Back in the Saddle Again

Today was my first day back at work since February 15. It was awesome!! I absolutely LOVE my job and my co-workers. I was completely ready to be back. :)

The reason this post is titled "Back in the Saddle Again" is because I've had this song (the one by Gene Autry) stuck on a loop in my head ALL DAY LONG!!! I don't know where it came from. I haven't heard the song in years and no one used that phrase with me today. But, it is the perfect song for this day! :)

I was greeted with this sign and these flowers:

My co-workers are the best!! Have I said how much I love them?! They made me feel extremely loved and appreciated.

I also got a sweet e-mail from a girl I went to college with who now also works at Scripps welcoming me back and saying she was praying for me. Thank you, Sarah!

I posted this selfie on Facebook with the title, "Let's do this!" and it seems that (as of this moment) 180 people like that I'm back at work too - ha!

I noticed that it looks like you can see the wires running down each side of my neck in this picture. I know it's just the way I was posing, but if they are the wires, the right side would be the shunt wires (the shunt is non-functional now) and the left side would be the wires from the deep brain stimulation device. :)

I wore my "Stephanie" necklace in case anyone forgot my name or if I forgot my own name! :) Thankfully neither of those situations came to fruition!

One of my co-workers told me that my boss wanted everyone to flood my desk with remote controls. I totally would have laughed out loud if that had actually happened! :) I showed a couple of co-workers my new remote control.

I definitely can tell that my hand is not completely back to how it was before surgery, but I'm NOT complaining!!! It is a 1,000 times better then it was and I will never, ever take any part of my body for granted again! I always thought my left hand wasn't as good as my right (since the dystonia hit) but when I lost the use of it completely for awhile, I realized just how much I really use it!! Have you ever stopped to think how blessed you are if you can move your arms and legs, fingers and toes and the rest of your body without ever even thinking about it?!?!?! If you haven't, you should! Thank you, Lord for giving me the ability to move and function without even giving it a second thought!

I don't know if this has to do with the electricity from the DBS system or not, but I did notice today that I feel electricity in my left thumb. It's hard to describe other than using the word "electricity", because that's what it feels like, but maybe pins and needles describes it better?! That's the only difference I'm feeling today and again, I'm not even sure it has anything to do with the DBS system, or if I'm just imagining it because I'm on high alert for any changes in my body. I definitely haven't felt anything different in my leg, foot, toes or in the way I walk.

I did make it through 8 hours of work wearing my wig - yay!! I really did have concerns about that. :) But, the first thing I did when I got home was wip it off. Haha. I also have to say that I feel like my real hair is growing back to look like a mullet! Seriously, it's growing back much quicker and thicker in the back then it is in the front. I do have to take into consideration that hair growth over my incisions is going to take more time, but a mullet?! Really?!! Ha! I saw my shadow in the shower this morning and I could see spiked hair on my head! Yay, it's growing! I didn't think it possible, but I did go through a whole bottle of baby shampoo since February.

Thank you all again for following along on this journey with me, for praying for me, for encouraging me, for sending me cards, for buying me gifts and for loving me. I can't express in words what all of you mean to me. You have completely humbled me and you are a huge blessing to me! God is working in my life in a huge way through this experience. He's changing and molding me in an awesome way and I can't wait to see what's next!