Searching for Feedback

I’ve realized that one reason I created this blog is so that no one would feel alone. So that people would feel like they either had someone to look up to, something to look forward to, a person to help make their life worth living, or just lose their way in the life of someone else just trying to live theirs. Since my accident I had thought of myself as a person with a disability-never the other way around. I always strive to look on the positive side and even on my down days seem to find a glimmer of hope.

Lately, I haven’t written on my blog as frequently as I did when I first started it. Some parts were not really having the time, possibly fighting off illnesses or getting sidetracked with other tasks. Another part is I’m not sure how many other ways I can share my story. From this I get a great sense of satisfaction knowing that I could potentially be helping someone else along the way. I also treat it as a diary, to unleash my deepest thoughts; except it’s not so secret because hundreds of people could be reading it.

Very few know that it takes a lot of time and effort to write one single blog post. In the beginning it wasn’t as hard to write because it was all so new, I had many things to say. Since 2008, when I started my blog, it has been getting harder finding topics to talk about or share. As a result, I end up going a while between postings. Nowadays it takes me a couple of days, a week or even a month to finish. Also, I haven’t had that same feeling of satisfaction after writing a post like I did when I started. I suppose this could be another reason why it’s harder to write and finish a whole post.

I wrote a post in 2013 sharing that I’ve kept a tracker on my blog so that I as well as others could see how many people have read my writings, left comments and maybe have been inspired by what I said. Over the years, I would write a blog post every time I hit a certain milestone of visitors. Knowing the number of people reading my blog, I’ve encouraged all of you to pass my blog onto others. The more people that I can share my story with the better!

As you may tell by now, I’ve been stumped lately with ideas about posts to write about. I want to get ideas flowing and the inspiration back that I had in the beginning. One thing that helps is when people leave comments on my blog about how I impact them in some way or if they have questions when they read my writings. Maybe if I propose questions like, is there anything that I haven’t talked about that you would want to know about me? Is there something that I’ve written about that has helped you in some way?

I’m looking forward to hearing what people have to say by commenting. My goal is to reach as many people as possible.

Jenni

One Knee Down, One to Go

I remember earlier this year that I wrote a post about my knees. Based off a new set of x-rays, my right knee is healing by itself very nice. Although my left knee pain went away, I reinjured it about 3 months ago. Despite all the measurements I took and precautions I’m still having pain in my left knee.

The last time I saw the orthopedic doctor, he gave me the okay to stand. It’s too bad because since I started to stand again, it was helping the fluid in my body to shift. But because of my reinjury I am unable to stand right now. Hopefully I will get back to it soon. The Last thing I want is to reinjure it again. Even though it is good for the rest of my body, I’ll have to stay off my feet for a while.

I’m doing well respiratory wise within the last month since my update. I had another CT scan and found that the abscess still needed to shrink more so they put me back on antibiotics. I’m pleased to say that I’m off my antibiotics and have been using a vest treatment that helps get all the secretions out. I wish I would’ve had it all along since it’s so useful. Hopefully between that and other interventions that come about I’ll stay healthy! I’m going back in a week or so to get a follow-up CT scan just to see if the abscess is gone.

Also, since returning home from my last stay at the hospital, I’ve lost about 10-15 pounds of fluid. I think because I was so sick, it was causing the ability to keep my albumin up. Now that it’s normal, the fluid in my body is slowly shifting and draining easily. I feel much better and hopefully it will continue to drain.

Jenni

Tidying Up

I started becoming addicted to the show tidying up on Netflix. Here is the official description of it according to her website:
 
"When people lead busy lives, their homes sometimes become cluttered with things piling up over time. In this series, renowned tidying expert Marie Kondo tries to help folks declutter their homes -- and their lives. Whether she's helping a married couple with young children become more organized or showing a retired couple how to reclaim their space, Kondo assists her clients in clearing out the clutter and choosing joy in a series of inspiring home makeovers."

After watching this series, I decided to buy a couple of her books to help aid in my own process of decluttering my home. It’s not only helped me get some of my things decluttered, but it also freed up space. This helped make me feel better about how I was living. Before, I would either ignore things or just pass by and say to myself "I will organize that another time".

Here’s a video showing the amazing tips from Marie…

 

Jenni

Raising Monarch Butterflies

For the past few years, a friend of mine brings me monarch caterpillars. I enjoy watching the process of which they go through from caterpillars into beautiful butterflies. Here’s a little info about monarchs in case you don’t know:

“A monarch's life is a story of enormous transformation. They start as an egg, and within a few days they emerge as a ravenous caterpillar. After 10-14 days of munching away at milkweed leaves, the monarch forms a chrysalis. Over the next two weeks it undergoes a radical reorganization of its tissues, ultimately tearing free from its confinement as an adult monarch butterfly. If it hatched in the summer, it may live for another 2-5 weeks. In early fall, the final generation of monarchs has a special job: to migrate. This special generation may live up to 8 months…Monarch butterflies depend on milkweed plants. They lay their eggs on them because they are the only food the monarch caterpillars eat.”

This year she brought me four caterpillars. I got to watch the process of going from caterpillars to butterflies. Once they emerge from their crysalis, their wings stay wet for about 2 to 4 hours. That’s when I got the chance really watch them and even set one on my hand!

 
I have loved butterflies throughout my life, but more so after my accident. The reason being is because of the tremendous change they go through. It reminds me of the change I went through. To me, they are symbolic.

Jenni