I had a post written, just like life does obstacles got in my way and what I wanted to write changed. I have gotten a CT Scan of my lungs last Thursday and then the next day I received a phone call that I needed to come in for a bronchoscopy of my lungs because my lungs did not look great. The doctor thought my left lung collapsed. It did not. It is something worse. My longtime sister/friend Amber offered to give me a ride and stay with me for my procedure on Wednesday. She drove 45 minutes to Vancouver where I am living and took me to the hospital and stayed with me. We talked and laughed and reconnected. I enjoyed that part of my time together. I wished it could have been for a different reason. Everything went well. I was able to go home and sleep in my own bed. Nicholas is happy I am home. I am happy I am home. While I was waiting to be released my pulmonologist came in and gave me the disappointing news. My GPA is active. My left lung is not collapsed but the airways are so narrowed that no air is going through them at all. Essentially, I am breathing with only my right side. She showed me and gave me the pictures to show me. My lungs are inflamed. I will share the pictures below if you want to see what an inflamed lung looks like. It is not pretty. I am still processing my emotions surrounding this. I feel like I am having a PTSD episode. This is exactly what I went through with my trachea in 2009. The only difference is I know what is causing it and it is not a guessing game. The action plan so far is for my pulmonologist to find a pulmonologist who specializes or is familiar with treating lung issues with GPA and to have my Rheumy doctor put me on stronger meds to help reduce my inflammation. One of the things I am processing is how to help my body fight this inflammation in my lungs so that I can have a somewhat active and functioning life despite all of this.
I am in a writing challenge with my sister Joy from JoyStory like is stated below with my goals. I am continuing with this goal. I have taken two days off from writing to deal with all of this and I will be getting back to typing and writing as I face this new challenge. I have not given up. I will still get my warrior sword out and fight, I am just recovering from a wound and getting my mindset ready so I can plan and take action.
Without further ado, here are my goals for April:
- Start writing my book “The Practice of Suffering”. I have joined the Na No Wri Mo Challenge for April of writing 50,000 words this month. I aim to do this despite my health challenges. I will miss one day for my surgery, but I am working getting ahead the weekend before my surgery. My sister, who has her own blog, and a writer herself has joined the challenge and we are buddies on it. This is a great way for us to reconnect. We have lost touch the last few years. I’m excited about this for us both.
- Research and come up with articles for my blog
- Go to bed by midnight every night, so I can get up by 5 AM every day so I can get some writing done.
- Read and write three book reviews and post them.
- Do my physical therapy exercises several days a week. Sadly, I had to cancel two of my appointments because of the CT scan and now because of my surgery.
- Write a few people on my list to let them know I am thinking about them and that I love them.
- Look at recipes and make my own salads for spring. I love spring.
These are my goals for April. Do you have goals? If you feel comfortable share and we can cheer each other one.
Remember to keep on breathing. I hope you are as well as possible.
Please wait...