All Clear!/Back to Reality

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Yesterday, I was given the all clear from my neurosurgeon!! He said that my MRI looked great and that I could start lifting more than 10 lbs. He wants me to stay on a full aspirin daily, and I will get another MRI in six months. I am so thankful that the vertebral artery dissection has healed well and that these months of rest have payed off. Thanks to all of you for your amazing prayer support and encouragement!!

Also yesterday, I was able to talk to my supervisor at work and get the details worked out to return to work. I start back this coming Monday!! Another huge praise!! I am very thankful that everything is working out quickly, since my short-term disability also runs out this week. I am definitely happy to get back to life as normal, but considering all the opportunities that I have had over these past six months, it is bittersweet to say good-bye to this season of life.

Please still be in prayer for my transition back to work. I am encouraged about my energy level after having helped take care of twins that only sleep for 2-3 hours at a time and touring Amsterdam on jet-lag. Through both of these things, I feel that my energy level is getting better and better. Because of this and the fact that going back to work part-time would be complicated, I have decided to return to work full-time. At first, I will be working mostly 8-hour shifts, which will mean that I'm at work 4-5 days a week. Those that know me well, know that I love my three 12 hour shifts a week, so being at work 4-5 days a week will be an adjustment in and of itself. Pray that I can transition back to 12 hour shifts quickly!! Also, be praying for the work itself, that I will quickly feel as if I had never been out for six months.

I cannot begin to explain how encouraging it has been knowing that friends and family from all over the world have been praying for me, sending their thoughts, and continually keeping up with how I have been doing. I am so, so thankful for the blessing that each of you are to me!! Enjoy a few pictures from my trip to Amsterdam...

Canals of Amsterdam

Anne Frank's house

Corrie ten Boom's Hiding Place

Tulip Fields

Keukenhof Gardens

More beautiful tulips

Canal Cruise!

Six Months Already?

Well, obviously, blogging is not one of the things that I have been doing with my time off during my recovery from the stroke. Here's a recap of the last 6 months:

• November is a blur. I came home from the hospital on Nov 1st and had pretty bad headaches the first 2 weeks. Thankfully those resolved quickly. I started and finished PT on my hand in one session. I started PT on my equilibrium issues. I got cleared to drive right before Thanksgiving. My grandfather also passed away right before Thanksgiving, so I spent my Thanksgiving in Memphis and then Atlanta for his funeral.

• In December, I continued PT for my equilibrium issues. I finished that right before Christmas. However, I realized that I was having a lot of neck, shoulder, and upper back muscular pain as I became more active. I think from being pretty inactive for most of November. I got a good report on my 6 week follow-up MRI. My brother, Jonathan, graduated from University of Tennessee, and my dad retired from being a captain for Delta. I spent nine glorious days at home for Christmas. Rang in 2012 back in Philly.

• January is when I felt pretty much recovered from the equilibrium issues; however, I did start PT for my upper body muscular issues. I was very weak just from inactivity. I started volunteering with my church doing some office work a couple days a week. It was a nice way to get some structure into my schedule. I started taking full advantage of my dad's standby passes (which I still get even though he's retired!) and visited friends and family in Vermont (my grandpa's 96th birthday!), Kentucky, and Rochester, NY. 

• February started with a surprise return trip to Kentucky to meet my new "niece and nephew" - my best friend's twins who were born early on February 1st. I also took a roadtrip with my roomie, Tiff, up to Vermont - no skiing for me this year :( - enjoying a relaxing weekend with friends, family, and exploring the Trapp Family Lodge. I continued volunteering with my church and realized that I could help out a lot with our upcoming mission's conference. I had to deal with the fact that even though I was feeling better and better, I still needed lots of sleep and periodically had days of fatigue.

• March was another blur of a month, mainly because of the mission's conference that I had been helping with. Cambodia was the focus country, so even though it was a lot of work, it was really neat to get to share the country that I've come to love with the rest of my church. I completed the PT for my neck, shoulder and back. My neck and back are a lot better, but I still deal with pain in my right shoulder blade, but I had that issue before the stroke. I went home to Memphis twice - once for a funeral of a sweet woman of the Lord from my home church and a second time for my dad's retirement party. 

• This leads us to April - the sixth month of my recovery. I have been away from Philly since the beginning of the month. I spent a few days with friends in Florida and Easter at home in Memphis. This past week, I went back to Kentucky for a 3rd time to help to take care of my best friend's twins (who weigh less than 10 lbs). While it was a lot of work because they are feeding every 3 hours and have pretty bad reflux, it was so great to really get to know them!! They are such sweet babies! It was also encouraging because I have been worried about how I will hold up when I go back to work soon, and while it was tiring, I was able to do it and didn't get overly tired (well, no more than you normally would when only sleeping 3 hours at a shot). Today, my parents and I leave for Amsterdam for a week! I'm tagging along on their anniversary trip to see the tulips at Keukenhof. I will return to Philly next week in time for my six-month MRI on Tuesday, the 24th. 

I really can't believe six months has just about past, and in the next few weeks, Lord-willing, I will be back to work. It seemed like a daunting amount of time when my neurosurgeon told me that I wouldn't be allowed to lift more than 10 lbs for six months, but it really has gone by fast, and I haven't had trouble filling up my time, as you can see. I am very thankful to my church for allowing me to volunteer and give my time some structure. I am also very thankful to my roommates, family, friends, valet drivers, baggage porters, and random people standing around me at baggage claim who have lugged my "heavier than 10 lbs" bags around. None of the traveling I have done would have been possible without you!!

I also want to thank all of my wonderful friends and family who have prayed for me, sent encouraging words, asked how I'm doing, and overall supported me during this very different season of my life. Here are a few more ways you can be praying for me in the next few weeks:

• Prayers for a safe trip to and from Amsterdam.
• Prayers for complete healing of my left vertebral artery on my MRI so that my neurosurgeon can clear me to lift more than 10 lbs and return to work.
• Prayers that all the paperwork and logistics for returning to work will work out smoothly and quickly. My MRI is the 24th and my short-term disability runs out the 27th. I am praying that everything will work out for me to be back to work the week of April 30th so I don't have a lapse in pay and benefits. (Praise that my manager has said that she anticipates a position for me to come back to!)
• Prayers for my transition back to work. I know that once I get back it will be like I was never gone, but I do get a little overwhelmed when I think about returning after being out for six months. I think I am going to try to work part-time at first to ease back in to those 12 hour shifts. Pray that all that will work out too.

Thanks again for all your prayers!!

And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.     1 John 5:11-14