Chip Davis

I a 54 years old who was a small business owner for over 14 years. I owned a commercial printing business along with a graphic design business and a gift store.<br><br>I am disabled due to Cervical Spine Injury and Degenerative Disc Disease in my back, Arthritis in my joints and bone spurs on my knees, hip, back, elbows, shoulders and cervical spine, Fibromyalgia, Diabetes and Hypertension.<br><br>I have a wonderful team of Doctors and was recently referred to a new Pain Management Doc who is simply the greatest. He identified a big part of my cervical problem: The muscles in my neck are working overtime to keep my head up straight. He recommended nerve blocks for both the right and left side of my neck, done two weeks apart and it has made a great difference in a postive way with my cervical pain. I still have some pain but it's reduced 80%!! <br><br>It's allowed me to get out and enjoy photography again! Yea! <br><br>As if I'm not already enough of a ticking time bomb I am a political fanatic who has been known to lean heavily to the left! :-)<br><br>I love my wife dearly. We have no children as we married later in life but we enjoy two dogs, Rusty and Lady. (**UPDATE** I rescued a 1 y/o black lab from the Dog Pound who was ONE day away from being put down.) She has become a gentle, playful, happy puppy and is healthy except for some early signs of heart worms but we're getting the series of 2 shots for her that will kill the heart worms. We named her CoCo!<br><br>We have 7 cats, Soup, Tigger, Scooter, Little Bit, Fluffy, Stinky and Leroy! I don't claim to have a favorite but my little baby is Little Bit. She showed up at our door, in mid winter, not more than 3 or 4 weeks old. She never had a chance to gain the skills that only a Mama cat can provide. She is very shy, runs from everyone but me. My wife cannot get close enough to pet her! But she's my baby. She'll jump up on the computer table and run her face over my cheek. Ah..... I'll feed her a few treats, as she is a tiny tiny cat, and she'll lay down between my keyboard and monitor and go to sleep. <br><br>All of the cats have their own personalities and both my wife and I marvel at the different ways each cat approches us.<br><br>Being a person with a disability has allowed me to take a different view on life. It has given me an opportunity to spend more time with my wife, Nancy, and to look at life as one of the things you must enjoy most, more than anything else in your world. <br><br>Yes, I'm disabled but I'm not dead. I deal with incredible pain, fatigue, cognitive dysfunction at times, and I have very real problems with my balance. <br><br>I've found that my "real" friends stay and look at me no different than I was before the injury but I do see them with much more love and caring. They know I appreciate the smallest things they might do for me. If it's simply helping me into a store. It is wondrous.