"Rousing Speech" · 7:26pm Nov 8th, 2016
I’d promised to restart the TOC on the 1st of November; but wasn’t able to because of my health. Since then I’ve been trying to come up with some rousing speech to start things off with a bang; but the truth is, I’m just tired.
Yesterday my dad went in to have four of his neck vertebrae fused. They only managed to fuse three of them meaning he will probably need another surgery sometime in the future. He’s been in an out of hospital for years now and we’re both tired of it.
The American election is today. I know the voting is rigged and Hillary is going to get in. Even if she wasn’t; the fact that most of the Democratic voters are saying, ‘She’s not my first choice but she’s better than Trump.’ and most of the Republican voters are saying, ‘He’s not my first choice but he’s better than Hillary’ proves that the notion of true democracy is dead in America.
I can’t fix my health, or my dad, or America; but I don’t need to do those things. We’re not called to do everything, but to do the things we can do. Last year the Tournament of Canterlot raised $2,555 for to reach hundreds of Syrian Refugees.
Compared to the millions of refugees who remain, this has not changed the situation as a whole, but that was not nothing.
It mattered!
The people who it helped know it, and we know it. We can’t fix the whole world before the year ends; but we could sponsor one village to recover from disaster; and so that’s the aim of this year’s tournament.
I'm not too tired to do that. 
Question, why does one need to have their neck vertebrae fused? Won't that limit their range of movement and generally is bad?
4291070
Yes. From now on my dad won't be able to look right up or down and basically has bobble head movements and a lot of pain for about 3 months.
If they hadn't done this however, any serious knock or fall could have left him quadriplegic.
4294907 Hmm... I see, so that would be why. Other than his neck movement, is anything else affected?
4294923
Probably/ hopefully not.
4296887 Alright, good to hear. I have a relative who suffers from Ankylosing Spondylitis where his backbone was fused without the need for an operation. It's basically an autoimmune disease and can affect other parts like the joints or heart in some cases.
Basically he can't bend, is stuck hunched somewhat and has limited neck range movement. Your father's case sounded familiar so I thought I'd ask to help check even if I'm not a certified doctor.
4296901
Thanks, but I don't think there are any real questions that need 'checking' at this stage; and if there were, my brother is a muscular-skeletal therapist.
(Originally he was going to be allowed into the operating theater to watch for his education, but they decided not to. I'm not sure why.)