I successfully returned to work the Monday after Thanksgiving. The welcomes from my students and colleagues were dear. As I expected, working each day and juggling the other parts of life was a lot. It was hard but good.
I continue to improve but don’t have any new information from any of my doctors. Various emotions come and go. The thyroiditis seems to be waning. The lymphedema therapy is helping reduce the swelling in my arms, neck, and face. Those parts of me are looking and feeling more like myself. I’ve dealt with the upper respiratory stuff that’s been going around lately but feel like I’m mostly past it.
Physical therapy has pushed me to tears at times as I hit a wall with skills that are difficult to do. The discouragement from that is interspersed with distinct satisfaction with what I can do. A few months ago I couldn’t get up from a chair or a toilet without pushing myself up with my arms. I can now do that again with the strength of my legs. You might recall that I fell twice on Labor Day weekend. Both of those instances required assistance to get off the ground. Last week I took a bit of a tumble again when my left ankle turned on me. As tears of pain and frustration welled in my eyes, I planned my strategy to get myself off the garage floor! I absolutely did what I couldn’t do a few months ago! I was afraid I broke a finger but it was just jammed.
As I mentioned above, I’ve dealt with respiratory stuff the past few weeks. That’s been a bit unnerving given my hospitalization. I’ve relied on my inhaler quite a bit but feel like I’m on the other side of it now. Christmas Eve didn’t offer a lot of hours to sleep so I tried sleeping without oxygen support. My pulse-ox averaged 95 which is encouraging. I’m hopeful for more success without it in the coming days and weeks.
I expect to check in with Pulmonology at the end of January and finally got the EMG scheduled for February. I’ll see the neurologist after that.
Between now and then I am going to keep working hard at gaining strength. I’m also trying to find new rhythms and routines that include more rest. I acknowledge it’s hard for me to stop and allow myself to do that.
I continue to give thanks for your prayers. They have sustained us. As the new year approaches, I’m certainly praying for continued restoration and revelation of helpful information. I’m going to try give myself more grace to update here when I can and not feel badly if I don’t. (Yes. I confess that is me.) For now it feels like I’m saying the same things each time - I’m getting stronger but there’s no new info.
Praying to the One who came as a baby to heal our hurts and love like crazy.
Aimee
