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Tonight's picture was taken in May of 2006. I went out to lunch with a friend that day and when I got home, Peter and Mattie bought this bicycle together. Mattie was SO excited. Our commons area was the perfect place to learn how to ride as it was safe and secure from cars. Within a few months Mattie was riding without training wheels. However, once Mattie was diagnosed with cancer in 2008, he was afraid to ride without training wheels. However by that point, we had given away his wheels. So I reached out to Team Mattie and within an hour we had about four sets of training wheels! Amazing!
Quote of the day: The broken heart. You think you will die, but you keep living, day after day after terrible day. ~ Charles Dickens
This morning I got up extra early so I could get myself ready, breakfast made, chores done, wake my dad up, get him showered, dressed and downstairs so that I could get to the hospital by 10:30am. I had to be super organized because I needed to pack a bag for my mom with cocoa, cereal, napkins, her newspaper, and a blanket to take to the hospital. In addition, I transported a big wine bottle on ice with me. After my hospital appointment, I drove to Alexandria to hand deliver this big bottle of wine to the Foundation's raffle winner! Given that it was 88 degrees today, I made sure that wine stayed chilled!
Yesterday the hospital called and told me that my neck MRI would be 45 minutes, and then I would have to wait an hour, before getting the next MRI of the head. Which I was told was another 45 minutes. So I prepped my mom that she would be waiting a while. To my surprise, by the time I got to the hospital, they arranged for me to have my neck and head MRI done at the same time. That was the first blessing of the day.
When I was called back to the scanning area, I worked with Lisa and Cheryl. Lisa placed my IV in my arm. Here's the funny part! Lisa is a nurse and is deathly afraid of needles. She needs a sedative when this is done to her. When I told her that my veins are hard to find, she was nervous! She did not want to inflict pain on me. Turns out despite her own fears, she is excellent at what she does. She got the IV in 1, 2, 3! Then I worked with Cheryl. Cheryl explained the MRI process to me. I have had so many head MRIs in my life, that I am very familiar with the process. Many people feel confined in the tube or don't care for the noise. I am so exhausted and tired of listening to people all day, that being in the machine for 40 minutes was like a retreat. With all that noise, I could feel myself falling asleep. I had to catch myself, because I did not want to make any movements, that could affect the scan. Gives you some perspective on my level of exhaustion, if I could fall asleep in an MRI machine.
Any case, the scanning process went very smoothly and literally within two hours, I got a message that there were results in my portal. I knew immediately that that meant everything was okay. I have normal scans, which is another blessing. Since I am symptomatic with lightheadedness, dizziness, ringing in my ears, and ear fluttering the doctor felt that I needed a scan to rule out other problems. Now we know for sure that this is stress and migraines. My doctor is very pro-active, and we have a similar Type A personality style.
As the day went on, I received a message from my neighbor's contractor, providing me updates. Given that I wasn't home, I did not see what he or my neighbors were experiencing. About an hour later, one of my neighbors sent a group message to our entire block. I will spare you the details, but overall, I would say being a pro-active person, I believe in upfront, honest, and open communication. I have some neighbors who prefer to gossip, instead of being part of the solution. This irritates me to no end because at the end of the day, I have to live with myself. Trust me if you are looking for an advocate and someone to stand up for justice and to do the right thing.... then you want me on your side. I guide my life by integrity, fairness, and kindness. However, not everyone else does and this is where I can lose faith and hope in life and in humanity in general.
If my day stopped there, that would be more than enough. But of course not. I got home and found our second floor air conditioning system isn't working and I have a swarm of bees in our front and backyards! Truthfully, at times I feel like the female version of Job (from the bible, tested at every corner). All I can say is, may God give me strength to face each and every day.
Three things I am grateful for:
- Wonderful MRI nurses and techs.
- Good MRI results.
- Those who care enough about me to ask how the testing went!
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