All good news on the road back to normalcy and good health. I went to the gym today to test my legs and stamina (no, I did not ask the doctor, this is my call, better or worse,) and I did 20 minutes on the treadmill under the watchful eye of Laura, the gym manager. Then I did 10 minutes on the upper arms and body machines.

Then I did an hour or show for our first food shop in a couple of weeks – we need things. It’s time to start moving on.

Maria worked in her studio all day except to help me drop my car off to get inspected and then help me get it home. Tonight, she is off to belly dancing without a blink or worry. It felt good to be mobile and valuable today, I felt I was coming back into myself.

I had little pain in my side in the supermarket but a lot afterward. It will be like that for a while.

Sometimes I walk fine; sometimes, the same step will hit me like lightning. The bruising on my side and back has emerged, and now I know exactly what I fell on. I’m lucky.

I had no discomfort at the gym, intense breathing, steady heartbeat, and it felt good to move my body. I did take it slow and easy.

I check in with my doctors, but some decisions must be mine, and I need to be responsible for them. When Nurse Practioner Amy Aldredge called to talk about my clot and check on things, she said “great” when I told her I’d gone to the gym.

I told her my stomach, and intestinal issues seemed to recover today, for the first time in 12 days. She told me that the second round of tests showed a clot caused by my fall or the illness that struck. She said the lump was small, in an ancillary vessel, and was no threat to the heart or brain.

I feel drained and easily tired, but my blood sugar, heart, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels are all excellent, better than ever.  My body and I are getting through it intact.

No medication was necessary; we just had to watch it go away on its own. I have one more appointment with Amy in a few weeks and that’s the last health care professional I need to see about it. I’ll try to take it easy next Monday and then will resume my work at the Mansion and will meet the new principal I’ll be working with at Bishop Gibbons, along with Sue.

She said I’ve been fever-free for more than a week, and I am free to go and do whatever it is I want to go and do. Please take time to rest, she said, this kind of illness can take a while to resolve itself completely, and the more I sleep, the quicker I’ll heal. But expect some fatigue for a time, maybe months.

Amy said that moving is also reasonable, but in moderation and with thought.

So this is my last Recovery Journal I’m hoping, at least for a while, hopefully for good. I learned this round to be patient, hopeful, and mindful that so many others suffer more than I could have imagined, let alone experienced. My illness felt awful, but in the scheme of things, was minor.

I have a lot to consider.  This was the most painful, disturbing, and frightening illness I’ve ever experienced, and I include Open Heart Surgery. Compared to this, that seemed a breeze.

I had good doctors to call and speak with, and they got on the phone every time I called and listened to me, comforted me, and helped me. That made for a very big difference.

It’s too soon for a victory dance, but I do want to pass on what I learned. Perspective and acceptance are the two things that helped me heal, move along and think positively.  Being with Maria is so big a deal I can’t quite sum it up.

Every nurse I have met on this journey has told me that attitude is as essential to healing as any other single factor.

My attitude was walk through this without lament, self-pity, or self-absorption. I reject whining and self-pity in all of its forms.

I believe in respecting life. I have learned to accept life which means celebrating the good and respecting the bad. Both are a part of life. We will all suffer. Grace is all about how we respond to it. Life is what we make of it.

This was a frightening and very painful thing, but I can’t say I was stunned by it. I’m not surprised by life, I’m in it.

If I can’t accept the bad, I have no right to expect the good. As always, I thank you for your support and encouragement.

Onward.