Raised out of my funk for once and got back on antidepressants, my financial aid and scholarship applications done, and my project work for the week all done today. I honestly didn’t think I would get this done in a week, let alone in one day.
I spent the better part of the last decade in a good deal of pain due to an undiagnosed spinal injury in my neck. In the 4-5 months leading up to having surgery, the pain and muscle spasms were so bad I couldn’t stand or walk on my own, put on my own clothes, or take care of myself. I was severely suicidally depressed, extremely overweight, and jobless.
In July of 2022 I was finally able to get approved for surgery (I had to wait 3 months for an MRI), my surgeon performed a corpectomy (removal of the vertebral body) of my C5-C6 vertebrae and fused C4-C7. I spent the next 3 months in a neck brace, doing rehab and physical therapy and decided that this was going to be the turning point in my life.
In the 9 months since I got the brace off, we’ve been eating better (the hardest one) and I lift weights 2x per week for about 1.5 hrs and walk 3x per week for about 45 min. I’ve lost about 40 lbs so far and I can definitely see changes in my physique for the first time. I have a long way to go, but I makes me proud to see how far I have come.
But to answer to question, yesterday I went on a 4.5 mile hike up a mountain with a friend and was able to complete it all. My feet are quite sore today, but I’m really proud of myself for being able to do something like that after being in such bad condition.
In the overwhelm of a job that’s been way over my head, I managed to sit down and process a couple pieces of business. It’s not much, but the mountain of work is getting a little smaller.
Built a tiny and rather simple piece of software to make my daily work easier that now the whole company uses :)
I read two books after years of not reading for pleasure. I started tracking my food and trying to get enough protein after some chaotic months. Trying to ingest enough sodium to keep my POTS in check. I painted two things, after not painting for 8 years! I’ve been trying to keep ‘unproductive’ screentime down. (Movies and shows I haven’t seen before are fine, scrolling on my phone forever is not). I still waste hours on my phone when I’m fatigued but I’m more mindful about what I do when I feel able
