When Life gives you a Third Chance at life give it your BEST

 I started this blog after I was given a second chance at life. Those of you who have read through the posts know my story about addiction to Narcotic Medications combined with my food addictions.  If not please go to the first blog post and see what I was dealing with.  

       Now onto my third chance at life.  For the past 10 years or so I have been dealing with what I thought was Asthma. I was diagnosed by a lung Doctor so I had no reason to question. I have been using inhalers and inhaled Steroids for years. The last 5 years my "Asthma" has become worse.  It has been so hard to breath that I was waiting for that one final breath and thought I was going to die of suffocation.  I was wheezing constantly and any kind of exertion would cause me to cough and struggle to get air in.  I  did continue to try and exercise but would get light headed at times so would have to stop and catch my breath.  My O2 stats would be in the normal range if I was just sitting but would drop with exercise.  

      The next part of this experience is pretty amazing.  I decided I wanted to get my hearing checked and talk to the ENT about my dizziness.  I was thinking I was getting a return visit from Vertigo. Something I had experienced before.  As I was waiting in the exam room the  Physician Assistant came to talk to me and he said.  "You have been misdiagnosed!  I can hear you wheezing from clear across this room. You DO NOT have Asthma!" He then said I will be right back and in he came with his equipment to put a thin flexible tube through my nose and down into my throat to look at my vocal chords and the opening to my Trachea. He just shook his head and said, "WOW!"  He then sent his assistant to go get the Doctor and when the Dr. came in he looked at the monitor and just said, "WOW!" After I saw the pictures of my Trachea I understood why I was struggling.  There was a mass of tissue blocking most of my Trachea behind the vocal chords.  It was called Laryngeal Stenosis.  Surgery was planned and it was successful.  They did a biopsy on the tissue and it was scar tissue that had slowly grown from a surgery I had years ago.

    The moment I woke up from surgery I could breathe! It has been amazing. It has been 3 weeks tomorrow. There is no wheezing but I still do cough a bit. The Dr. told me that the cough will slowly stop as I heal over the next 6 weeks. I have so much energy.  I have been able to walk without any distress. I can swim and the Dr. was surprised I was able to do those things already.  I have had to be a bit careful in my activities because I feel so good and I am trying to not injure muscles because I can now move easily!

       How do you thank a P. A. that took the time to "just listen?" He could have gone on with his exam and sent me on my way. 

 I will be forever grateful for him...... 

I will take this third chance at life and give it my best!

    I just wanted to write this down so I would alway remember that someone took a moment to just listen and gave me a miracle. I believe in Miracles I expect them everyday.   

Seesaw

 Have you ever played on a playground toy called a seesaw(teeter-totter)?  I remember as a child in school at recess my friend and I would love to be on the seesaw. On occasion one or the other of us would jump off and it would cause a loud shriek and a squabble between us for the rest of the day.  It was so fun to have the challenge of sitting on it and seeing if we could be perfectly balanced.  Both of us felt like we were floating on air and we would just sit there for the longest time.  It was tricky to remain balanced. It took adjustments and shifting on both of our parts to have that perfect control.  Our healthy living can be looked at as a giant seesaw.  I know that when my seesaw crashes to the bottom I usually give out a few shrieks and always have a pity party. Then I dust myself off and mentally try to refocus myself on what is important and that is my health.  Physical health but also mental health. I know the proper steps to help me with both of them but sometimes it just seems like I don't care.  Have you had this crash on your seesaw?   When my friend would jump off and send me crashing down I would be so upset at her but always by the end of the day we were once again planning on running to be the ones that got the seesaw at recess the next day. There was only 1 and it was always busy. So, here I am 68 years old and I'm not giving myself the same forgiveness that I gave my friend.  I have just allowed myself to crash down and sit in my poor me party.  The hopeful thing is that I have had ENOUGH!! I have done somethings this week to help me to raise up my seesaw into a more balanced position. One end being my physical health and the other end my mental health.  I have planned to get at least 30 mins of good physical exercise in some form. I like to walk, I like to swim, I like to dance, and I like to hike so those are things I am looking at.  I am going to work on losing some weight. I have a weight goal that I feel good at and it is not as thin as I was a couple of years ago but its a good place for me.  I have signed up for ICL which is Institute for Continued Learning where I can take classes in person or on Zoom at the University that I live across the street from (I won't have a parking problem just walk!) I am doing adult paint by numbers and they are not easy. I am reaching out to friends that I have lost contact with and we chat right now through messages but plan to get together when life settles down. I am slowly trying to balance my seesaw! I wish I had the help my friend and I would get when the boys decided to tease us and they would get in the middle and hold it so neither one of us could get down!!  Oh the screaming we would do!!! The louder we squealed and screamed the more determined they were to see how long they could keep us there.....  I know there is going to be squealing and screaming as I try to keep my healthy journey seesaw balanced but as I look back at my younger self..... that was the part that made it fun!

Is your seesaw balanced?  Maybe now would be a good time to decided what you need to do to improve you healthy journey! 

My amazing inspiring friend.

 My friend is one of the most inspiring examples of never giving up.  She is 57 years old and discovered a lump in her breast. After the usual tests it was discovered that is was very aggressive and required immediate treatment.  She began the Journey to fight for her life.  She started with a lumpectomy the week our world locked down with Covid.  Some things just can't wait!. Then Chemo started.  I was so lucky when she invited me to meet with a wig specialist to help her find a wig that was close to her original hair. That lady was so kind and sweet and patient and gave her a lot of good tips that would help her down the road.  When the Chemo started her long beautiful hair began to fall out in clumps.  I again was invited to go with her as she had her head shaved.  She, the beautician, and I shed tears as she gave up her beloved hair to donate to a charity that makes and donates wigs to children with alopecia.  At the start of her journey she had been diagnosed with a heart issue that would require surgery that was scheduled after her 12 Chemo sessions that she had every 3 weeks.  She did quite well with Chemo and then faced the heart surgery.  The surgery discovered that part of her valve was damage and they were going to have to open her chest and do open heart surgery.  By the grace of God there was a Doctor in the surgery who had heard of a new valve that was being used in Children up in SLC. They took all the measurements and found it would work for her.  They had to contact the hospital in SLC which is 250 miles from us and they life flighted the valve and she became the first adult to have this value and had the less recovery surgery.  The week after her surgery her hubby became ill and they found out he had Covid. They had been so very very careful.  She then came down with it. They have recovered and she is now starting 6 weeks of radiation.  It has been such a hard year for her but she did so well. I think a lot of it had to do with her very positive attitude.  The other day she sent me a text that she was now able to get back to her walking and could walk one and a half miles without to much stress.  The thing that I have been so impressed with her is she sent me a text the end of December stating  that she had finished her goal.  Her goal was to do 200 workout in the year 2020.  If she can do that with the year she has had I need to dig a little deeper and do more for me.  Can you dig deeper?

Why did I blog

Some of you know my story-some do not.  I started this blog to challenge my mind to heal after coming through a very hard struggle to fight my way back from narcotic drug addiction 11 years ago!(can you believe that?)  In trying to help me with my use of Lortab, oxycontin, etc my Dr. put me on Methadone which I now know is a difficult narcotic to kick and recover from.  It can be done but the withdrawals can carry on for an extended amount of time. After a few months I realized that I had great difficulty in writing, reading, and concentration.  I look back and I'm so grateful that I was able to come through that because at times I wondered.  I still have some struggles but I blame most of them on my constant companion Fibromyalga.  My blog was something that became a friend and support system.  You became my friends and support system.  I have been asked many times why I only blog now on rare occasions.  My answer....... I felt like I didn't have important things to share with you. I guess I let some negative situations and comments sway my thoughts. Maybe my blog was not helping you as much as I had hoped. I want to encourage, motivate, and inspire. I don't want others to feel I'm judging or bragging.  Yes, I let some words that should have rolled off my back stab in a little.(a lot)  It has made me hesitate in blogging things that I think might motivate you.  I have met and become friends with so many of you that started reading my blog and carried me for years.  I am sorry if I have hurt any of you with my words. I am still in the struggle with my healthy journey.  I have gained weight.....  I don't have any desire to be back at my lowest weight so I have to work on my thinking because I was not at my healthiest then, but those weight numbers keep calling to me! I want to be at a weight that my body can function strong, and my lab numbers are in line.  I know I need to lose probably 20 lbs to be in a better area for my knees and feet to be happier!  So.... the journey continues and begins again.  Please join me and we can work on our healthy journey together.  You can find more about my journey at my Why Not Today Lifestyle page. 

Thankful! 2009-2019

As Thanksgiving 2019 approaches I have to reflect back 10 years ago.  10 years ago I was fresh out of rehab for Prescription pain pill addiction.  I was still having many withdrawals symptoms coming off the Methadone.  Methadone has a long (up to a year) withdrawal time frame.  I didn't feel good at all but still wanted to try to do all I could to bring my life into some kind of normal. I am grateful that my family lifted and carried me through a lot of that year with help from above.  I have accomplished so much in every aspect of my life since then.  I still struggle with the grip of Fibromyalgia and some days are pretty tough but most days are a blessing.  I should not have lived as I was so deep into my addiction.  I wonder so many times how I woke up to see a new day? I know that one reason I lived was that I have been able to help so many people realize that there is hope and that we can reclaim our health.  So many of you have carried me on my healthy journey and I can only hope that I have carried you as well.  I know that I need others to keep me strong and you have been there. I haven't written often in my blog but I carry you in my mind and heart.  I am thankful that I was brave and strong enough to take that first step into health 10 years ago!  Is it time for you to be brave and strong enough to take that first step too?

Experiment. That’s how I learn.

I have been watching the times people view my blog for years now and I have made an interesting observation. If I attach a video then my blog has very few views. If I don’t the views go way up. I realized my posts are being blocked because the videos are not from the same platform as my blog. I think you would enjoy seeing them. Eric also sings some absolutely stunning broadway songs in some of these videos. All I dare suggest is you search for Why Not Today Lifestyle and you will find videos.  I don’t know if this post will be allowed widespread viewing. This is also part of my experiment. Thank you for being my test subject!

Holiday Battle Plan.

This is our most recent live show. Please comment on this blog what your battle Plan is. We can help support each other in our healthy journey. https://youtu.be/Vlk-D7r1BRo