I'm getting my life back!

Good morning! It is Saturday morning, and I spent the night at my townhouse all by myself like a big girl! Yep, sure did...........No chaperones here! Some of you who haven't seen me lately might not realize what a big step that is for me; but if you had seen me at Christmas, you would definitely understand. Even though my efforts paid off and I got into the exercise program for cancer survivors, I pushed myself just a little too hard and ended up paying the price for it. As I stated in my last post, my body was just too worn down, and I caught a cold from my mother that just knocked me off my feet. Then, instead of taking a few months to recuperate from cancer treatments, I pushed to get my hysterectomy, which caused me to continue being inactive for several more weeks. By the time Christmas rolled around, I couldn't talk and I could hardly walk. This is not an understatement. I could hardly put one foot in front of the other. I told you that I was going to have an MRI, and I did. The verdict is in: I definitely have a herniated disc. I was put on a 12day supply of prednisone, and I just finished it last night. Boy, am I glad too! The first several days that I was on it, I just felt more energetic. Over the past four or five days though, I've been a bottomless pit because it made me feel like I was starving. Last night, I ate everything in sight! Luckily, I was here and not at Mama's!

Since my last post, I have done a complete turnaround! When the chiropractor told me that my hip was inflamed, I started taking 800mg of ibuprofen with breakfast. That enabled me to get going in the morning, and I could function better.......slowly, but better. The more I started to move, the less pain I had. After diagnosing the herniation, I started taking the prednisone, and pretty soon, I could function without the ibuprofen. Next thing I knew, I had dropped eight pounds! I continued going to the gym and was able to stop taking the ibuprofen on a regular basis, and next thing I knew, I had lost twelve pounds! And now, I only take the ibuprofen when I go to the gym. I finished the prednisone last night. Over the last few days, it has made me gain a couple of pounds back, but I'm not sweating that. I know that is normal for that drug, and I'll get it back off soon.

I feel like a different person! I am going to the gym three nights a week, and it feels so good to be a gym rat again. I work out with two other women who have also survived breast cancer. I am the youngest, and also the most recently diagnosed. I think both of them have been survivors for at least five years. They keep telling me they can't believe how quickly I am bouncing back. And I AM bouncing back! We are lifting light weights, and I'm getting my strength back. We're using the elliptical equipment, and I'm starting to have more stamina now. And because of all of the stretching we're doing, I'm getting my range of motion back. I am now able to sleep in any position I want to, and let me tell you, it's the little things in life like that that I will never take for granted again. Sometimes when I lie down at night, I am overcome with emotion and gratitude, simply for the absence of pain. It had been my bed partner for so long, that when I lie down and don't hurt anywhere, it's shocking. Sometimes I just lie there and cry and thank the Lord for comfort and being painfree.

Even though there's nothing wrong with my hip, the herniated disc is what's causing the pain in it. I still can't sit on anything hard for any period of time. I went to see my cousin, Coty, play basketball last Saturday, and I hadn't been sitting on the bleachers thirty seconds before I was hurting. I have to be careful, but the pain is so much better, I feel guilty complaining. Considering the fact that I could hardly walk at Christmas, I feel blessed to be able to work and go to the gym. You won't hear me whining!

Got my first haircut too! Mama told me that I needed to have my neck shaved and "shaped up" again, so I went to my cousin, Sandy, and she did that for me. She said my curls were starting to curl up around my ears, so she trimmed them just a little. So, yes, technically, it was an official haircut. The rest hasn't been cut yet, but my gosh, it's so thick! It won't be long. My bangs are still really short, but the rest of my head looks "normal" now. I no longer look like a chemo patient!

I get excited about the little things now: I can tie my own shoes. I can once again hook a bra that hooks in the back. I can drive the golfcart around the yard and pick up the limbs and pine cones for my daddy. I helped Mama put clean sheets on my bed the other day. I went to the grocery store last week and bought groceries with my own money and unloaded them myself. And for the first time since last April, I held Rachel in my lap.......

It's the little things that I will never take for granted again. Sleeping all night long without waking up constantly in pain. Being able to eat my mama's cooking. Being able to get in my jeep and drive........Independence..........Health..........

Life is good once again, and now I realize it was the whole time; I just didn't appreciate it then. I have learned that God really does care about the littlest details of my life. Nothing is too small or too big for Him to stop and work out on my behalf. He walked beside me through the valley of cancer, and now I'm on the mountaintop peering into my future, and it is bright!
The sky is blue.......the sun is shining..........and it's almost time for daffodils........

I'm getting my life back............and it feels good..........