End of the tunnel

I think God has once again been merciful to me. I've heard from many people about how painful and awful shingles can be, but for me, it was more of a nuisance. Literally a “pain in the arse” :) There were about 3 nights when it was difficult to sleep and I had to be careful how I sat, but overall, they were tolerable. Once again, Village Peds proved to be a blessing as being at work seemed to help keep my mind off of it. It didn't spread down my leg and everything seems to be drying up now. I pray that it keeps progressing in that direction! I know that when kids get it, it's not as painful as it is in adults. So I guess that means even though I don't feel like it, I'm closer to pediatric than geriatric! Tuesday I head back to Omaha, hopefully everything will check out ok. I've been having a little bit of shortness of breath and fatigue, so probably won't make it out of Nebraska without a CT. Better safe than sorry. Other than that, the days continue to pass by – ups and downs, but the overall trend is definitely up. I hope everyone enjoys what's left of summer!

Maybe more red than green.

Seriously, you've got to be kidding. I just can't seem to be content with “boring” when it comes to my health. What started out as what I thought was a “sore bum” from PT has turned out to be shingles! Shingles, a nice red, blistery rash that started on my tail bone and has continued to progress south. So far it's only spread to my upper leg and I pray that it doesn't go any farther but the nerve track that's affected goes all the way down my leg so it could potentially affect the whole thing. It's only mildly uncomfortable, alternating between a slight burn/ache and a mild itch and again I pray that it stays that way because all I keep hearing is how painful shingles can become. Dr. Vose said that I needed to “immediately” start an anti-viral but I'm skeptical that it will help at this point since the symptoms started several days ago, but we'll give it a go and take 1 day at a time until we've cleared this hurdle. For now, I guess I'll be a good “teaching case” for everyone in my office.

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding..” ~Proverbs 3:5

It's greener on my side!

Life is good around here. It's been busy at work as everyone is needing a physical before school starts. A few long days with short lunches, but it's been nice seeing old faces and catching up with patients that I haven't seen in a while. Last night some big storms rolled through KC and to no surprise I managed to sleep through them. When I was leaving for work I mumbled as I noticed some downed limbs in the yard (nothing large enough to need a saw) but a nuisance none the less. I didn't get more than a mile from my house when I started to feel bad about my mumblings – other neighborhoods looked like an ice storm had hit – trees down, fences gone, electricity out, roads blocked. One street was blocked not just with high line wires, but with all the high wire poles- laying like dominoes! Instead of being annoyed that my trees had once again littered my yard, I should have been thanking God that I still had trees. I guess that's probably pretty common. We get caught up in our own day-to-day, dwell on how “rough” we have it, and stop noticing what's going on around us. I've been praying lately that God would open my eyes to those in need, show me ways that I can share the love and mercy He's given me. I know that He provides all of us with opportunities to share and help if only we take the time to see.
10 more days before I head back to Omaha.
“Be very careful then how you live – not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of every opportunity... Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.” ~Ephesians 5:15-17.

Day 420...

Lab results came back and thankfully they were boring! Platelets eeked by just above 100, Hemoglobin was a little bit higher, CMV and HPylori were both negative! I had my 1 month evaluation at PT and they seemed very pleased with my progress. They seemed equally impressed at how I manage to successfully accomplish tasks even though I'm not using the "correct" muscles (probably the reason for the large knots that I have in my shoulders - they've been there for longer than I can remember). In any case, the knots scored me a 15 minute massage in an attempt to get them to relax so that the correct muscles could try to work. I've never been so thankful for the knots :) A few of us went country dancing for the first time since I got sick and I was still able to make it around the floor (but have to admit that we didn't try anything too fancy). I still haven't tried to "run" - I think I'm a little afraid at what will happen, or rather, what won't happen! Maybe next week.
Otherwise, pretty status quo - lots of kids needing physicals has managed to keep us busy at work. Hard to believe that summer is almost over and a year ago I still had 6 weeks in Omaha! Oh, the fun I missed ;) Three more weeks before I go back to Omaha.
"Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go...for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." ~Genesis 28:15