So, I promised some backstory on my absence from the DIS and here you have it. After this I'll post some pics and comments/additions to some of what TK has already posted, including my morning walks, and then it's onward, upward and forward with the trip! I can't believe it was almost a year ago...
So this past year has been...well...challenging for me in many, many ways. Wonderful too, but challenging. Shortly after this trip with my long, lost sis, I found out that my job at work would be changing - for the better. I was definitely excited to have the opportunity to basically be able to 'design' my position and was looking forward to having it instituted in the summer...oh? a delay?...ok, maybe the fall...that's inconvenient?...well, the first of the new year makes sense, right?...no?...we need to do some revisions? Harumph. Suffice it to say we're coming up on the 1-year anniversary of the start of my job change and while yes, my job has changed - I've taken on more responsibility and worked a heck of a lot of hours - the title, the move to salary and all the other good stuff about the change hasn't happened.
Now, let me just say that I know I'm
incredibly lucky to have, not just a job, but a well-paying, secure job in the current economy and I thank God everyday for it. I know all too well how tough it is right now. Of 10 of our closest friends, more than half are unemployed. My mom, who was doing paralegal work, has an advanced degree, etc. has been laid off 3 times in almost as many years. In this last go-round it took her 7 months to find something after sending out almost 500 resumes and she ultimately took a $26K cut in pay.
My frustration arises not from my pay, etc. just from the promise of this promotion and having it put off while other people's pre-existing jobs are put on all the front burners. This isn't the "normal" way things are handled in our small department and, having been there for 6 years, is certainly not what I'm used to. Fingers are crossed that this piece of stress will be handled on or around my review in May.
And as if work wasn't stressful enough, I have a 3-hour roundtrip commute each day. Spending 15 hours of your life in transit takes its toll.
On top of the work stress, I was poked, prodded, needled, scanned, x-rayed and generally tested for many medical reasons this year, including for some seriously scary conditions, like leukemia and lymphoma. It wasn't until early February of this year that I was given as clean of a bill of health as I'm going to get (I have a pre-existing, currently incurable liver condition). I was heading to some sort of doctor at least once a month and am SO happy to have walked away with a good diagnosis and to not have to (hopefully) walk into another exam room until September of this year.
The two biggest stressors, however, happened in early fall of last year and involved two of the biggest joys of my life:
My boyfriend (from our Universal trip last April):
and my kitties (technically only one kitty - the little black and white devil who looks soooo innocent and sleepy in this pic):
One Saturday in early September, my boyfriend came home from the gym rubbing his arm. He works out 5 days a week and isn't one to complain, so I knew it must be bothering him. However, he simply 'rested' it and didn't think anything of it. The next day he went to play football with some friends and about halfway into the game was involved in a play where a 300 lb. man landed on his arm. Yes. THAT arm. We left shortly after to attend his grandmother's 90th birthday party and quickly realized something wasn't quite right. His arm was swollen, blue from bicep to wrist and, well, mushy. After a trip to his orthpaedist a couple of days later, we found out that he'd torn his bicep tendon off the bone and it would require surgery to repair.
While we were waiting for surgery to be scheduled, Life saw fit to treat us with another...well, it really felt like a tragedy at the time. The Friday after his injury, in the wee hours of the morning, the BF and I were woken up by the sound of something clattering to the floor and a cat scrambling downstairs. There were no yowls or howls and so we figured on the normal mischief and fell back to sleep. When I woke up, however, I found a very different scene. Our kitty Dory was cowered under our dining room table, with little spots of blood in the white fur of her back, right leg. I don't handle situations like this well and immediately screamed for the man and broke down into tears. At first we couldn't coax her out but finally he got her out and commenced calming her down so he could check her out. In the meantime, I hunted out what had fallen to the floor.
And was promptly HORRIFIED.
My boyfriend hunts with his family (I'm NOT a fan of this and he knows it but it isn't a dealbreaker for me) and had been cleaning up one of his hunting knives the day before. It was on a table but unsheathed. Rather it
had been on the table. It has a small lanyard on the butt end and the cat had pulled it down and when it hit the floored and ricocheted, it had caught her back leg.
Ok, it's making me ill to relive this, so let me just finish up.
After getting her to her regular vet, we were advised they couldn't treat her as her Achilles tendon had been sliced through and it would need to be surgically reattached.
Ironically the EXACT SAME injury/procedure that my BF was going through (though in her 'leg' and not her 'arm').
We took her to an emergency vet that happened to have a wonderful orthopaedic surgeon on staff. He completed the surgery successfully and gave us a good outlook for the future - she likely wouldn't lose the use of that leg.
I cannot tell you how much I cried in that 24 hour period. But the fun was just beginning...
We brought her home two days later with a big cast on her leg. She was going to have to be confined...for the next THREE MONTHS while it healed. She would progress from a full, hard, leg cast to a half cast to a wrap and would need to learn to walk with that leg again.
Here are some pictures from the day we brought her home:
Sitting with her grammy. It was a really emotional time, but this remains one of my favorite pictures. It says so much about her personality. And yes, her cast signed.
The area where her IV was. We called this her bracelet.
We were so surprised at how adaptable she was and although we were warned that it would likely take her weeks to start using her leg, rather than dragging it behind her, she was up and walking 36 hours after surgery. Apparently McDonalds is a universal healer:
Although this was her normal MO:
Shortly after she was home and settled (and confined, all night and whenever one of us wasn't home, to an extra large dog crate) BF went in for surgery. It went well, but at his first follow-up visit we received icky news - he was being put into a shoulder to wrist cast "just in case" for 4 weeks. He was devastated. I was pretty sure that between that (he's really active and isn't one to ask for help) and caring for the cat (4 oral meds a day, vet visits every two weeks) I was going to need to be committed for Christmas.
Fast forward three months (and $2,200 in vet bills later) and both of my babies were cast-less and using their limbs. It was the perfect holiday gift. I was ready to have at least
some semblance of normal back.
Needless to say my time was short most of the fall and early winter and I was barely keeping it together most days. As much as I think the DIS might've provided some relief, especially this TR, I simply didn't have anything left to give.
I'm incredibly thankful for our good fortune in light of some pretty grave injuries (many times the tendon in both BF and Dory's cases can't be reattached or is done so unsuccessfully) and am FINALLY settling back into the routine. There are two things that I realized I was missing - the DIS and all the good friends I've made her and planning a Disney trip. Well, now I'm back to both. I'm here to help finish out this report and to reconnect with some of my favorite people and have not one, but TWO possible trips to plan for and write about (and finish this time, I promise!!!). The first PTR has begun (link in my siggie) and I'm so excited to be writing on this report again.
I thank you all so much for your 'welcome back's' and well wishes and I appreciate your patience. They really warm my heart. I need to pull some pictures together and go through my notes again (how quickly a year passes) and then I promise to have a trip-related update posted. Keep your eyes peeled this week.
