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Tuesday, May 04, 2010

recovery.. is this what normal people feel like?

I don't know why, but lately I've been noticing how different my life is then it use to be. About a year ago (March 2009) I went to see the doctor for some respiratory problems I'd been having. I thought at the time that they were related to the volcano that had gone off earlier, and really only went to seek help after I literally couldn't breath while at the chiropractor's. (Still occasionally go there after 2007's car accident.)
Anyway, when I walked in, they did the usual weight, height, blood pressure thing. And then they sat me down in a bit of a panic and tested for blood oxygen levels, which then seemed to panic them even more and they drew blood to test for iron levels immediately. I left that day with an appointment for more blood work, a prescription for blood pressure meds and some inhalers, and a seriously high dosage of iron.
My blood pressure was somewhere around 240/120.. level 4, super high stroke risk levels. My oxygen levels were bordering on my coming home with an oxygen tank, and apparently somewhere along the way, I've become seriously anemic.
After a summer of lots more testing at several specialists, it was determined that I have an enlarged heart, a murmur (no surprise on that one, my mom has one, too), and severe sleep apnea. The Apnea may be responsible for a lot of the other things that are wrong, so hoping that after a few years, if I'm careful and lucky, I might be allowed to come off some of the meds.
Back then I was sleeping for 10-12 hours a day, or more. I was always tired, never had energy for much of anything. It had all come on gradually, and some of it wasn't noticeable until after the car accident, and that was likely why it wasn't noticed sooner. After the accident there was lots of pain, my weight went up again due to the inability to move much and decline in my diet, and i really thought all of what was going on was a normal part of the whole "hey, your car was accordioned, be happy you weren't" experience of the accident recovery.
But this year, this year I am really seeing a difference. The sleep apnea may have been a problem for me for most of my life, it would explain a lot. Most days now I can get up around 6 in the morning and have no problem going all day til about 11 at night, and even then sometimes I'm just not tired enough to fall asleep right away. True, every once in a while I still feel like a short nap in the afternoon, but those are the rare instance now, not the norm. I have energy, I can do stuff in the morning and still have energy to do stuff in the afternoon and evening as well! This is new territory for me again. I vaguely remember being able to do that years ago, but it all seems so long ago now that I'd forgotten what "normal" was.
It's kind of like when I was in 5th grade and got glasses. I didn't know what it was like to actually see things before then. I thought the blurry, fuzzy world I'd always seen was what the world was like. I didn't know any better. Then I got glasses and the whole world opened up and became new and wondrous. It was great, and so is this.
I am sincerely grateful for this second chance to experience the world with vigor and energy that I've been given. I've always commented on how much of a miracle it was that I wasn't injured more in the accident. As bad and painful as it was (and still is at times) I know that it could have and, based on my x-rays maybe should have been, worse. But that visit to the doctor's last year was just as important. Without it, there is every chance that I wouldn't have made it to be here today, things were that wrong with me. But I am well on the mend now, just need to get the blasted weight back off.. :)

And I'm going to need all this energy. This week my oldest stepdaughter and the 2.5 year old grandbaby moved in with us! (The defacto SIL was already here, he came up and started working while she packed everything up) They will be with us until further notice while they save up to buy a house, and we're so excited to have them here. It will be good practice.

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