Cardiac Rehab — One Year!!!

Is anyone still out there reading this? Most likely not unless you have me on RSS — and if you do — thanks!

I haven’t posted in forever but milestones are great to celebrate and this week is my one-year anniversary of starting Cardiac Rehabilitation. I am so lucky to have found such an incredible program. The staff is fantastic and the difference between today and a year ago is enormous. There is a lot of inspiration among the membership and it is a group I’m proud to be a part of.

Three days a week for  an entire year — even I’m proud of myself.

My next goal is to ski again.  Three years ago it didn’t seem in the realm of possibility but I’ve learned anything is possible!

I’ll be working hard to make it happen.

Feel free to cheer me on!

Best,

Jill

Two wheels!!

Hmmm… From some of the emails I’ve received over the past few days I think my last post left the impression I am not doing so well….there were three more paragraphs I lobbed off about how great I am doing…so I will write that now.

And I am doing great!! I am enjoying many of the activities I used to and that has been wonderful. I have been doing a ton of walking and even walked the two or so miles downtown for one of my rehabs.

Many of you know how much I love to bike and I biked for the first time last week! It was amazing. It actually takes a ton of coordination and balance (and obviously strength) and I rocked it!

I’ll continue with my rehab — right now just through the end of October — for fine tuning and stuff. The doctors appointments still seem never ending and I feel like I am there almost everyday…but I know that won’t last forever and I will be thrilled when the visits become less frequent.

Finally, I hope everyone is enjoying the summer and getting outside and being active. I appreciate it about a million times more than I used to after being cooped up in the hospital so long.

Enjoy the summer!

What Jane said

I think about it everyday…something my friend Jane told me one day when she was visiting me at the rehabilitation center. We were talking about the heart surgery and the stroke and how scary everything was. She looked at me, very seriously and said, “Jill, we all knew that if anyone could get through this it would be you.”

Even hearing the words now gives me the chills. It was as if I were chosen for this. As if noone else could get through this with as much strength as me. I accepted my challenge and worked at my rehab every day. With each victory I knew there would be another. And then another after that. And then another. And with each achievement I also knew that if anyone could get through this it would be me.

Six months

Hard to believe it has been six months. Six months. I can’t believe how far I’ve come. To think that the doctors thought I might not even be walking by now!! My spirits remain up (most of the time) and there continues to be nothing better than spending time with the kids. I got to celebrate their birthdays and that was the best.

National Stroke Awareness Month

May is National Stroke Awareness month. The idea is to promote awareness of stroke prevention, symptom recognition and recovery. Here’s a link with more information….

http://www.stroke.org/site/PageNavigator/HOME

Been a long time

It has been a long time since I posted so i’m thinking that if you are reading this you haven’t given up on my blog  — or me!

Rehab, kids, family, doctors appointments, trying to get organized again — has kept me from my updates..but the good news is  that I continue to improve each day.

My therapists at RIC are working to get me back to a good strength where I’ll be able to handle the tasks of everyday life.

Since the last time I posted I am no longer with the cane and that is huge. I have a slight limp but am working on getting rid of that with building core and hip strength.

My spirits are still surprisingly good and I am pretty proud of myself for how I have handled everything. 

Thanks for  your support and let me know if there’s anyone out there reading this…if so, i’ll continue….

 

 

Life as I know it

Life as I know it is….different.

Everything has changed and there’s really no way to describe how I feel.

I know what I think is important, who is important and how I want to spend my time.

I’ve learned about myself and about the kind of person I want to be.

I’m proud of myself for continuing to fight.

My days are and will continue to be … filled with doctors appointments, therapy and time with the family.

I continue to try to remain positive and be thankful for what I have as opposed to what I have lost.

I am very aware of the importance of focusing on my recovery and I am thankful to my friends and family for being so understanding of this.

I know how much I appreciate things I once took for granted…reading to my children, walking outside, sitting in a coffeeshop.

I consider myself  lucky because life as I know it … is getting better everyday.  

And she posts….

Therapy continues to be a full-time job but I am working hard and seeing results.  The rate of progress has slowed a bit but that serves as more motivation.  My therapists at RIC are fantastic and my endurance and strength are improving.

The letters, cards, calls and emails are fantastic. I am so appreciative of all the support and love. Thank you for the continued prayers and good thoughts.

I haven’t posted much on the blog lately — writers block? Probably not – I think there’s so much to say I don’t know where to begin. We’ll see what happens.

For now….keep the good karma heading my way — stay well — and happy — and maybe smile a little extra today — life is good!

‘A Perfect Storm’

Just heard those words from my vascular surgeon regarding the severe blood clots in my left leg. It seems like the DVT was a horrible thing just waiting to happen. …but for now I’m happy to share some good news — that the blood thinner is working! I’ll get another scan in three months and a study of the damage to the veins then too.

The swelling and pain in my left leg is the hardest thing to handle but knowing that there is improvement in the deep vein thrombosis makes it so much easier to deal with.

The physical and occupational therapy are going great. The progress is absolutely amazing.  I feel like I am training for an Olympic event when really — all that I am doing is just trying to get function back to normal!

I really love when people tell me that by looking at me you would never guess that I had a stroke.

I continue to apologize for not returning calls or emails as all my energy is still on therapy, doctors and foremost — my family.

Although — please please keep the emails coming — they bring a smile to my face and keep me motivated.  

My Valentine

With everything that has been going on — Valentine’s Day came and went without much celebration.  I was thinking that it is a little ironic because if Valentine’s Day is about celebrating the one you love — I should have been going all out.

So, while it isn’t something that can be wrapped – my gift to Marc this year is sharing with our family and friends how wonderful he is and how lucky I am to have him in my life.  

I think one of the reasons I remain so positive about my recovery is because he really won’t let me think otherwise.  At the worst of my stroke  — when the doctors didn’t know if I would walk again — Marc said he had no doubt.  Looking back, I thought if Marc knew I was going to be OK — then I was going to be OK.  He took away my doubt and raised my confidence.

I was scared to be in the hospital room by myself following the stroke because I was completely helpless. I couldn’t move my arms and legs, sit up in the bed or even raise my head off the pillow. If I needed the nurse someone needed to press the call button for me.

Marc was by my side every minute.  For my entire hospital stay he slept in a chair next to my bed — just a regular chair that barely angled back. My pain was so bad one night he even gave me his only pillow so I could hold it against my chest.

He ran to the hotel for no more than an hour a day to shower, eat and get clean clothes.  Other than that one hour - he didn’t leave my room the entire time at the hospital.  He barely ate because he didn’t want to go to the cafeteria and leave me alone.

He held my hand and smiled. He read me emails from friends. He made sure I was getting the right medications — and even the correct dosing. He made sure I was comfortable in the bed. He was with me for every doctor meeting, appointment and exam. He came with me to all my tests. He was at every therapy session — taking notes so we could continue therapy on our own. He turned away visitors if I was sleeping.  He spoke to the doctors and made sure we fully understood everything that was happening.

Complications arose and he did things that no husband should have to do. He saw things that no husband should have to see. He spoke with doctors about things no husband should have to discuss. He lived through the entire hell with me and felt the pain I felt the entire time. No husband should have to do any of this — but my husband did.

And for all of this I celebrate my husband this Valentine’s Day and thank him for giving me the greatest gift of all.