Lemons and Lemonade

You know the saying "When life gives you lemons you make lemonade" Well that is kinda of how I have felt ever since my surgery in December. It wasn't what I expected but I had to go on and do what I had to do to get healthy and my life back in order.

Today we were in the doctor's office and hubby was having his check up post surgery when we started chatting with the doctors nurse. She was asking me how I was liking my new job, and I had said to her well if I was there it would be nice. This lead into explaining to her what had happened. After our little chat hubby being who he is pipes up and said, if I ever needed an autopsy I already had the pattern in place and that they just needed to connect the dots. She looked at him wasn't quite sure what to say at first, but when she saw us smiling she laughed and told him he was pretty quick witted. Well that was like adding fuel to the fire he then says.....I should get a tattoo that says " In case of autopsy cut on dotted line" Ba ha ha.......You are to funny honey!!!!!!!

But truly, isn't life like that. Of course we could wallow in our own self pity, but what good would that do us? Not much good at all I think. Oh don't get me wrong there were times during my healing process that I was in tears, but those tears didn't get me anywhere. Nope, I decided that I was going to take control of my healing and not let it control me. They told me to make sure I walked every day so for the first 3 months that is exactly what I did. Snow, sleet, wind, rain, I was out there walking with my trusty companion Bert.

Each day I set a goal for myself. I would walk to the top of the drive and look down the road ahead, initially I wanted to make it to the end of the road and back, but it didn't take me to long to realize I had bitten off more than I could chew. But through trial and error I made my destinations. One foot in front of the other. I would eventually make it to the end of the road, then it was the next road and then the next. After that is was going down the hill and back....then came my stepper. I decided that I was going to see what I could do. So onto my stepper I went. The very first time I don't think I lasted more than 4 mins. before I got lightheaded and realized I needed to get off. Next time 10 mins, then 15 mins all the ways up to 45 mins. Of course starting off at the lower level. Today I did the stepper for 35 mins at level 5 Yippee! I have been out for 3 runs. I am able to comfortably run 6 km. I'm pretty pumped about that.

Last week I introduced a weight training program. I started off small, I am using a variety of weights and apparatus. Hubby and I converted one of our rooms into our exercise room, so we have the universal, the weight bench, my free weights, the exercise ball and my rubber bands....I put my a little stereo in there and I am good to go. The stepper is still in the office, but it will eventually end up in the room as well.

Anyhow, the point to all of this is that I could have kept the poor me hat on.....I could have sat on the couch and done nothing....I could have whined about how I have felt really isolated through this whole process, how I felt the medical field really abandoned me when I left the hospital,but what good would that have done me. I had to be my own advocate. I had to get myself onto the road to recovery. I still have a whole life ahead of me and I want to live that life to it's fullest. If there was one thing I learnt through this whole process, it's how fragile life truly is, in a HEART beat it can be taken away from you. So I say....it's a good thing I love lemonade.