With my 27th birthday being tomorrow, I figured I would write today's blog about all the positives that happened while I was 26. The last three months have been horrible with all my health issues, but there have been many positives so here it goes. They're in no specific order, except some really important ones are at the top :)
1. Birth of my first nephew Clark Franklin "Tripp" Hungerford on Aug. 9. After a short stay in the NICU, he's now a growing boy who loves his "Auntie"
2. Auburn football wins the National Championship in January. Even though we flew out to Arizona for the game without tickets, we were able to buy club level tickets for face value at will-call due to so many folks being stuck in Alabama/Georgia do to a snow storm
3. A week long trip to Hawaii with my best friend Elise in April. We were able to connect with her cousin and one of our missionary friends. It was such a relaxing vacation, and I loved exploring all the different beaches
4. My first snow white Christmas: We had a beautiful, snowy Christmas this year. It was beautiful and fun to play in
5. Summer Camp 2011 with my rising 9th grade girls at Riverstone
6. Adopting my first puppy - Isabelle. She is a pure bread English Springer Spaniel, and will be 8 months at the end of November. She is making writing this blog difficult as she keeps jumping in my lap as I type. She is still very much puppy!
7. Watching Auburn come back from a 24 point def. against Alabama to go onto the SEC Championship
8. Attending the 2010 SEC Championship
9. Being a bridesmaid in Erin Sutton's wedding in January
10. Attending the following other weddings: Kelli Kite, Kimberly Kite, Matt Stafford, David and Stayce Van Gorp
11. Being asked to chair the communications and technology day for the current Leadership Cobb class
12. Hanging out with my "lil boyfriend" Thomas Egan several times. He may be just over a year old, but I love that little guy
13. Meeting with my accountability group from church. It's always fun and supportive to get together with Maria, Elisa and Kimberly
14. Serving on the steering committee for the Cobb Chamber ACES program
15. Being a small group leader for my girls at Riverstone Church
16. Working with United Way as the Cobb Development officer and raising over $7 million to help those in need
17. Going on a trip to the outlet malls with Jessica A. and Elizabeth S. (we've planned a better strategy for our next trip)
18. Multiple trips to Dang Nails to get pedicures with my mom, sister-in-law and friends
19. Going to see the movie "The Help" with a group of girl friends and our moms. Great book and great movie
20. Several "Clique" get together with my girls from Auburn. Some were all four of us, others we're just part of the "Clique" but we stayed in touch
21. Spending a weekend with Elise to see her new place in Rome, GA followed by a Superbowl party at David and Stayce's house in Cartersville
22. Going to Clemson in April to attend the annual JLF Golf Tournament. My family let me play a little during the tournament
23. Hosting a baby shower for Jessica and my lil nephew Tripp
24. Attending a two Braves game. One in the upper deck with friends from church and one in the club level sweet with Gas South (it was a thank you event for non-profits)
25. Going on a short road trip to St. Simons with my mom
26. Finding out how fantastic my friends and family are as they've come to my support through these most recent challenge.
Now, here's to a great year of being 27!!!!
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Delay of game leaves me disappointed, discouraged, upset and angry
I had hoped this blog would have been super positive. I thought it would be something to the effect of a surgery date has been set and my skull piece will be returned to my head shortly. Basically I was hoping that I would get the one and only thing I wanted for Christmas this year. Unfortunately, that isn't going to happen.
For a while I thought the surgery would happen in early/mid December. I meet with my neurologist, who is the lead doctor of my three doctors, on Nov. 11 after having a MRI the week before. The short of that visit was he had decided to move to plan B: meaning he was going to keep me on the blood thinner for 6 months but thought it would be ok to temporarily take me off the blood thiner to have the surgery in December. The MRI showed that the swelling of my brain has gone down but the vein where the blood clot was still hasn't opened back up as much as the doctors wanted. Basically - the blood clot was there, but he was willing to talk to my surgeon and by the time Christmas got here, my skull would be back to how it should be.
We all got really encouraged when my surgeon's office called to set up an appointment to talk about my surgery on Wednesday. For the first time, I was excited to go to a doctors appointment and I was really encouraged that this recovery process would finally starting to speed up, meaning I was close to returning to my normal self.
Unfortunately that isn't what happened: instead of surgery coming soon, it's been delayed.
I love my surgeon - we kind of have a love/hate relationship that started when he did a horrible job shaving my hair before the first surgery. He says I shouldn't be too upset as that was emergency surgery and my hair style wasn't as important as them getting in quickly. And he knew what he was going to tell me was going to be disappointing and make me upset - but he said it was in my best interest.
Basically what he said was he does not fill comfortable performing the surgery until my vein opens up more and the clot is gone. Pretty much returning to plan A = 3 months from when I left the hospital. The surgery we're talking about is putting the skull piece they removed back where it belongs - and what's crazy is it's considered an "elective" surgery. My surgeon said some patients never have anything put back in their head, but he said because of my young age and active lifestyle, he suggested I go through with the surgery - but wait.
He is worry about doing the surgery so soon is he doesn't want to go ahead and do the surgery and then the clot gets big again. He said I've gone so far already, he would hate for me to have to basically start all over. He wants to meet with me again in six weeks, after I have another MRI (which they called to tell me the date while I was writing this), and then we'll set a date surgery date for January depending on the MRI.
Physically and medically I value my surgeon's reasoning for delaying the surgeon. He's the one who is ultimately responsible, and it makes medical sense. As my dad said, if we wait until my head is ready for the surgery we go from kicking the field goal to making the touchdown.
But personally and emotionally - I'm disappointed, discouraged, upset, angry and a couple more things that aren't appropriate to write in a blog. Sometimes I feel like I take one step forward and two steps back. None of what happened and continues to happen to me makes any sense.
I have more questions than I do answers - both from my doctors and from God. I replay in my head everything that lead up to the stroke and what I can remember from my time at the hospital.
And while I haven't given up on God - my faith has totally be tested/challenged/questioned more than anything in my life. While I am surrounded by amazing friends and family - part of me feels very alone in all of this. While they all support, encourage and love me, I ultimately have to do this myself. And despite all my prayers, pleads and tears, talking with God is really hard right now. This whole thing just feels like the never ending story or a horrible nightmare I can't wake up from.
Everyone, including my doctors, say one day I'll be back to my normal self, just right now I'm not there yet - and my lack of patience doesn't help. One day I'll get there, but this delay of game is hard to take in right now.
For a while I thought the surgery would happen in early/mid December. I meet with my neurologist, who is the lead doctor of my three doctors, on Nov. 11 after having a MRI the week before. The short of that visit was he had decided to move to plan B: meaning he was going to keep me on the blood thinner for 6 months but thought it would be ok to temporarily take me off the blood thiner to have the surgery in December. The MRI showed that the swelling of my brain has gone down but the vein where the blood clot was still hasn't opened back up as much as the doctors wanted. Basically - the blood clot was there, but he was willing to talk to my surgeon and by the time Christmas got here, my skull would be back to how it should be.
We all got really encouraged when my surgeon's office called to set up an appointment to talk about my surgery on Wednesday. For the first time, I was excited to go to a doctors appointment and I was really encouraged that this recovery process would finally starting to speed up, meaning I was close to returning to my normal self.
Unfortunately that isn't what happened: instead of surgery coming soon, it's been delayed.
I love my surgeon - we kind of have a love/hate relationship that started when he did a horrible job shaving my hair before the first surgery. He says I shouldn't be too upset as that was emergency surgery and my hair style wasn't as important as them getting in quickly. And he knew what he was going to tell me was going to be disappointing and make me upset - but he said it was in my best interest.
Basically what he said was he does not fill comfortable performing the surgery until my vein opens up more and the clot is gone. Pretty much returning to plan A = 3 months from when I left the hospital. The surgery we're talking about is putting the skull piece they removed back where it belongs - and what's crazy is it's considered an "elective" surgery. My surgeon said some patients never have anything put back in their head, but he said because of my young age and active lifestyle, he suggested I go through with the surgery - but wait.
He is worry about doing the surgery so soon is he doesn't want to go ahead and do the surgery and then the clot gets big again. He said I've gone so far already, he would hate for me to have to basically start all over. He wants to meet with me again in six weeks, after I have another MRI (which they called to tell me the date while I was writing this), and then we'll set a date surgery date for January depending on the MRI.
Physically and medically I value my surgeon's reasoning for delaying the surgeon. He's the one who is ultimately responsible, and it makes medical sense. As my dad said, if we wait until my head is ready for the surgery we go from kicking the field goal to making the touchdown.
But personally and emotionally - I'm disappointed, discouraged, upset, angry and a couple more things that aren't appropriate to write in a blog. Sometimes I feel like I take one step forward and two steps back. None of what happened and continues to happen to me makes any sense.
I have more questions than I do answers - both from my doctors and from God. I replay in my head everything that lead up to the stroke and what I can remember from my time at the hospital.
And while I haven't given up on God - my faith has totally be tested/challenged/questioned more than anything in my life. While I am surrounded by amazing friends and family - part of me feels very alone in all of this. While they all support, encourage and love me, I ultimately have to do this myself. And despite all my prayers, pleads and tears, talking with God is really hard right now. This whole thing just feels like the never ending story or a horrible nightmare I can't wake up from.
Everyone, including my doctors, say one day I'll be back to my normal self, just right now I'm not there yet - and my lack of patience doesn't help. One day I'll get there, but this delay of game is hard to take in right now.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
With everything going on pregnancy and motherhood sound like a breeze
Ok before any rumors get started or my parents have a heart attach over this title - no I am not pregnant, trying to become pregnant or even thinking about having a kid anytime soon.
There is a two- part explanation to this headline.
1. My health issues and recovery covers the pregnancy part
2. My 7 month old puppy named Isabelle covers the motherhood part
Part 1:
As I've mentioned in several other blogs, one of the hardest thing for my recovery from the stroke and brain surgery is having a part of my skull in my stomach. It is completely uncomfortable because it moves; finding closes that actually and are comfortable is impossible; tons of people have asked to see my scare where my skull is hanging out and/or ask to touch it. As I tell this to my sister-in-law, who just gave birth in August to my nephew, she said a lot of what I'm experiencing reminders her of her pregnancy. And several people have suggested I look at maternity pants cause they'll fit the best - don't know if I'm willing to make that lead yet.
Another issues that people said relate to pregnant women is sleeping. I have always pretty much slept on my left side. It's how I like to sleep. Guess where my brain was cut open and where my skull piece is now living? If you guessed my left side then your correct. So now I try to sleep on my right side or my back (which I hate). Almost every morning I've woken up with my head slightly swollen again because at some point during the night I have rolled over onto my left side without realizing it. My sister-in-law has offered to let me borrow her pregnancy pillow so I don't roll over.
Those are the major items regarding part 1.
Now part 2 - motherhood
In May, I got a pure-bred English Spring Spaniel puppy I named Isabelle. She is a beautiful dog and is super sweet - when she wants to be. She is also very smart, very friendly very mischievous, very fast, very playful, very snuggly and we're pretty sure she's the alfa dog of her litter.
Prior to my health issues, I worked hard (including going to training at a pet place in east Cobb) on getting her potty trained and respondent to commands. After I went to the hospital, my younger brother Blake, took Isabelle to Birmingham with him. He kept Isabelle for about 2 months and really kept up the training with her. My dad and I went and picked Isabelle up about 2 weeks ago, as Blake is a law student and needed to start studying for finals. So I've been at my parents house since we picked her up since I still don't have the strength to keep her by myself.
Now she was good for a couple days we got her back - but now she is testing the limits and since this past Saturday has been a little puppy brat!
-She's taken a bit out of mom's dinner when she walked away from the table to get a napkin
-Popped inside the house countless times
-Chewed on shoes, pillows, blankets, trash, etc
-Jumps on everybody
-Tries to chew on people
-jumped up on top of the kitchen table
-drank out of the toilet
These are just of a few of the things she's done. Her most recent bratty thing is refusing to come back in the house when let out to play or go to the bathroom. One day this week, my dad was late to work because he couldn't get her inside. And this morning was horrible. While I was out there with her, she chased after 3 kids who were walking to the bus stop (which is 4 houses down from my parents), chased after 2 cars and just ran around through our neighbors yards. Every time I would get close to her, she would thin dart off, like we were playing a game of chase. After about 45 min., and using a treat as a distraction (I know that's wrong but it was freezing out side and I was exhausted), I was finally able to put a leash on her and get her inside. She spent 30 minutes in the bathroom, which is her new time-out spot. And for the next couple of days she's only allowed outside on her leash.
I feel like Isabelle is like a 2-year-old child - she can drive me nuts and make me so angry, but at the end of the day I love her.
So with everything involved in part one and part two of this blog, I really think pregnancy and motherhood sound like a breeze :)
Here are two photos of Isabelle. The first is when I first got her and she was soo small. And then the second is a more recent photo:
There is a two- part explanation to this headline.
1. My health issues and recovery covers the pregnancy part
2. My 7 month old puppy named Isabelle covers the motherhood part
Part 1:
As I've mentioned in several other blogs, one of the hardest thing for my recovery from the stroke and brain surgery is having a part of my skull in my stomach. It is completely uncomfortable because it moves; finding closes that actually and are comfortable is impossible; tons of people have asked to see my scare where my skull is hanging out and/or ask to touch it. As I tell this to my sister-in-law, who just gave birth in August to my nephew, she said a lot of what I'm experiencing reminders her of her pregnancy. And several people have suggested I look at maternity pants cause they'll fit the best - don't know if I'm willing to make that lead yet.
Another issues that people said relate to pregnant women is sleeping. I have always pretty much slept on my left side. It's how I like to sleep. Guess where my brain was cut open and where my skull piece is now living? If you guessed my left side then your correct. So now I try to sleep on my right side or my back (which I hate). Almost every morning I've woken up with my head slightly swollen again because at some point during the night I have rolled over onto my left side without realizing it. My sister-in-law has offered to let me borrow her pregnancy pillow so I don't roll over.
Those are the major items regarding part 1.
Now part 2 - motherhood
In May, I got a pure-bred English Spring Spaniel puppy I named Isabelle. She is a beautiful dog and is super sweet - when she wants to be. She is also very smart, very friendly very mischievous, very fast, very playful, very snuggly and we're pretty sure she's the alfa dog of her litter.
Prior to my health issues, I worked hard (including going to training at a pet place in east Cobb) on getting her potty trained and respondent to commands. After I went to the hospital, my younger brother Blake, took Isabelle to Birmingham with him. He kept Isabelle for about 2 months and really kept up the training with her. My dad and I went and picked Isabelle up about 2 weeks ago, as Blake is a law student and needed to start studying for finals. So I've been at my parents house since we picked her up since I still don't have the strength to keep her by myself.
Now she was good for a couple days we got her back - but now she is testing the limits and since this past Saturday has been a little puppy brat!
-She's taken a bit out of mom's dinner when she walked away from the table to get a napkin
-Popped inside the house countless times
-Chewed on shoes, pillows, blankets, trash, etc
-Jumps on everybody
-Tries to chew on people
-jumped up on top of the kitchen table
-drank out of the toilet
These are just of a few of the things she's done. Her most recent bratty thing is refusing to come back in the house when let out to play or go to the bathroom. One day this week, my dad was late to work because he couldn't get her inside. And this morning was horrible. While I was out there with her, she chased after 3 kids who were walking to the bus stop (which is 4 houses down from my parents), chased after 2 cars and just ran around through our neighbors yards. Every time I would get close to her, she would thin dart off, like we were playing a game of chase. After about 45 min., and using a treat as a distraction (I know that's wrong but it was freezing out side and I was exhausted), I was finally able to put a leash on her and get her inside. She spent 30 minutes in the bathroom, which is her new time-out spot. And for the next couple of days she's only allowed outside on her leash.
I feel like Isabelle is like a 2-year-old child - she can drive me nuts and make me so angry, but at the end of the day I love her.
So with everything involved in part one and part two of this blog, I really think pregnancy and motherhood sound like a breeze :)
Here are two photos of Isabelle. The first is when I first got her and she was soo small. And then the second is a more recent photo:
Thursday, November 3, 2011
A big prayer request on my upcoming MRI
Tonight's blog is really more of a prayer request than an update on how I'm doing. The reason is on Friday I am having an MRI and it can determine when I can have my next surgery to put my skull back on my head. And having that surgery is really all I want right now!!!!
My MRI is at 8:30 a.m. and will last about an hour. The test is really loud and could easily cause me to have a bad headache the rest of the day.
What I'm hoping with tomorrow's test is that it shows that the swelling of my brain has gone down, the clot on my brain is no longer bleeding and I can come off the blood thiner. My surgeon won't do the surgery to put my skull back where it belongs until I've been off the blood thiner for 2 weeks. He said he thinks the surgery will be after Christmas or first of the year. I'm hoping it will be my Christmas gift :)
Many of you have heard me complain about having part of my skull in my stomach. While it's kind of cool to know that my skull is chilling in my stomach - basically staying safe until they can put it back in my head. Having part of your skull in your stomach is sooo uncomfortable. It hurts, it moves all the time, it makes sitting still impossible, sleeping is difficult...I'm ready for my surgeon to put everything back to normal.
And I'm very nervous about tomorrow's MRI. I just fill like I've had a lot of bad luck recently, and I'm worried that my luck streak isn't going to improve anytime soon. I wonder how long I'm going to have to wait to have the surgery. Today, Thursday, I went to have my weekly finger prick so they can check my blood level. They typically want it to fall between 2-3. But the last two weeks it's dropped, with today's being a 1.6. Every time it drops they have to figure out a new dose of the blood thiner, and they can't figure out why it keeps dropping. I was hoping for a good results from my weekly finger prick, thinking it would calm me down about the MRI. But now I'm very anxious, nervous and worried about the MRI.
The test is tomorrow, Friday, but we won't meet with the doctor until Nov. 11. So I will have to wait at least a week to see if we're close to setting a date for the surgery. The surgery one of those big things in my long recovery and just setting a date seems impossible.
I know I'm learning a lot about patience right now, but that's not going so well. I really just want God to give me a break and answer my continuous question of why did all of this happen to me. People have constantly told me about how my experience will be a great testimony and God has great things in store for me because of this. But right now that is really hard to fully believe. I'm overwhelmed, angry, scared, hurting and just have more unanswered questions for God than answered ones. This is why I'm asking for your prayers for tomorrow's MRI. I feel like every time I take a step forward in recovery I take several steps back. And positive MRI results will help move me forward and hopefully turn my luck around.
My MRI is at 8:30 a.m. and will last about an hour. The test is really loud and could easily cause me to have a bad headache the rest of the day.
What I'm hoping with tomorrow's test is that it shows that the swelling of my brain has gone down, the clot on my brain is no longer bleeding and I can come off the blood thiner. My surgeon won't do the surgery to put my skull back where it belongs until I've been off the blood thiner for 2 weeks. He said he thinks the surgery will be after Christmas or first of the year. I'm hoping it will be my Christmas gift :)
Many of you have heard me complain about having part of my skull in my stomach. While it's kind of cool to know that my skull is chilling in my stomach - basically staying safe until they can put it back in my head. Having part of your skull in your stomach is sooo uncomfortable. It hurts, it moves all the time, it makes sitting still impossible, sleeping is difficult...I'm ready for my surgeon to put everything back to normal.
And I'm very nervous about tomorrow's MRI. I just fill like I've had a lot of bad luck recently, and I'm worried that my luck streak isn't going to improve anytime soon. I wonder how long I'm going to have to wait to have the surgery. Today, Thursday, I went to have my weekly finger prick so they can check my blood level. They typically want it to fall between 2-3. But the last two weeks it's dropped, with today's being a 1.6. Every time it drops they have to figure out a new dose of the blood thiner, and they can't figure out why it keeps dropping. I was hoping for a good results from my weekly finger prick, thinking it would calm me down about the MRI. But now I'm very anxious, nervous and worried about the MRI.
The test is tomorrow, Friday, but we won't meet with the doctor until Nov. 11. So I will have to wait at least a week to see if we're close to setting a date for the surgery. The surgery one of those big things in my long recovery and just setting a date seems impossible.
I know I'm learning a lot about patience right now, but that's not going so well. I really just want God to give me a break and answer my continuous question of why did all of this happen to me. People have constantly told me about how my experience will be a great testimony and God has great things in store for me because of this. But right now that is really hard to fully believe. I'm overwhelmed, angry, scared, hurting and just have more unanswered questions for God than answered ones. This is why I'm asking for your prayers for tomorrow's MRI. I feel like every time I take a step forward in recovery I take several steps back. And positive MRI results will help move me forward and hopefully turn my luck around.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Pants on the ground, pants on the ground, looking like a fool with my pants on the group
Random question: Have you ever had trouble finding pants that fit because they were squishing your skull? Well I have!!!
This week I started going back to the United Way office. This week I start with two days in the office and the rest of the week I'm working from home. The next following weeks, we are playing this by ear as to which days I work at the office and which days I work from home, depending on how I'm feeling, doctors visits and other things going on.
After wearing comfortable clothes the last few months - basically t-shirts and either shorts, work out shorts or long comfortable pants (depending on the weather) I needed to figure out some work close to wear.
I first needed to change out my clothes in my closet from my spring/summer wear to my fall/winter wear now that it's getting a little cold. That was my first issue. (that has slightly been done, since I'm still on steriods I get hot very easily)
But my other, bigger issues, is I have half of my skull chilling out in my stomach. When I had my emergency brain surgery, the surgeon put the skull he removed in my stomach for safe keeping. They will re-install my skull probably within the next two months - date of surgery is still to be determined and it all depends on how my recovery is going. Just to let you know, having part of your skull chilling in your stomach is the most annoying, uncomfortable thing ever!!!!! The skull likes to shift around, and it makes my stomach bigger.
Having part of my skull in my stomach has created this problem with finding pants and skirts to wear. I typically wear 6 or 8 size pants (depending on the store). I've worn jeans a couple times since I've been out of the hospital when I've gone out with friends, but I've had to wear my larger jeans (you know the ones you have for when you gain that extra weight - like during the holidays). They don't squish my skull. But since I lost so much weight after being in the hospital so long, they're too big on me (also all my belts are too big - and they put too much pressure on my stomach). So when I go out, I spend the entire time pulling up my pants. They don't fall completely off, but I could totally be a gangster as they slip down.
After trying on most of the pants that I thought would be work appropriate and comfortable that I already owned and none of them working, my mom and I decided to run out shopping and see what we could find. I didn't want to spend money on any really large pants that I could only wear for 2 months. We were looking for pants that actually fit and weren't squishing my skull.
But after trying on about 8 pairs of pants, we determined that having your skull in your stomach makes wearing paint impossible.
The only saving grace though is skirts with tights. They are work appropriate and comfortable enough to deal with the annoying skull in my stomach.
The long road to recovery has a lot of parts - and finding clothes is one of them.
Hope this blog made you laugh - cause yesterday's shopping experience totally made me laugh. :)
This week I started going back to the United Way office. This week I start with two days in the office and the rest of the week I'm working from home. The next following weeks, we are playing this by ear as to which days I work at the office and which days I work from home, depending on how I'm feeling, doctors visits and other things going on.
After wearing comfortable clothes the last few months - basically t-shirts and either shorts, work out shorts or long comfortable pants (depending on the weather) I needed to figure out some work close to wear.
I first needed to change out my clothes in my closet from my spring/summer wear to my fall/winter wear now that it's getting a little cold. That was my first issue. (that has slightly been done, since I'm still on steriods I get hot very easily)
But my other, bigger issues, is I have half of my skull chilling out in my stomach. When I had my emergency brain surgery, the surgeon put the skull he removed in my stomach for safe keeping. They will re-install my skull probably within the next two months - date of surgery is still to be determined and it all depends on how my recovery is going. Just to let you know, having part of your skull chilling in your stomach is the most annoying, uncomfortable thing ever!!!!! The skull likes to shift around, and it makes my stomach bigger.
Having part of my skull in my stomach has created this problem with finding pants and skirts to wear. I typically wear 6 or 8 size pants (depending on the store). I've worn jeans a couple times since I've been out of the hospital when I've gone out with friends, but I've had to wear my larger jeans (you know the ones you have for when you gain that extra weight - like during the holidays). They don't squish my skull. But since I lost so much weight after being in the hospital so long, they're too big on me (also all my belts are too big - and they put too much pressure on my stomach). So when I go out, I spend the entire time pulling up my pants. They don't fall completely off, but I could totally be a gangster as they slip down.
After trying on most of the pants that I thought would be work appropriate and comfortable that I already owned and none of them working, my mom and I decided to run out shopping and see what we could find. I didn't want to spend money on any really large pants that I could only wear for 2 months. We were looking for pants that actually fit and weren't squishing my skull.
But after trying on about 8 pairs of pants, we determined that having your skull in your stomach makes wearing paint impossible.
The only saving grace though is skirts with tights. They are work appropriate and comfortable enough to deal with the annoying skull in my stomach.
The long road to recovery has a lot of parts - and finding clothes is one of them.
Hope this blog made you laugh - cause yesterday's shopping experience totally made me laugh. :)
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Workouts and weight gain - two keys to recovery
So beside all the medicine, doctor visits, therapist and finger pricks, there are two other things I must do every day on my road to recovery - workout with exercises from my physical therapists and gain weight. I know this sound totally opposite, but there is a method to the madness.
My physical therapists is a good friend of my sister-in-law, Jessica, who actually specializes in stroke victims. She came over to my house almost a week ago and did a lot of tests to see how I was recovering. She gave me a plan for each day so that I can get back to normal, and she also tested all of my muscle. Most of my muscles were good except my legs (my quads especially) because I was in a hospital bed for almost 4 weeks. After her assessment, she gave Jessica 7 different exercises that I should do every day to get my strength back. I should also go on lots of walks and only hold onto someone to help me walk if I really need it.
So the exercises I have to do each day don't seem to bad - they are different types of leg raises, kicks, pushing up on toes and squats. But they kick my butt. And to make the workouts more intense, my sister-in-law monitors them. Jessica is a personal trainer, very into working out including crossfit. I don't skip doing my exercises cause then I'll get in trouble with Jessica. Right now I have to do ever exercise 2 sets on each leg once a day. Starting soon Jessica is going to increase that to twice a day. I'm glad that I have Jessica kind of "training" me because I want to get back to normal soon and it's encouraging to have her push me so that I don't slack.
Until I have my skull put back in my head, my doctors don't want me doing any major exercises (like crossfit, lifting weights or getting on a treadmill), but I can go on walks. I live next door to a park so it's fun to go walking there (I went walking there yesterday with Elise). And once I get my puppy Isabelle back I talk her on walks there.
Ok so that's all about the workout stuff I'm doing. The other thing my doctors want me to do is gain more weight. When I left the hospital, I weighed 118 pounds. That was 2 pounds lighter than what my drivers license says (I never changed my drivers license from when I got it at 16). I got on the scale at my doctors visit on Monday and I now weigh 130, so I've gained 12 pounds, but the doctors would still like me to add a little more weight.
Luckily I have something helping me out. To help with my Crohns, I'm taking steriods right now. So I am hungry all the time and I can eat like a teenage boy. I'm craving hamburgers and fast food. I'm normally a pretty heathy eater, but the steriods have temporarily changed that. Plus I also have a major sweet tooth right now. Tons of people who have brought us dinner have also brought us desserts (we have cakes, cookies, cupcakes, candy). After I finish all my of exercises, I always reward myself with a dessert :) And to add to all the sweets, my great aunt is making me my own red velvet cake that she'll give me at our family reunion in November. It's my favorite cake ever, so she's making me one as a get well present.
The workouts and the weight gain are an interesting piece of my road to recovery, but they're worth it.
Just a random note to add to this blog: Thank you Jessica, Ruth Allen and Lauren for taking me to dinner last night. It was great to get out of the house and talk with you guys for a couple of hours. I felt like I could be honest with all of you and you guys provided a lot of encouragement! It's great that we're all supportive of each other!
My physical therapists is a good friend of my sister-in-law, Jessica, who actually specializes in stroke victims. She came over to my house almost a week ago and did a lot of tests to see how I was recovering. She gave me a plan for each day so that I can get back to normal, and she also tested all of my muscle. Most of my muscles were good except my legs (my quads especially) because I was in a hospital bed for almost 4 weeks. After her assessment, she gave Jessica 7 different exercises that I should do every day to get my strength back. I should also go on lots of walks and only hold onto someone to help me walk if I really need it.
So the exercises I have to do each day don't seem to bad - they are different types of leg raises, kicks, pushing up on toes and squats. But they kick my butt. And to make the workouts more intense, my sister-in-law monitors them. Jessica is a personal trainer, very into working out including crossfit. I don't skip doing my exercises cause then I'll get in trouble with Jessica. Right now I have to do ever exercise 2 sets on each leg once a day. Starting soon Jessica is going to increase that to twice a day. I'm glad that I have Jessica kind of "training" me because I want to get back to normal soon and it's encouraging to have her push me so that I don't slack.
Until I have my skull put back in my head, my doctors don't want me doing any major exercises (like crossfit, lifting weights or getting on a treadmill), but I can go on walks. I live next door to a park so it's fun to go walking there (I went walking there yesterday with Elise). And once I get my puppy Isabelle back I talk her on walks there.
Ok so that's all about the workout stuff I'm doing. The other thing my doctors want me to do is gain more weight. When I left the hospital, I weighed 118 pounds. That was 2 pounds lighter than what my drivers license says (I never changed my drivers license from when I got it at 16). I got on the scale at my doctors visit on Monday and I now weigh 130, so I've gained 12 pounds, but the doctors would still like me to add a little more weight.
Luckily I have something helping me out. To help with my Crohns, I'm taking steriods right now. So I am hungry all the time and I can eat like a teenage boy. I'm craving hamburgers and fast food. I'm normally a pretty heathy eater, but the steriods have temporarily changed that. Plus I also have a major sweet tooth right now. Tons of people who have brought us dinner have also brought us desserts (we have cakes, cookies, cupcakes, candy). After I finish all my of exercises, I always reward myself with a dessert :) And to add to all the sweets, my great aunt is making me my own red velvet cake that she'll give me at our family reunion in November. It's my favorite cake ever, so she's making me one as a get well present.
The workouts and the weight gain are an interesting piece of my road to recovery, but they're worth it.
Just a random note to add to this blog: Thank you Jessica, Ruth Allen and Lauren for taking me to dinner last night. It was great to get out of the house and talk with you guys for a couple of hours. I felt like I could be honest with all of you and you guys provided a lot of encouragement! It's great that we're all supportive of each other!
Monday, October 24, 2011
My first road trip after my life started over again
With permission from all of my doctors, I spent Saturday and Sunday of this weekend in St. Simons to watch my good friend Kelli marry Luke. I was really concerned that I wouldn't be able to go, but the doctors cleared me as long as I had someone drive me there - flying is not a good thing for me to do until they replace the skull in my head.
I am soo thankful to my amazing mom who drove me to and from St. Simons, and didn't even go to the wedding herself. We had an great girls weekend though. We left early Saturday morning and got onto the island about noon. We ate a really good lunch of fried shrimp in the village and then went and checked out some of the cool stops. I was able to buy a couple of Christmas presents but I won't say what they are so they remain a surprise.
The wedding was at 4 p.m. and my mom drove me there, and then I met up with the 3 girls I was originally suppose to go to the wedding with - Jessica A., Elisa T., Maria H. These three ladies were amazing. My dad had given Elisa and Maria a long talking to about a week before the wedding to make sure they new how they needed to take care of me at the wedding and keep me safe. And they followed through with their promise to my dad. The three of them were like my personal body guards. The ceremony was outside and it was a little walk from the parking lot. The first part of the path was off road, and when we got there one of the groomsman told us to be careful cause it was a little slippery. So to get me down safely, Jessica went in front of me, Elisa went behind me and Maria was next to me so I could hold onto her and get down without slipping. They three of them did things like that all night so that I wouldn't get hit or pushed on accident. Thank you ladies so much.
I also talked to a lot of folks that night who have been wanting to hear how I was doing and see me for awhile. It is so encouraging that I have so many people who have been praying for me and have been encouraged by how I am recovering from this awful situation. I had several folks say while they hate that something this horrible has happened to me, they believe I am strong enough to make it through and will be a great testimony for many people.
On Sunday morning, mom and I meet the girls for breakfast and filled her in on all the stuff from the wedding, and then we all went and walked the beach a little bit before we all headed home. It was a good little vacation out of town!
The funniest thing from the wedding is I think some folks are confused about the piece of skull in my stomach. Some people think it's part of my brain - nope not right. And others are wondering if the skull is doing something special in my stomach, like healing something. I just told them that basically no, the piece of skull is just chilling out in my stomach. But to be honest, it is the most uncomfortable thing ever. It shifts all the time - like after the wedding and a 6 hour car ride home it had fallen really low on my hip, which was really uncomfortable. And figuring out clothes to wear is difficult. I lost a lot of weight being in the hospital for so long. So finding pants to wear is difficult. I had to try on 3 different jeans today because the ones that fit the best were too tight on my skull. So the pants I ended up wearing were a little too big and kept falling down.
I did go see my surgeon (the one that will put my skull back in) this morning for a follow up visit. A couple of the news he gave me this morning made me a little depressed. He is thinking it will be 2 months before he'll put my skull back in (depending on what my neurologist says and when I come off one of my meds). So this means it'll be after Christmas or first of next year. So 2 more months with the annoying skull in my stomach. And I asked him about why every so often my head where he did the surgery gets really tight and hurts a lot (it hurt really bad and was super tight on Sunday.) He said that's basically normal and is just part of the healing process.
So there are good days and bad days with this recovery. I've been told by many people (doctors, therapist, and more) that this healing process will take time. I'm ready to be back to my normal self so sometimes I get a little upset to be reminded that I'll be the normal Ashley again, just not as soon as I want. God and I are talking about this a lot because patience is something I've never been good at. And hopefully one day I'll look back on this whole disaster and thank God for everything I've learned. Right now I'm just ready for it to be over.
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