Medical update

Just to let you know that I recovered from my fall quite quickly and am back to walking without my cane again. Leg braces only! Looking to get together with my physical therapist for a follow-up evaluation to assess my gait (walk) and lower back to see that all is ok. It's been quite a long but successful trip since I was released from the Rehabilitation Institute just a little over a year ago.

In the meantime I have begun taking the medication to keep my cancer in remission. Unfortunately a couple of the side effects are neuropathy and blurred vision, both of which have been affecting me to a greater extent lately. So I've had to get a new prescription for my eyeglasses and have been dealing with more tingling and pain in my feet and calves. It's more disappointing than anything else since I had been making such great progress in controlling my neuropathy. I hope the impact will be minimal so that I can continue living my life as I have over the past couple months without increasing any of my pain medications which have their own set of side effects. And side effects of any kind can be a real pain! Wish me luck or say a little prayer that the effects will be minimal. Cheers!

A must-read article

I'm attaching a link to a must-read article written by Elizabeth in her blog "The Singing Nurse" should your family ever be faced with a situation similar to ours when I ended up in the ICU. (And who can know when that might ever happen?) She shares her nursing expertise, personal experience, and compassion in providing practical and reassuring tips for surviving that experience when you have a loved one in the ICU. Please share with other family and friends. Peace.

Navigating the ICU

Oops

Fell for the first time since I began rehabilitation just about a year ago. What a bummer! And, of course, why is it always when we do something foolish? I was just trying to let the dog out onto the deck in Michigan when I got caught on the leg of my pajama pants and tumbled into the porch. Fortunately, all I did was jam the toes on my left foot (my good one) and skinned my knee. One of the toes is now painful and discolored so I don't get around as easily as I have lately. I'm using my cane more and moving very slowly. Reminds me of my first few weeks at home a year ago. What a pain! Hopefully this will heal up quickly.  I'm happy I have a week ahead with few mobile tasks so I can recuperate. More later on some great experiences over the past months, including the celebration of my first birthday since hospitalization.