Day 24 -
Physically, my health is overall on a positive trajectory. I’m encouraged by the way that I’m able to walk with increasing intensity and duration over time, while still remaining conscious of my limited stamina.
Emotionally I am also on a positive trajectory. At some point each day I am stopped by the thought that I had a brush with my mortality, which makes me grateful for just about everything in my life.
Cognitively, my “anesthesia brain” causes me to lose concentration or thoughts but it is to be expected they tell me.
Community — I have only ventured out a couple of times but people want to touch me and the look on their faces is a mixture of relief and joy and looking like they might cry. The emotion is palpable. Seeing people around town or at church is so normal and yet, we both know I am lucky to be alive, literally, which makes the moment we meet both mundane and simultaneously, quite profound.
Family — To care for and live with a family member who has been hospitalized for major surgery and then comes home for over a month of recovery is a demanding role. Karen has been great and she will be returning to work part-time this week as I strengthen and earn her trust to take care of myself. The trust I am working on is to lean once again into life and not let the trauma my body has experienced define who I am becoming.