This month has been CRAZY! Jaelyn got her tonsils out, I had an eye appointment, and we celebrated many events: our friends' weddings, our anniversary, Seeri's birthday, my Dad's birthday, and my sister's bachelorette party and bridal shower. I have continued to attend Next Level and make improvements with my coordination. I have also been honored with some pretty huge life altering events (more on that later). And of course, I returned to work! Whew!
My eye appointment was on August 8. My eye improved again. I am now wearing a 15 strength prism. We discussed eye muscle surgery and having my prism ground in to my glasses. If I have eye muscle surgery my eye would be re-centered but it is not a guarantee that it would correct my double vision. My doctor thought it would considering it has improved so much that they wouldn't have to tweak it much. But, to me, the only perk of surgery was that I would be able to wear contacts again. If that is not a guarantee than I don't think I want to have surgery on my eye muscles because that just sounds scary and unnecessary really. My eye is barely noticeable anymore. So I am thinking I will just have my prism ground in to my lens. If that was done, the lines that are visible from my prism would no longer be there; my lens would be clear just like my left side. I cannot have anything done until my eye has been stable for six months. The next time I go back to the doctor is November 14.
The way my left side feels still remains the same. It is still a bit stiff and heavy but my functioning has improved. I feel pretty darn close to normal with everything that I do with my upper body. My lower body coordination has improved a bit. Left roundhouses are feeling a bit more normal and I feel like I can control my leg snap a bit more. I can do two roundhouses in a row and even do a left to right or a right to left roundhouse. I can only do one, but that is more than I could do two weeks ago! I have had three big accomplishments: I can now do a real burpee; no more modifications! I can do push-ups on my toes (about five to eight depending on how gassed my arms are from previous exercises). And on Tuesday, I was teaching my Cross Training class and I needed to demo running lunges. I said, "I can't do these yet, but take this movement (as I demonstrated a stationary walking lunge) and add a little jump to resemble running." The next thing I knew I was doing a running lunge. I literally stopped, looked at my legs and said, out loud, "Oh my gosh, I just did a running lunge!" I was completely caught up in the moment and was snapped back down to earth when I looked up and realized that my entire class of kids was clapping for me. I about cried. It was a very special and beautiful moment for me.
The greatest change this month has been my return to work. I have missed my co-workers greatly. I also missed the kids. But, it has been very hard. The first week back I hit the ground running just like Jamie 1.0 used to. On Thursday morning I was terrified to start school. I just prayed so hard that I would be able to handle it physically, but more so emotionally. I am teaching sophomores this year for the first time in a very long time. None of them know me or my story. I wasn't sure if I wanted to tell them about my stroke or start fresh. Eventually I decided that my stroke was a major part of who I am and it would be wrong to ignore that and keep it from them. It was incredibly difficult over the course of Thursday, Friday, and Monday to have to re-tell my story over, and over, and over. I was exhausted from it and I got a little bit of a head cold. Half way through the day on Friday I began to get a little light headed and by the end of the day my left hand was tingling like crazy. I was worried. My symptoms had not been that strong since my days of therapy.
I got a lot of rest over the weekend and battled back by Monday. However, it was so hot in our building and my body just wasn't ready for the physical, mental, and emotional demands that are a part of being a teacher. On Wednesday I noticed I was getting a runny nose and I quickly chalked it up to allergies. On Thursday I woke up very congested after getting about three hours of sleep. By the end of the day on Thursday I felt like I had been hit by a truck. I continued to get worse throughout Thursday night. I had a fever from 6:30 p.m. to 9 a.m. that would break and then return after the Tylenol/peppermint oil wore off. I got no sleep and quickly realized my body was done. I ended up staying home from work on Friday. I slept for about four hours, ran an oil diffuser, drank tons of hot chocolate, and barely left the bed. I was so frustrated and felt like I was letting everyone down by not being able to go to work. But, not only did I need to listen to my body, I had to listen to my body. It has become apparent to me that a severe cold and fever is how my body now reacts to stress. These colds really knock me down, but it could be way worse so I will graciously accept it
So far this week has gone well. I still have remnants of my cold but my energy is holding up and I feel strong. I am hoping that my beginning struggles were a result of my body just needing to get used to the new strain, just like with everything else "new" that I have introduced over the last ten months.
The next two months leading up to my one year anniversary are going to be just as busy. But I am so excited for what they will be filled with. I can honestly say that my life has done a complete 180. Something very bad happened to me but it is very quickly becoming one of the more amazing things also.
Cheers to another month of beating my stroke!
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