Well, my eyes seem to have recovered, for the most part, from the past couple of eye surgeries. My vision is okay but doesn’t seem to be as strong in my left eye…and once in awhile I get an extremely sharp, quick and painful sensation in my left eye as well. I am trying to keep track of when and how often it occurs so that I can discuss it with my doctor at my follow up appointment.

And then to add to that fun…my infamous cough is back, which triggered Tim to tell me I should stop blogging about how well I am doing…because then things go downhill for me! Oh if only I had the ability to control things by what I write in my blogs!😉

A few days later after the encouraging news of improved breathing test results, I was going up the stairs and found myself resting on our bed before proceeding with why I had gone up there in the first place. Dang it!! I got short of breath and had to sit down! Doing what I do best, I ignored it and pushed on through with my day. 

But the shortness of breath seemed to become more noticeable throughout the following days and my stamina on the treadmill also seemed to be dwindling. And then just like that, the nasty cough was keeping me up at night.

But the cough went away, I was back to doing two miles on my treadmill and I was going up and down the stairs like “normal.”

Yet as fast as the coughing left, even more symptoms came back full force. 

I found myself with the severe coughing again. The tightness in my chest was tremendous, to the point that laying down was not an option. My shirt felt like it was suffocating me and even my hair just laying across my neck aggitated me.

Down to the couch I went and I was able to find some relief by switching into one of Tim’s t-shirts to help me feel less restricted then I also propped up three pillows on the couch to elevate my head. The stabbing sharp pain wasn’t giving up in my chest so I continued to reposition myself several times from my back but the pain was excruciating and the heart palpitations became stronger. I alternated from side to side but the weight simply from resting my arm on my side caused tremendous pain and pressure in my chest making it impossible to breathe. 

I finally resulted to sitting slightly upright on the couch against all of the pillows and this seemed to alleviate a little of the pain and pressure…

Needless to say not much sleep was had.

The next morning I felt like death and Leah had developed a cough as well so I made an appointment for myself and figured I would also take her with me just to make sure she didn’t need antibiotics. Once to the doctor’s office, the masks came on. 

Leah did not like the mask and said she was sad and we need to pray for the people who have to wear them all the time.😞

All turned out fine, in fact Leah had pretty much stopped coughing by the time we went to the doctor… but I was given antibiotics in hopes that whatever this was, would not turn to pneumonia.

And then again, just like that, Leah and I were good the rest of the day! Maybe we were over it!

Since I was doing well I continued my weeks as scheduled with school stuff, my women’s bible study and activities I had been invited to but eventually my cough was back full force…persistent, consistent and not letting up. The pain was so intense again and the pressure had been so bad that I questioned if this was something the kids had brought home from school because Leah had gotten sick again along with Nathan…or perhaps it was all due to my fm?

I have continued to keep an eye on my body and I have had some swelling in my neck, an indicator that my stents could be closed…or maybe just swollen lymphnodes from the cough? While the coughing was sporadic throughout the first couple of weeks, it then became more forceful and intense causing me to get sick…which then was starting to put a lot of pressure on my back as well. 

I was trying extremely hard to stay positive and be thankful that I was still able to walk…obviously that back surgery junk really traumatized me haha. 

But finally…the two kids got better and seem to be over the worst of it…and I think I am too!! The cough still seems to be lingering but it usually does! I am back to doing my nebulizer treatments which has seemed to help me as well.

So after a few weeks of being down, I have been cleaning house and getting caught back up on things…and I am loving it!! It’s so funny because I have been telling people I’m living again and basically all I am doing is cleaning and cooking…but I am ecstatic to be doing so! Haha! A lot of times people will offer assistance to us but while I am actually ABLE to do stuff…don’t be offended if I say no because I’m simply appreciating the fact that I CAN clean my house or cook a meal! 

Before, I used to get so frustrated with a messy house and grumble the famous line “if I don’t do it nobody else will.” Don’t get me wrong, I still find myself mumbling that but then I remember how I could barely get up to go to the bathroom and how I had to use a brace and walker at this time last year…and that haunting thought motivates me to hop up and clean with such a happiness in my heart and a sense of accomplishment. Yes, that’s kind of sad haha.

Not to mention, I have also been able to run our errands and stay on top of appointments. I took Skyler to get her braces off and how excited was she!?! What a beautiful smile…

And her first food request…an apple!

Then today Asher had his preschool checkup and we got a great report! According to his doctor, Asher is “healthy and strong and rockin the long hair!”😉💞 

He did have to get a finger poke to check for lead and he didn’t cry, but he wasn’t sure what to think of it!

I am beyond grateful that God has shown me mercy and fortunately my really bad days have been on days I didn’t have too many big plans. Tim and I have a couple of things coming up this week that we have really been looking forward to and I am so thankful that as of now it looks as though I will be healthy enough to keep my commitment and attend the events!! 

It has definitely been a challenging few weeks with health but so rewarding as well!

Off to finish some laundry before bed!😉 Enjoy your night and appreciate the little things!💞