Lucky Blessing Challenge #5- A Lucky Blessing is Independence.
After my stroke I was tethered to oxygen, a PEG tube for feeding, a PIC line for constant IV’s, and a tracheostomy, a thing in my neck for breathing. I was also extremely weak from it all. The first thing to go was the PIC under my left arm. It was very inconvenient. I had to wear a cap on the trach, rendering it useless, for three days before they would remove it. I started a few weeks before Christmas (I wasn’t waiting around for them any longer.) I wore the cap for a day, when they realized I was serious about starting “the trial.” Every time I coughed (so sick of that) I blew the cap across the room! They told me about the kind that screwed on. Thanks. “The trial” ended on a Sunday. So I had to wait another day for the doctor to pull it out. (My friend called the scar an Angel Kiss!) At the same time, they tapered me off the oxygen. (So glad I don’t have to drag that around anymore.) I started with a feeding tube in my nose! It was tethered between my nostrils and would get pulled upon as they helped me. (Thanks!) Then I had one placed in front on my waist. (Not a great place!) Just the other day I had it removed. They just pulled it out! I was waiting for more, but they said I was done. (Finally!) “I’ve got no strings to hold me down, to make me fret, to make me frown.”
All these tubes and apparatus have taught me to appreciate the freedom that good health gives you. (If you have tubes, I feel ya!) I took for granted the ability to walk, talk and move around as I wished. I still can’t do a lot of things like walking and dressing alone, I now really appreciate those things. (I’ve had to resist the urge to jump out of bed many times!) Don’t underestimate your power to do… everything. Think about it. Thank God everyday for your basic abilities and independence to go and do. “Live each day to the fullest, you just never know.”
KimPressions 