Walking Spirit

Wow, 40 responses! Thanks to everyone who made a comment to the last update. I'm so happy to hear from you. I just wish that I had time to respond to each one of you to tell you what you mean to me. I'm so thankful for the support that you continue to give me, even if we've never met. I truly believe that I wouldn't be where I am today without all of you. You give me the motivation to continue on.

As my health and physical condition has improved I've continued to press myself harder and harder to live my life as if I don't have a disability. As you know, I'm back to work full time and am also involved in several things outside of work. Most of the time this isn't too hard to manage, but every so often it seems as if everything is happening at once. This past month has been hectic to say the least.

About two weeks ago my body started sending me signals that it was ready to slow down again. I started feeling weaker and could feel a huge energy drain half way through the day. occasionally would get hot, shaky, and sometimes a little nauseous for no apparent reason. However, my temperature would be fine, I was eating regularly, and I was getting the same amount of sleep. Mind you, sleep is not as restful as it was before the accident.

I never realized how important legs were to a restful sleep. Before the accident I slept on my stomach. I'm no longer able to do that because, without my legs to spread my weight, it hurts my back. When I get hot, I can't kick the sheets off of me in my sleep, so I wake up sweaty and have to get up to get comfortable again. I toss and turn a lot, as many people do, but even that process requires conscious thought as opposed to sleepy instinct.

Finally, I decided to listen to what my body was telling me and take some time off. Last Monday I stayed at home most of the day. I did take the time to go to UIndy and work with small groups of Physical Therapy students. This was a lot of fun and hopefully helpful to them. (Sadly, none of the women in the class offered me their phone numbers, but this really wasn't the appropriate environment for me to pick up women anyway!) I worked Tuesday through Thursday and then took a three day weekend. I stayed home for the majority of the time to recharge. Sometimes it helps me to be a hermit!

I never got sick, so don't worry, but I feel 100 times healthier this week than I have for a while and have taken this as a sign to take more time to myself. The lesson here, is to listen to your body, do what you enjoy, and accept that the world won't end if you put your work off long enough for you to be able to recharge! (There may also be a lesson about me needing to ask women for their numbers, instead of hoping that they'll be forward enough to offer them, but that's a subject for another blog!)