Jenny Knipfer–Author

I’ve been talking about my books a lot, here on the blog, but I thought I’d give you a more personal taste of my daily routine as an author and someone living with a chronic disease—MS. My days unfold pretty much this way:

• 3:30-4:30 am Wake up and babysit my aching back with various topical treatments and a heating pad. I often pray during this time and sometimes fall back to sleep. (I don’t sleep very long in one chunk of time because of pain. Gone are the days of eight hours of sleep.)
• 6:30 am Eat breakfast, take a shower, and get ready
• 9:30 am Check on social media and do my daily schedule of posting
• 11:00 am Blog, if it’s Monday, Wednesday, or I have a feature with the Coffeepot Book Club and check emails
• Noon LUNCH!
• 12-1:30 Break time. I rest in the chair with Ruby and watch a movie or TV series. Right now we are watching old classic movies on Tubi.
• 1:30 -2:00 GOLF CART RIDE WITH RUBY!, weather permitting.
• 2-4:30 Writing, editing, research, or some other related author task
• 5:00 – 7:30 supper and time with the hubby
• 7:30-8:30 more time on social media
• 8:30-10:30 getting ready for bed and reading

And there’s a glimpse into my life as an author. Not too glamorous, but it keeps me busy and my mind off of how cruddy I feel. I recently got some MRI’s done that show the progression of my disease. I have an area in my spinal cord, at the base of my neck, where it is sunken in. It looks like it has been squashed, but not by any bone misalignment. No, it’s an area the my white blood cells creeped into and waged an all-out war on. My bundle of nerves in that area has decreased by 75%. Most of them are dead. No wonder my body doesn’t work right!

I have come to grips with my increasing disability, but the pain I’m experienced due to muscle cramps and spasms in my back and legs is wearing me down. I’ve tried six different medications, none of which helped and most of which left me feeling horrible. I’m a firm believer in alternative medicine and have pretty much tried every treatment and therapy in that realm too. The result fo these failed attempts to control my pain has left me feeling rather despondent at times and wondering how I am going to face tomorrow and the day after that. And the day after that…

I pray lots of little prayers throughout the day, asking God for help to manage and cope. I have to keep believing that His eye his in this little sparrow. He keeps giving me the strength to do so, so bring on the tomorrows, come what may.

Miss Ruby, my companion and writing buddy

One of my favorite times of my day is my golf cart ramble time with Ruby. Here’s some pictures of wildflowers we saw on our rambles this summer.

Thank you,

Thanks for reading and catching a glimpse into my life. Blessings, J