Leaving March with Hope

March roared like a lion and raced by like a racecar. I’m standing here wondering where it all went. Thankfully, I have my planner, so I am aware of what I spent my time doing.

Before I start writing about the goals I chose for March and how it went. I wanted to chat about some of the goals I accomplished that were not on my list and there are some things that I did not accomplish that were on my goals list. One of my big goals that I had not listed yet was going through my books and getting rid of a bunch of them. I felt energized on Saturday and so I went through my books shelves and got rid of 50 books on the giveaway table. It felt great to get rid of so many books and be able to share with others. I have a huge pile of books to rid on my to be read pile and I will come up with a better plan to get rid of books that I am not interested in keeping before I have a huge mess again. I feel good about this accomplishment.

Here are the goals I had for March and how I did:

• Call Nu Motion and get my electric chair fixed. I got this done and it was an easy fix for them. They tightened my arm and fixed the lose plug on the battery of the chair. It was amazing how easy it was to call them and have them come and fix my chair for me.
• Get my second dose of the Vaccine: I got this done on March 17^th. I was surprised because everyone I had talked to had a reaction to the second dose. All that happened to me was I got sleepy and slept for two days and then I was fine. I am wondering if it is because I have been taking Plaquinil for ten years for my autoimmune disorders and it is one of the meds used to treat Covid-19. I do not know. Just a thought I had.
• Get into Pt Therapy: I am currently in PT therapy. I am doing back and neck exercises and I am getting a CT scan done of my spine and of my lungs on March 31^st. I like the exercises. They help. I also love the app that they have now to show you the video of the exercises and you get the full routine the therapist has for you.
• Clean out and organize the Closet: Partially done. I clean out and got rid of a bunch of things on my shelves and organized my socks, bras, and underwear. This is going to be a slow process. I also got rid of a huge suitcase that I have had since my teenage years that my mom gave me. I have the other half of the shelf to do that had that huge suitcase on to do. Removing it gave me a ton of room. I have a lot of medical supplies from my trach tube that I need to make room for. I will have to have my caregivers help to accomplish this goal. Like I said above this will be an on-going process.
• Read three books: I have accomplished this goal. I am always reading. I have a big to be read pile.
• Get blood work done: I accomplished this goal. I was so excited to see how much my A1C went down. It down 4 points. Yeah! Keeping a log of my blood sugars and what I am eating helps me keep this in check. I also have been trying new foods for me to help me with my health and my mucus production. Including some vegan cheeses that are tasty. I was surprised.
• Send cards out to some friends and family: I just accomplished this goal.
• Organize and clean out my plants: I did not do this. I did plant some basil seeds and rosemary seeds that I had. And when my friend came I gave her starts from my spider plant. I want to do more, this will be on my goals list until I can get this accomplished. My plants are one of my favorite things.
• Breathing exercises with my counselor: We did this once this month. I hope to do it again. He rewrote the meditation for me, because when you have a trach tube and having them tell you to breathe in and out of your nose when your nose does not work is disconcerting. At least to me it is. I’m grateful he did this for me.

I feel accomplished this month. I feel like I can do things again. Since October with not having my electric wheel chair and my oxygen levels being terrible I have felt this sadness and hopelessness resonate in my soul. I could not do anything but sit on my bed watch TV and listen to music and read books and connect on the internet. I had to rely on my caregiver to bring and cook me food and I couldn’t stray very long off my oxygen. This is not a way to live well. I’m thankful that my insurance paid for a new electric wheelchair for me. That I had people fight for me. I am slowly doing small things. I still can’t be off my oxygen for very long, but I can quickly accomplish my goal and make my own food again and get my mail. Simple things, but important things.

Take a deep breathe and remember to say thank you for oxygen and the ability to breathe. Peace be to you!