Shouting From The Rooftop - Again!

God is AMAZING!!! I'm shouting this from the rooftop again, because today was amazing. Just when I get sad and depressed about not seeing the results I want, God allows me another glimpse of the extraordinary things He is continually doing in my life. I forget sometimes, so He shows me. I feel ashamed for ever doubting that He loves me and that He only wants what's best for me. Thank you, God, for forgiveness and for unconditional love.

Today I walked the best I've walked since my first "Shout It From The Rooftop" post. I can say it's because I turned the electricity down in my deep brain stimulation device and I don't think I'd be entirely wrong, but I have to give ALL the glory to God. It's only because of Him. I truly believe that. Thank you, thank you, Jesus!!

This morning when I got out of bed, my toes laid flat on the floor (instead of curling up like they usually do) - yay! I still walked into work with the walker, but once I got to my desk, I parked it and didn't use it again until I left work at the end of the day.

A little background: my company has two buildings that are connected by a covered walkway. I had a meeting in the other building today. It's not a huge jaunt, but when you have walking difficulties, any jaunt is huge! I have never tried walking from the building that I work in to the "new" building without using the walker. (I put quotes around "new" because it's not that new anymore, but that's how I still identify the building!) It's just "too far". But today. Well, today, I turned to my co-worker Debbie and said I wanted to try to walk with just my cane. I didn't know if I could do it, but I had just enough bravery (thank you, Jesus!) to at least try it. The meeting was at 10 am and I told Debbie that I'd need to leave super early to make sure I made it on time (because I am super slow!!). Debbie said she'd walk with me. She also carried my laptop. That's something I still have to figure out how to do - walk with my cane and carry my laptop. I do have two hands, but sometimes, I like my "free" hand, free in case I need to grab a hold of the wall or something! I already knew that it took me 15 minutes of walking with just a cane to get to the parking garage that's attached to the building I work in, so I thought walking to an entirely different building may take a little longer. It turns out it's about the same amount of time! Guess what?!! I DID IT!! Well actually, God allowed me to do it!! Thank you, God! I walked to the "new" building with just a cane. Seriously, did you read that?! WITH JUST A CANE!!! And in the process of doing this, I experienced things I've never experienced before. I've worked at my job for 11 years now and I have never, ever been in the staircases of the buildings. Never. I didn't know where they led to (in regards to where they came out on the different floors of the buildings). It was all brand new to me!! I could of used the elevators, but I was using my cane. That meant I could walk up and down stairs, so of course I wanted to take the stairs. When we got in the "new" building a God thing happened. Of ALL the people I could have passed in the hallway, I passed by the guy who years ago broke the ice with me when he commented after seeing me use the walker to walk out to my car, "Old football injury?!" He made my day back then and I still remember that encounter. Unfortunately, I still don't know his name, but he's a part of my story nonetheless and for me to walk by him today - that's a God thing!! I walked up and down the "new" building's stairs!! I had been down them once when the fire alarms went off, but this time it was awesome. Ya'll - I just said going up and down stairs and being in stairwells is awesome! Oh how I forgot how awesome it is. It's the little things in life. Also, I walked fast!! OK, not all the time, but there were times, I was walking fast!! In fact, my co-worker Stacy said that she thought I was using my walker because I was walking so fast by her desk. Again, ya'll - you don't know how excited this gets me. I am so, so, so happy!!!

This is not to say that I'll walk well tomorrow or the day after, but today - today I walked wonderfully. I'm not sure you'll ever know how happy I get on these days unless you've experienced something like this yourself, but for those you can't imagine, I'll tell you it's life-altering. Again, I have to give ALL the glory to God. I did nothing to deserve this. It's a gift. It's a gift I'll treasure on the bad days and bathe in on the good days.

Vanderbilt called me yesterday. I was supposed to go back from my 6-month-post-op appointment on September 6. However, my neurologist isn't going to be there that day so I've rescheduled for September 22. I'll have three appointments that day: one with my neurologist, one cognitive function appointment and one motor skills appointment. My mom asked me if I was sad that the appointment got moved. On one hand, yes, but on the other hand, no. It'll give me more time to test the levels on my device. It'll give me more time to practice walking. It'll also give my hair more time to grow out. I also realized that the official 6 month mark isn't until September 29, so the new date is closer to that then the original appointment date. I really want to be able to walk in to the neurologist's office with just a cane. A miracle (and I do believe in miracles and completely believe it could happen) would be if I walked in to his office on my own two feet with no walker or cane!! It's days like today that keep my hope and faith alive that this can happen. Again, thank you, Jesus for this!!

I had to share my "rooftop experience" with all those who have followed along on this journey. I also know that the devil is alive and well in this world and that he does not like the fact that I'm giving all the glory to God. He'll probably try to derail me and he may even succeed from time to time, but my God is bigger than him and I have nothing - absolutely nothing - to worry about. God's Got This!! I'll shout and shout that again - God's Got This!!!!!!!!!!