I am Bonez's Nerve Cells

Nervy

I do lots of things for Bonez. Like other nerve cells in other bodies, I help her to move, I help her senses work, I help her function in her environment.

But sometimes I like to be mischievous! Like with her senses. I don't mess with sight too much because, well, she's been wearing glasses since she was nine years old so I feel like she's had enough trouble with her sight (you should see the coke-bottle lenses in her glasses - sheesh!). But the other senses are fair game.

Hearing I can't really take credit for. Bonez has had some chemo that makes her have ringing in her ears. Not really my doing, but I like it when it messes with her.

I have lots of fun mucking around with her sense of smell - especially when I can convince her that water smells bad. It's the same water that she showers in every day, same water she brushes her teeth with. But sometimes, it smells bad. Of course, it only smells bad to her. I also make some smells so strong that they turn her stomach. Smells that should be comforting, like cinnamon or taco meat, will be so overpowering that she needs to breathe through her mouth in order not to gag.

Then there's taste. I can make some of her favorite foods taste downright strange, strange enough that she questions whether she will ever eat them again. A BLT at Friendly's tastes like cardboard. Green vegetables taste bitter. Her favorite Pumpernickel Pretzels taste chemically. I do show mercy with this one - Bonez needs to eat lots and lots of protein during her treatments, so I don't mess with the taste of meats or eggs or fish.  But everything else is fair game!

And finally - the pièce de résistance - her sense of touch. With the help of her chemo and a little of my magic, I have created a wonking case of neuropathy in Bonez's feet. It's fantastic what I've done. Imagine this: her feet are numb, yet they hurt and itch! BRILLIANT!!! Numb - she can't walk barefoot because she can't feel what she's stepping on and could injure herself and not know it. But juxtaposed over that numbness is pain! Sometimes a dull ache, other times a stabbing pain. Random pain - I like to keep her on her toes (no pun intended). And then, just to put the cherry on the sundae, at night, when she's settling down trying to sleep, I make the arches of her feet itch. First one foot, then the other. Back and forth. Itchy itchy itchy.

I love Bonez, but she's so fun to mess with that I just can't stop myself!