Since returning from my short trip back to the UK and catching the opening races at my two local tracks, I’ve hit a snag with my recovery process for MYASTHENIA GRAVIS.
After my return to Canada on Wednesday 11 May I have had a bit of a relapse. Prior to this I had been pleased with how things were going. The slow weaning off , from the powerful steroids , I’d been taking , appeared to be making progress and I had started to build up the energy, to walk for periods of up to 20 minutes at a time. For the past four weeks I’ve encountered big changes, and I’m now struggling to walk for more than a few minutes without losing my breath and have a big loss in energy .
This was how I was six months ago. The reason ? I don’t know . Maybe I over did things in the UK or maybe it’s the latest reduction in steroids ? I will have to wait and see.
I’m so lucky, that for some of the time, I’ve still been able to engage in my hobby of race car photography, although be it, on a limited basis.
Since my hospitalization last summer , I’ve no longer been on the ‘staff’ of the Cornwall Motor Speedway and my position of ‘Victory Lane’ organizer , and Official Photographer have been taken by three of my friends, alternating on a weekly basis. Last week it was Don Simpson, and this week it was Rejean Paquette. Next week it will be the turn of Sylvain who was busy getting married this past weekend . 
Congrats to Sylvain and Lyse.
The week end weather forecast for 20/21/22 May was great, I looked forward to three days of local racing action.
It was the ‘Victoria Day’ holiday weekend in Canada and to avoid the long lines at the border, I left home early on Friday afternoon for the evenings races at the Mohawk International Raceway, at nearby Hogansburg, NY.
After picking up a few things in the Masena , Walmart and killing time in McDonalds , I was still at the track in time for a snooze.
For most of the night, I stationed myself in my usual spot , on the exit of turn four, except for the Sportsman Feature and Modlite Feature where I watched from the grandstand.
During intermission it was autograph night out on the track, where fans get the chance to meet their hero’s
The Modified feature was a good one that gave us plenty of surprises. Carey Terrance looked all set to get a run away victory until a coming together with a back marker, put him out of the race. This handed the lead to multi-times track champion Billy Dunn, who before the green flag dropped, was back in the pits with mechanical probs. ( I was later told it was a drive shaft failure). With very few laps left to run, it gave my good friend, Jordon McCreadie his very first win on the dirt. Back in 2013, I was witness to him getting his first ever asphalt feature win at the Evans Mills Speedway, and pleased to be present when he did it on the more challenging dirt.
Back in 2013, I posed in Victory Lane with Jordon,
So I had to do it again at the M.I.R The Sportsman race provided a win for Shane Pecore
The show was all over by 11-00 pm and with no border delays , I was back home checking out my pictures, by 11-15 pm.
On Saturday 21 May, it was another warm day as I drove down Hwy 401 to the Brockville Ontario Speedway. After a burger and fries from Harveys, I was at the track by 5-30 pm. The program consisted of the headlining 358 Dirt Mods, Sportsman, Vintage Mods, Street Stocks and Mini Stocks.
As mentioned at the start of the report, my race track photography is being done on a limited basis this year, so I reserved my on-track participation to the heat races, while watching the Features from the stands. 
It was great to see my good friend Tabatha Murphy start her year with a heat win.
During Intermission , I had a short wander around the pits, and chatted with my veteran racing buddy, ‘Stock Car Steve ‘ Bilow.
I was in luck on this occasion, with the two premier division Feature’s being run early in the program. After a quick drama free Feature for the Vintage Mods, the Sportsman and 358 Mods followed.
After making a pass on Shane Pecore, Aaron Pugh captured the Sportsman checkers
Once again Danny O’Brien showed his B.O.S track superiority by adding another Feature to his resume.
Much to my delight, this was done before 10-00 pm and I was back home in Cornwall, On by 11-15 pm.
Sunday (22 May) was spent with my good friend Chantal Lesage and her son Tyrek. Chantal is the one, I have to thank, for insisting I go to the hospital and get checked out, at the onset of my MYASTHENIA GRAVIS a year ago.
She is a dear friend , who I like to spend time with. Her father Ted, happens to be the ‘Tech Man’ at the Cornwall Motor Speedway, and along with the Stephane Lebrun Pro Stock team , they are always early arrivals at the track camp-site.
Before Sundays races it was nice to relax in the sunshine.
As mentioned at the start of this report, I’m no longer taking care of Victory Lane duties for this year, and Rejean Paquette was running things today. 
I was out in the middle to get a few pictures of the hot laps before , capturing the heat race action from the VIP tower in the pits.
I watched the 125 Lap Canadian Nationals race for the 358 Modifieds from the Control Tower. The ‘Doctor’ Danny Johnson took control of this one , from around the half way point , and was never challenged to the checkers.
It had been a long day, so I made my exit after this one.
Even though I was feeling under par, I continued with my plans for ‘baby sitting’ trip on the USA Memorial Day weekend (28/29/30 May). My daughter Carla and her husband Alex had a ‘Board Game’ convention taking place in Dallas, that weekend and had asked if I’d look after my grandson Benji. ‘Board Gaming’ is there hobby, just like mine is racing.
I based my self around the hotel looking after benji, and even got a bit of racing in . I set the alarm for 7-00 am Sunday morning to watch the Monaco Grand Prix from Monte Carlo. It was yet another win for England’s Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes.
I was due to return to Canada on Thursday 2 June, but by Monday 30 May, it was obvious my MYASTHENIA GRAVIS condition was making a turn for the worse. I could not walk more than a few yards without getting out of breath and the smallest of physical tasks were proving difficult.
After discussing my situation with Carla and Alex, I decided my best option was to get back to Canada ( and the provincial Health Care as soon as I could). My flights were re-booked direct from Austin Bergstom Airport into Toronto Pearson Airport for Tuesday 31 and my buddy Don Simpson, kindly agreed to pick me up from the connecting flight into Ottawa.
In the meantime, I’ve been in contact via e-mail with my MYASTHENIA GRAVIS specialist doctor who has recommended another course of IVIG treatment.
As I close this report, my health situation has taken a backward step to how I was , over six months ago , as I await the treatment.