for a little walk around Petrie Island after dinner and we were pleasantly surprised with amazing reflections and some wildlife.

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Spring is really starting to make it’s presence know in Orleans. We got out for a couple of nice little walks at Petrie Island and a nature preserve near Bourget Ontario. The bugs aren’t out yet, so it was nice to be outdoors and to just enjoy nature on its own.

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We went out for a bit of Spring Time walk along the Rideau River. Had fun experimenting with Movement and a couple of shots of the Imalaird Photography Team. His Laird and Lady of Imalaird Photography.

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We had a surprise springtime snowfall. Was hard on all the flowers in the garden. Hoping this is the last snow for this year.

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