Can you believe I've been home six months??
Hello ALL!
Well, this has been a week of notable dates. Four special people in my life had birthdays, I celebrated my 11th anniversary of moving to this paradise called Victoria/Saanich AND I passed the 6 month marker of my homecoming from the hospital. Like many things, it seems like a life time ago and yet it's all so fresh.
We are grateful every day although recovery is quite the process. Generally I'm doing pretty good, yet far from 100%. I still fatigue & get easily overwhelmed by small curveballs. My mind often takes me through an assortment of flashbacks and I still have covid anxiety. I also realize how far I've come. I know that I am strong & like many of us, have overcome challenging times in the past. This too shall pass.
My first day home, I almost fell over walking up the 2 stairs into the house, I couldn't open a pop can or lift a kettle of water. Those memories seem surreal.
I've finally been referred to an allergist & as per his request, I sent him some pics of my body rash, then & now. I hadn't look at those for a while and so I was horrified to see how bad it looked, back when I was more preoccupied with the unbearable itch. The rash is still visible but NOT itchy (Hallelujah) & very pale by comparison. Apparently, it will take time for my blood vessels to shrink back to normal, thus the pink pigmentation.
My hair seems to be growing back. I never felt the anticipated stubble (perhaps cuz I wasn't completely bald) but can now see several hair that are over an inch long. John's been cutting my hair to keep it looking healthier. Long scraggly hair is not at all becoming. It's been 11 months since my last foils so my 'blonde' highlights are rather 'white' looking. Not quite the Lisa Laflamme look yet and certainly no where near that volume either.
Between my mom's appts & mine, my day's are taken up 2 to 3 times/week. Other days I'm busy following up on ongoing issues. My sleep is still irregular; I can sleep over 9 hrs and still need a nap, or I can wake at 4 and not be able to sleep again until nighttime.
A day in the life,....Today I got up at 7, John's usual time, started sorting laundry, did my stretching/physio, showered and voila, it's 10:30. The 3rd & last load of laundry is started, I've warmed up my forgotten tea several times and finally sitting down to breakfast. Feeling pooped already, nothing looks accomplished , but I did have 3 phone successes. Finally got to leave a message on allergist's machine. Their voice box has been full for over 2 weeks. mama called to say her leg is better today (Yay, it's better & yay, don't need to pursue a same day Dr's appt) and Loomis called to say they could not deliver yesterday's package because the unit # was not indicated. At least Loomis calling me saved me the time to hunt them down to ask why their message said 'delivered'. I'm also expecting a call back from my GP, "sometime today, if not today, then Monday". I'm so grateful to now have a GP and good thing I'm actually available for all day phone calls!?!
What I have accomplished this past month is to finally be comfortable with saying 'I've had enough for today'. No more beating myself up over not getting enough done (although it's a conscious effort). I don't get nearly as frustrated as 6 mths ago (technology is forever a trigger) and I've learnt to walk away when things feel like too much.