This was a good week. Obviously the 17th was St. Patrick’s Day, and March 14th was Steak and BJ day. Really.
I found out that my best friend, Nicole, is getting married. We’ve been friends since freshman year of college, so that’s coming up on 10 years I think. She’s back in NYC so she wasn’t physically here to help me, but she has stayed closely in touch with me so that I know she’s around to support me through everything. We have the kind of friendship that will last forever: weeks can go by (I’d rather they not) without us talking, but the next time that we do talk or hang out, we can pick up right where we left off. We’ve had plenty of practice at this; she’s a doctor, so I never saw her even when I lived in NYC haha. I was not worried about our friendship when I moved; we have seen each other at our best and worst and I know that distance can’t change what we’ve been through nor will it change how we will support each other now or in the future. I like her fiancé, and I’m really happy for her.
March Madness started; I picked Kansas, UConn, Pitt and OSU for the Final Four with Kansas winning it all. I’m currently tied for second in my office pool. The pot is $140, but more importantly, I want the bragging rights.
We also got good news about projects at work. If everything goes well, I should be able to stay in Reno for a while and not have to look for work elsewhere.
All of the good stuff that has happened should help me; I have to deal with my astronomical medical bills now. First of all, I have insurance, but it seems that not all of the providers that billed me also billed my insurance. The same is true for the reverse: it seems like my insurance paid providers that never billed me. All in all I owe close to 12 or $13,000 when I should owe $10,000. I should be able to afford everything, but I have to make sure I was billed correctly before I can begin paying it off.
Recovery-wise, things in general are going well. Physically, of course, I am getting better. Anthony has been challenging me with harder exercises at the gym, and my running has gotten better. On Tuesday, I ran 2.25 miles without stopping in under 11 minutes. That’s a 10:56 min/mile pace. Today I did not run, but I am really looking forward to Bay to Breakers in May and the RTO in June.
I’m still improving at RTEC. I haven’t yet ridden a horse, but I’ve helped out at the barn and have groomed a couple horses so far. My right arm isn’t quite what I want it to be yet, and I am right handed, so grooming horses is a little challenging, but I think it’s good for me. Handling an animal that weighs almost a ton, cleaning its coat and picking up its hooves all do wonders for my confidence. Also, horses are super-perceptive. They can pick up on your physical and emotional condition immediately, so it forces you to be honest with yourself and face your demons. You have to be honest with yourself in order to be strong for them because they feed off of your energy. I have always loved that about them but I think that’s more important now than ever. A lot of people are convinced that horses are good therapists; I’ve always believed that and I am positive that they can help me heal faster.
I had an appointment this week where I found out there’s a chance I have to stay on Coumadin permanently. No, I don’t want another stroke, so if that turns out to be true, I will take the Coumadin. But like I’ve already said, taking Coumadin blows. Because of it, I have to limit a lot of stuff, and I love all the stuff I need to limit. Plus I have to get my blood drawn every couple of weeks or so to make sure my INR levels are ok. I will find out for sure after my next MRI and seeing a hematologist about clotting factors in my blood. I hope I can come off of the medication.
On Thursday, I rode the elevator with someone I’ve never met before. She was super nice, and asked me where my accent is from. When I explained to her that I’m from NYC but my voice is the way it is because of my stroke, she tried to play it off like she didn’t notice that I talked different, but that instead I sound like a New Yorker. Funny, right? She noticed my voice was different so she asked why, and when I told her she pretended I sound no different than any other New Yorker. Anyway, I learned that there’s really no way to tell what happened to me; if you don’t know what happened last December, you can’t tell most of the time and if you do figure out something happened, you won’t know what happened.
To me, that means I have recovered. Doctors were confident I would, but I attribute my recovery to my attitude and my belief that I would get better. If you ask me, I was given all of the tools needed for a full recovery; an amazing family, great friends, good health and age were all on my side. But those were only tools. If I had chosen not to use them, they would have meant nothing. I recovered because I chose to, and everything I had available to me in my life supported me in that decision. Yes, I lucked out with my prognosis and support system, but it was because I chose not to roll over and give up that I got better.
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