More than just a normal life - an extraordinary life

It's been a while since I posted a blog update and a lot has happened since Aubie showed up at my front door to give me a War Eagle get-well present. So here are all the amazing, exciting things that have gone on in my life.

The first thing you should know is I am typing this blog sitting on the couch at my townhouse in Marietta. The only company I have is my dog Isabelle (who is now 1 year old as of Saturday). She is going back and forth between destroying one of her toys on the floor to trying to help me type this blog. This is the first time since September 2011 that I have been able to live by myself, and boy do I feel good. I moved back into my house on Saturday. I do want to give a special thank you to the amazing Cobb County School ladies who worked hard to get my house ready for me to move back in. From cleaning the dust that had settled over the last few months to sprucing up the decor with amazing tidbits of design, my townhouse said welcome home as I walked through the doors. Mom and I added to the updates with fresh flowers out front and on my back porch - and yes mom, I have remembered to water them!

You're probably wondering how I finally got to this point to move back into my townhouse after months  of dealing with health issues. Well that's easy - you bring the number of doctors you have to see on a regular basis down. Now I haven't just stopped going to see these doctors. My team of doctors - while they sometimes didn't agree with each other - fought like warriors to do everything within their power to save my life (twice!). I can literally say I trust them with my life. But their jobs are done.

The first to go was my infectious disease doctor. He was pulled onto the team late when I was diagnosed with a staph infection in January that put me back in the hospital. After having to go every day to the hospital to get IV anti-biotic to make sure a staph infection didn't re-emerge after my skull was put back in place, he removed the pic line in my right arm and we said goodbye.

The next goodbye was a little harder to say - and that was to my neurologist. This man has fought for me, and I very much view him as the general of my doctors. He would come to my room at the hospital early in the morning and late at night just to check on my progress. And he even called me before he was about to go out of town for 2 weeks just to make sure I didn't need anything before he left. When he walked into the exam room at my last visit, he almost didn't even know what to say. He was amazed at my recovery.  He said I only need to come back to see him at the office, as needed, but hopefully the only time he'll see me again is somewhere around the Marietta Square.

The final goodbye to my team of doctors happened last week with my neurosurgeon - who I affectionately call McDreamy (not to his face though!). While it was sad to say goodbye, it was a physically and spiritually exciting time. Let me explain that before I reveal what McDreamy said...

The Sunday before I went to the doctor, my pastor spoke about why our church loves to have people come up and give testimonies. He referenced Job a lot in his sermon about how we need to trust God - who is good and who has great plans for all of us. I went up for prayer after the sermon to share with some good friends my fear - that my Job like story wasn't over. Yes, several doctors have cleared me, but I was terrified that something else was waiting around the corner to knock me back down. If you've followed my story for just a little while, you'll remember that just when it looked like things were going well, anything and everything bad that could happen did. I guess it's the reporter in me, but I'm a facts girl. So I really needed God to answer my prayers and take away my fear by a very fact-based way.

So back to the doctor's visit with McDreamy - after looking over my two scars (and not seeing any infections), my neurosurgeon basically cleared me completely - I can swim, play sports, fly, run, live by myself... His quote - "You can live a normal life, and I hope you never have to come and see me again." Sometimes God answers in a whisper and sometimes he answers in a loud thunder. This was the boom I needed to hear to be at ease of where I was health-wise.

But I'm not just going to live a normal life; my plan is to live an extraordinary life.

Part of this extraordinary life is enjoying new things. One example is golf. For about 4 years, my golf clubs have sat in the back of my closet as a memory of a bad relationship. I've decided to not let one person keep me from an activity my entire family loves, so I've dusted of my clubs and hit the course. Two weekends ago I played nine holes with my mom. I won't tell you what my score was, but I'm of the opinion that the highest score in golf wins - right?

I'm also setting big goals for myself. The first is to run a 1/2 marathon this fall. I want to do something to mark the one-year anniversary of when this crazy ordeal started to show how far I've come. I've been looking at different races and I think I'm going to do the one in Chattanooga, TN in October. I've been talking with my sister-in-law, the personal trainer, about how to get ready for the race, and she's so excited for me.

And I'm also trying not to sweet the small stuff. This is very much a saying my mom says a lot, but I'm a little more like my dad and can get stressed easily. So this is very much a work in progress. But after everything I've been through these last few months, the stuff that use to stress me out really looks tiny and unimportant.

So who knows what else this extraordinary life has coming - but this time, I'm excited to be on this ride. Stay tuned...