I have put the video's that have already been posted on You Tube,
Facebook and Twitter on the top and bottom of this blog post so that those
people who don't have time to read the blog can see just how awesome life is for
me now.
I have been given wings to FLY!!!
(Glad You Came)
2. I WILL GO
THE DISTANCE (I AM A SURVIVOR!)
3. Cardio on my Carver Surfskate board!
Skateboard cardio workout at Surrey Community Center. Thank you Carver for the sponsorship. :)
3. Cardio on my Carver Surfskate board!
Skateboard cardio workout at Surrey Community Center. Thank you Carver for the sponsorship. :)
They are my two most favorite Team Nanny videos up to date. Mostly
because I have waited 40 years, through blood, sweat and tears to get to where
I am now. I hope you all have the opportunity to feel the joy in
"playing" again. It will be better medicine than anything any
Dr. can prescribe. (Unless you are my dr putting the cortisone in my
back! LOL) ...
I feel it has been overly busy lately, since my second leg was amputated
it takes me longer to accomplish most tasks. But I am on a new learning curve
and actually probably doing better than I give myself credit for. I am off all narcotics (YAY) and take the occasional
Tylenol and usually that is for pain associated with another illness not related
to the amputations or my legs at all.
I still take my Lupus medications etc, but I feel so much better not needing the pain meds every few
hours. AND I don't ITCH!
Laundry takes longer with the stairs, and last night after dinner I was
tired, so Melanie folded all our laundry and put it on our bed. I was chatting on the phone with my cousin
while putting it away. When it came to
the socks, Melanie had folded the pairs over at the top. I was carefully unfolding them looking for
the logo so see if they were his or mine, and had done about six pairs before I
remembered..... I don’t wear socks!!!!
At least not until I have prosthetics on again.
In the past six weeks I have had some of the happiest days of my life
and look forward to a very bright and beautiful future with the family and our friends. I am quite mobile now, and still have not started rehab for my
second prosthesis. I put it off waiting
for André to recover from his surgery and so I have been doing my own form of
therapy around here, working on balance and stability, and just being as strong
as I can be. Fighting through every day
in my LiveSTRONG gear. Livestrong has
given me hope and inspiration when I was sure I was at the end. And with that inspiration I have become
fierce in my determination to win and come out on top. It used to be walking was the priority, but
that is crazy. I mean a goal, yes. My priority changed really quickly when I was
finally pain free in my legs. So I have
had to radically change my bucket list to include some really crazy ideas. And lately some of my activities have been a
little crazy. Tobogganing, swimming,
diving, water slides, sit skiing, sledge skate, skateboarding!! I mean, a skateboarding double amputee
grandmother. Yes, that describes the
*new* me! I am working on balance, and efficiency! I have been careful to avoid repetitive
movements that could further hurt my shoulder.
My arms on the skateboard go back and forth, not round and round like my
manual wheelchair, which just kills my shoulder, and why Patience has saved me
all these years she has pulled my chair. I pushed my chair for just a few minutes today, and am paying the price tonight. Without Patience I would be confined to my power wheelchair for sure. When she retires, I will need another service animal to keep my independence. That is a fact. How we make that happen, I do not know. In the meantime, transferring from wheelchair to floor, to skateboard, to car, to bed,
and up and down stairs all require up and down motion, not round and round. I am avoiding injury at all cost so I can keep
moving forward. Yes I wear safety gear, not so much because I am going to get
hurt vacuuming the living room, but because I am a firm believer that children
learn by example, and if the grandchildren see me wearing it, they will know it
is made for everybody. Even Nanny’s! So I have found ways to cope, and get things
done! But I have not done it alone!!
There is not a person that I know that can get through all that I have
been through without the support of an extremely loving husband, family and friends that
are there for the long haul. It is always easy
to say “I’ll be there for you”, but when called upon to when needed and be able
to give of your time unconditionally, that is what makes the difference between
making it with a positive attitude towards the future, and just making it,
barely living, just surviving.
I am blessed to have my online family (we prefer the term heart family)
I am lucky that I have my Mom on Facebook so she can see and interact with the
wonderful friends that I have had for so many years. Through the
power of the internet comes a flood of unconditional support and prayers, just
like we have in our own family at home. The thing that my mom shares with my internet friends is that you are separated to me by physical
distance. You all love me, and help in your individual
ways. But you are all far away and often feel helpless. My blog is a good way for me to deal with my life ... “and to let my
family at home and heart family online share in it ... rejoice on the good days
and commiserate on the not-so-good ones” (a quote from my heart sister, SunnyJan).
My needs vary from day to day, hour to hour, sometimes minute to minute. It changes because it is life and living is a varying thing. It varies because I have multiple illnesses. The amputation is in your face
obvious, but let me tell you that radiation colitis is a far bigger disability
than not having legs!! That’s why it
sometimes makes is difficult for me to ask for help. One day I may need help with balance, and next day I am
fine. Sometimes I am just slow and have a
foggy brain because of the multiple lupus medications I am on and their side effects,
or leftover cognitive issues from chemo. I often don’t even know what I need until it is too late and I
have either done it myself, or have crashed before it was completed. Would it be sometimes easier if I had just asked for help in the
beginning? Sometimes yes. But I cannot foresee just how difficult some things are for me, and
really wanted to save my “help cards” in case something important comes
up. I don’t want to use them up on day to
day things that normally would wait even if I were not recuperating from major
surgery. I felt pressured this time to
get things done better and faster than ever before because André ‘s shoulder
replacement surgery was quickly approaching, I wanted to be independent before
he came home from hospital.
Well in the past few days the final
preparations were done to ease into the surgery with him and recovery. I had hoped we could go to rehab
together. LOL “The Family Plan”! It did
not happen that way, the house was decorated for Christmas, garden prepared for
winter, cooked meals in freezer, we were ready.
Cindy had taken me shopping for his hospital kit list and Christmas gifts,
and groceries. We were all ready. Packed.
Good to go. And then the phone
rang. His surgery is cancelled for this
week because they were missing parts and will be rescheduled. He is anxious and upset. I know exactly how he feels. I took it hard when my surgery was postponed
too. I have been there, just a few
months ago. It is hard. You want to be on the recovery side. Ouch.
But we have each other, and we have those adorable little people in our
lives that call us Nanny and Grand-papa, and that makes the future bright, no
matter what may come our way. They help us daily making it the best day it
can be. We are always “glad they came”. We will “Go The Distance” because we have family and friends that go the distance with
us every day. We are so blessed. So come, visit, stay awhile. Spend a little time. I’ll make you “Glad You Came”.....
These links are the SAME links that were at the top of this blog entry. I just put them here for convenience. Along with my famous skateboard vacuuming one! :D)
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