Regroup

 
Just before Christmas my husband was working long hours and we were expecting two of our out of town children and their spouses and children.  The guest rooms needed to be ready, the gifts had to be wrapped and under the tree.  So, what else does a good mother and grandmother do but take care of it all herself.  Including the heavy lifting and bending to put sheets on beds and so forth.  I spent the entire vacation with immobilizing backpain and couldn't enjoy them like I wanted to do.  Since this was my fourth episode this year of pain that didn't seem to improve with time, I searched out a physiatrist to see if he could tell me what was going on.  He said well let's take a look.  All I hear was "whoa."  Then he said let's go take an xray.  And he said, "Here is the big story of the day."  Guess which picture below best represents my back.

Now, I knew I would be suffering a few setbacks, but really?  Three major ones simultaneously?  I'm tough, but this is going to require something more than tough.

 

I'm not in as much pain presently and am exercising to strengthen my back.  I was just starting to get back to my exercise routine last week when the headache started.  I took some advil and pressed on.  The next day I didn't get out of bed nor did I leave my bed for three more days.  I kept telling myself that I really should get a flu shot, but I hadn't had one in years and couldn't remember the last time I had the flu.  I have learned my lesson.  I will get a flu shot every year for the rest of my life.

Some people still look like a human when they are sick. Like the lady in the above picture.  I'm not so lucky.  I look and feel more like this:

 

 

Today is the first day I have been up and moving for most of the day.  However, because I had no appetite for five days I am feeling extremely weak and tired.  Today was the first day since getting sick that I have eaten a complete meal.

About the third setback I will only speak in generalities.  Sometimes a family member is in need of extraordinary support and everyone drops what they're doing to give support.  I have been in this type of situation as I'm trying to recover from the flu.

I'm still just as committed as I was before.  This doesn't surprise anyone who knows me, I don't back down too easily.  Life is full of setbacks. No setback is worth giving up something that is important to you.  Actually, when all is said and done you feel that you have accomplished something greater than what you set out to do because not only did you accomplish your goal, but you did it in spite of the setbacks.