Tune-In-Tuesday: September 25, 2018

It's a little after 7:45 pm and I just got home from yoga. It was truly what I needed when I needed it. I wasn't "feeling" yoga tonight - not the kind I normally love: the hard stuff. My instructor made the decision for me that I would do Yin Yoga (a slow placed style where positions are held for longer) tonight and it was fantastic. I am so thankful that I am able to do yoga with the instructor that I have. She's a blessing!

I saw this quote somewhere this past week and it literally made me laugh out loud. So now, when I feel like giving up on anything, great or small, I'm going to remind myself of this and keep pushing forward.

I told my yoga instructor tonight that I've had a couple of bad walking days this past week, but then I stopped myself, because when I really started reflecting on that, I realized, I didn't really have any bad days at all. The "bad" days I thought I experienced were really what the "good" days were not so long ago. Plus, I didn't fall. It's all about perspective! I have SO much to be thankful for, grateful for, joyful for.

I've also been reminded that the less I think of myself and the more my focus is on others, the less trouble I have walking. Distracting myself by helping others does my body good! It's a win-win!

Thanks for reading this short but (hopefully!) sweet post tonight! Always remember that God's Got This!

Tune-In-Tuesday: September 18, 2018

I have to start tonight's entry out by saying how exceedingly thankful I am to God for allowing me to have a such great week of walking and for all the growing He's allowing me to experience through His Word. I'm human, so the week wasn't perfect, but I'm thankful for it nonetheless. I didn't do anything different this past week then I have before. I didn't mess with the electricity in my brain. I even fell (more on this later in the post, but it wasn't my walking that caused it!), yet I'm still so very, very thankful.

I was at work on Friday walking to the restroom of all places when it struck me, when do I stop being “cautiously optimistic” about walking well and finally just be optimistic?! I feel like God's telling me to be joyful. Rejoice in the good days and remember them when tougher days come along. It takes a LOT of work to change a personality. I’m naturally a pessimist, but I long to be an optimist, so I'll strive for that, even when it's hard.

I have been blessed with SO MANY Bible verses this week that have spoken to me in my Bible reading. I was in Esther and Job and am now in Psalms and truly, I just need to stop highlighting verses, because eventually every single one of them will be highlighted. ;) I did want to share some in this post with everyone because it's God's Word and it's spoken directly to me and you. Here are a few of my favorites:

"For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?" Esther 4:14

"For such a time as this". Is God working in me for a future purpose? Maybe it's even for a present purpose? Is He allowing me to go through walking difficulties, so that in some way, I'm able to help someone else? He uses everything in our lives to draw us closer to Him and to allow us to share His love with others. So who knows...maybe this is my "for such a time as this". I know this: I shall not remain silent about what God's doing in my life. He's a mighty God and He's doing mighty things!

"He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted." Job 5:9

I actually have this verse up on a wall in my kitchen (thanks to my friend, Kristen's store!). Yes, God performs wonders and miracles beyond what we can even fathom. He did when Jesus walked the earth and He does now. We of little faith forget this way too often (I count myself in that "we"). Also, I just realized that this verse is in Job TWICE. It's also in Job 9:10. How cool is that?!

"Does he not see my ways and count my ever step?" Job 31:4

He counts every step, just like he counts every hair on our head.

"He is wooing you from the jaws of distress to a spacious place free from restriction, to the comfort of your table laden with choice food." Job 36:16

I love that God is "wooing" me (and you).

Saturday, I did some deep cleaning. I did a lot of dusting. This is when I fell. It unfolded like a comedy of errors. I had a plaque over the door frame to my room. I basically had just balanced it up there instead of nailing it. Anyway, I saw cobwebs above it, so I decided to dust it. Well, the dust rag caught the plaque and caused it to fall, which startled me and caused me to fall. I landed on my hand, but just as soon as I landed the plaque hit me in the head. Seriously, it must of been a sight to see. I didn't injure myself and surprisingly didn't even get bruises where I thought I might. This fall can only mean one thing: I shouldn't have been dusting. ;)

Sunday, I was able to walk into church with relative ease. I'm thankful for friends and fellow church members distracting me enough to where I don't put ALL my focus on walking. I'm also thankful to my brother and sister-in-law who allow me to hold on to my two-year-old niece's hand as we go up to communion, so that, again, my focus is on something other than my walking. It's a great balancing act (pun intended): focusing on walking, but not too much so that I get all in my head and psych myself out.

Yesterday, I did something completely out of my comfort zone. I attended a meeting of Toastmasters at work. Toastmasters is a club that teaches people how to give speeches and how to speak publicly. While I can be very outgoing sometimes (mostly at work!), I'm an introvert in my core and it scares me to talk in front of big crowds. I was invited as a guest to this meeting and something amazing happened. I don't think I've ever been as quiet as I was during the meeting - ha! You see, I'm (slowly) learning that I don't always need to talk. Sometimes, it's best to be quiet, listen and learn. It was a great experience and I think I'm going to go back.

Tonight, I had yoga and it was good. I never know if I'm going to be able to do a pose or not, but more times then not, I surprise myself. I'm very thankful for a kind and patient instructor. Tonight, she taught me a new pose, but I kept rolling out of it (basically losing my balance and literally rolling out of it). She laughed and said a lot of people roll out of it because it's hard (to keep the pose). But, eventually I did it. I love learning new things and also being challenged.

God's been challenging me in several different areas of my life to learn, to grow, to be still, to take action, to do, to stay calm, to walk, to be brave, to seek His face, to give Him glory, to love with everything in me, to pray, to keep going, to be joyful in affliction, to love without restriction, to be all He has made me to be. And so, with His help, I will.

And in everything, I'll always remember that "God's Got This!".

Tune-In-Tuesday: September 11, 2018

I know you probably can't tell - in fact, I'm a little disappointed because I just realized that since I took the above picture looking into my mirror, the whole picture is inverted - but this morning as I was finishing up and getting ready to leave for work, I glanced in the mirror and realized my left foot was not turned in or twisted. It was perfectly straight. It was relaxed. It was "normal". But, being me, I'm still CAUTIOUSLY optimistic that I'm on the right setting, because, you know, me being OVERLY excited about anything usually leads me to jinx the whole situation. Seriously though, I am so very thankful. God is good.

Walking has been easier - not completely without issue - but easier. I even had a much easier time walking into church on Sunday and if you've been reading this blog awhile you know that I tend to have major problems with that particular task. ;)

Thursday and Friday of last week were particularly great walking days. I am blessed!

I have good days and bad days, but I'm thankful that for this past week, the good days outweighed the bad days. God is in both kind of days though for which I am so ever grateful. He's in control and I am not. Sometimes (OK, the majority of the time) I want to be in control, but then I come to the realization that that would be a very bad thing and then I relax and breath and rejoice in the fact that He knows what He's doing!

God knows our every need even before we know our need. I went to yoga tonight. It was an hour later than I normally go because my instructor had to fill in for another class, but still wanted to work with me. To be honest, all day today, I've felt sad. Not like, cry-my-eyes-out sad, but sad nonetheless. I wasn't sure I really even wanted to go tonight, but I am SO glad I did. It was the perfect mix of therapy, exercise and relaxation and it lifted my mood substantially. It was what I needed, when I needed it and I thank God for it.

I was also uplifted today by this Bible verse: "Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always." 1 Chronicles 16:11
When this life seems dark or sad look to the Lord. He is our strength. He is our God who loves us immensely and only wants what's best for us.

In everything always remember, "God's Got This!"

Tune-In-Tuesday: September 4, 2018

Another week has come and gone and I must say that I am cautiously optimistic that my walking may be back on track. May be. 😉 In my last post, I had turned the electricity down to 2.70. That lasted until Thursday night when I turned it back up and landed at 2.90 (still in Group A) and so far, so good. I turned it up because I knew I needed more. I can’t explain why or how I knew I needed more, I just did. 😉

Since turning it up, walking has been getting back to normal. I feel more stable. Thank you, Jesus!

I made a spur of the moment decision to go to my church’s family retreat this past weekend and it was one of the best decisions I’ve made. I don’t normally thrive on making last minute decisions, but this time I did. I met new people, learned more about Jesus and failed epicaly at corn hole. It was a blast. I also was struck by this fact: the last time I went on our church’s family retreat, I had to use a walker to get everywhere. This time, I used my own two feet. I must say I did use my Dad too – haha. He helped me down a steep hill and other places that I may not have been so steady on, but the fact is, I didn’t use a walker or a cane!!

I saw this quote this past week and it struck a chord with me:

Never in a million years did I ever think that I would be blogging about walking issues. Never in a million years would I have thought that “matters of the brain” would spark my interest or keep my attention for more than 30 seconds. And yet, here I am. And the journey’s not over yet. Maybe God’s got bigger plans for me yet.

I also saw this and it humbled me:

It humbled me because I, oftentimes, when walking fails, am the rude, weak, bully, timid, arrogant one. I so don’t want to be that, but I get frustrated and do fail. Therefore, I am so ever thankful for God’s grace.

I had yoga tonight and my instructor killed me! Just kidding. The night did not go as I had planned though. My appointment was at 6pm. I arrived at 6:30pm. There were two separate 3 car-pile-ups on the highway and a 25-minute drive turned into an hour drive. I was literally stopped on the interstate. I texted my instructor (when I was completely stopped!) and she was cool about it. When I finally arrived, she decided to put me through a boot-camp. I guess that’s what I deserved for being half an hour late! But – as usual, it was just what I needed. I’ve been feeling kind of fat and useless, so a hard workout is just what I needed. I’m definitely going to feel tonight’s workout tomorrow. 😉

I think that's it for this week. Thank you for reading along. Thank you also for the encouragement and the prayers. Always remember, God's Got This and also:

Tune-In-Tuesday: August 28, 2018

My friend, Frieda, posted the above Bible verse today on her Facebook wall and it hit me smack between the eyes. It's just what I needed, when I needed it.

Somehow, somewhere I’ve picked up this idealistic view that if I do this, I’ll be healed or if I do that, everything will go my way. Umm…NO!! It doesn’t work like that. Even though I’m a child a God, life on this Earth will never be perfect – even if that’s what I want. That’s just the truth. God doesn’t promise us a smooth-sailing ride through life. He does promise that He’ll be with us each step, but life is still going to be hard at times because of sin.

The past week’s been rough. I won’t lie. It’s been a struggle to walk. It’s not what I had hoped for after getting my deep brain stimulation battery replaced. Things are supposed to be great, right?! I got my batteries replaced and all is supposed to be well. Ha! It’s not. 😉 Over the week, I kept thinking that walking would get better, but it didn’t. My hand was also giving me problems. I was frustrated, but strangely (or maybe not so strangely!) not without hope. I could say the week was bad, but then again, the whole week wasn’t bad and neither was any whole day – just moments. I am reminded tonight that I didn’t fall - not once. That's ONLY by the grace of God. There were times when I thought I was going to, but praise Jesus, He kept me upright! I'm also highly aware that many, many people have much bigger problems then I do. They are going through things that make my walking issues look like a minor inconvenience. It's all in perspective. I am most certainly blessed!!

I went to a doctor’s appointment on Friday morning (unrelated to the brain stuff), and was given some advice that I took to heart. What if, now that the battery is brand new, I don’t need to be on the level I was on before it was replaced? It made sense. And I did feel that I was getting too much electricity. I hadn’t changed the settings though because it hadn’t been two weeks after the surgery yet and I wanted to make sure that I gave the setting enough time to adjust before changing it. But there were signs that I had too much: my foot wouldn’t lie flat on the ground and I was having spasms in my leg. My hand was twitching and making weird involuntary movements. I also felt very off-balance. Last week was just not fun. Not that every week must be fun, but hopefully you get what I mean. 😉

Sunday afternoon (after nearly face-planting on the sidewalk walking into church!), I decided I HAD to do something. So, I took the electricity down. I was at 3.20 volts and I took it down to 3.00. Almost immediately my hand was more relaxed. The foot remained to be seen. As I stated earlier it takes a good 2 weeks for everything to have a chance to work, but some subtle things can be seen right away (in my case, my hand). By yesterday evening, I was contemplating turning it down even more. This morning, I did turn it down more. Now it’s at 2.70. I worry that it’s too low, but I’ll give it at least a day or two. I have to have faith and trust that my foot will hold me. So far though, I’ve felt a million times better. I have no idea why I didn't take the electricity down sooner than I did but I choose to believe it was all in God's time.

I firmly believe that God uses the difficult situations in our lives to draw us closer to him. While walking was rough, my prayer life has never been so on par! Nor has my Bible reading. 😉 Now I say this a little tongue-in-cheek, but it is SO TRUE at the same time. When everything in life is going great, my prayer life and my Bible reading tend to go by the waste side (just being honest), but when things are tough, that’s when I’m in constant contact with God. I have grown and am continuing to grow in my relationship with Jesus. For someone like me who always feels like I must be in control of things, it’s hard for me sometimes to realize that God knows what He’s doing. I constantly want to grab the reins from Him and tell Him, “No – it’s this way!”, but God’s got a firm grip and doesn’t allow me to deter Him. He takes me on a wild ride sometimes, but it’s always the best, most breath-taking, adventurous, beautiful ride I’ve ever been on. So, even during the rough weeks, I can loudly proclaim that God’s Got This!

Tune-In-Tuesday: August 21, 2018

Since I just wrote a blog post on Saturday and that post was more of a book then a post, I promise to keep this post short!

I walked a lot better on Sunday then I thought I was going to – praise Jesus! At church there were no parking spots! That is a VERY good thing to have at church!! I had to park in the overflow parking out past the shed (for those that go to church with me). I thought about driving around and around and lurking, waiting for someone to leave, but then I thought, maybe I could do it - walk the distance. So, I put my brave face on and with God's help, I did it. I was very, very slow, but I did it. I walked without falling. Thank the Lord!! I did it on the way back to the car after church as well, except for the very end when my friend, Savannah walked with me. We had communion on Sunday and I held the hand of my niece, Hope, and walked up, through and back from communion without issue. Sometimes all it takes is the simple touch of a two-year old's hand to bring steadiness to my gate.

As I was doing my Bible reading, I found this verse and fell in love with it:

I’m still not up to par with how I had been walking before the battery surgery, but I do have faith that I will get there eventually. This whole deep brain stimulation process has been a learning experience, but also a growing experience. Maybe it's in the standing still that the Lord will reveal His mighty plan!

I don't recall that I've ever shared a picture of what the battery looks like. Obviously, it's under my skin, but here's a pre-op picture with the old battery:

You can obviously see the bulge. When I first got this 2 and ½ years ago, I was embarrassed by it, wanting to cover it up, but now, I look at it as a badge of honor. Every scar tells a story and boy do mine have a story. ;)

Itching means healing, right? Since yesterday, my surgery scar has been itching like crazy. I was allowed to take the big bandage off on Monday, but was told that I should let the steri-strips fall off by themselves.

All that for this:

The first attempt at an IV left its mark on me:

I worked out for the first time since the surgery this morning. I exercised on my stationary bike. I feel like I need to give yoga another week off since I use a lot of arm muscles for that. I don’t want to accidentally undo something that doesn’t need to be undone (surgery wise). ;) Plus, my yoga instructor is on vacation this week, so I didn’t have yoga tonight. I think by next week, I’ll be ready to do it again. In place of yoga, I felt the need to vacuum my entire house this morning at 6:30 am. Who does that? Obviously, I do, when I get the urge.

I think that's all for this post. See, short(er)!! I hope everyone reading this has a wonderful week and if you’re thinking about deep brain stimulation, let me know, I’d love to talk with you about it. As always, God’s Got This!

Tune-In-Tuesday (but on a Saturday): August 19, 2018 Post-Op

Hi all! Thanks for stopping by and for reading a second post from me in a week's time! I just wanted to give an update since my last post.

Ya'll know (if you've been reading) that I'm type A. I like order and planning and consistency. God likes to rock the boat sometimes with me; but only to help me grow! Since my last post, there was a plot twist. Every good story or book needs a plot twist, right?! I was all set to have the battery in my deep brain stimulation device replaced on Friday morning, when I got a call on Wednesday from the neurosurgeon's office asking if I could get it done on Thursday night instead. The neurosurgeon's schedule was having to be rearranged. So, all my "planning" went out the door and I agreed to have it done on Thursday (August 16) night instead of the next morning. I contacted my mom and dad to see if one of them were available Thursday night to take me. Mom said that she thought Thursday night would be even better than Friday morning listing that I could just go home and go to bed right after and I wouldn't have to get up at the crack of dawn to go to the hospital. She calmed me down! My friend, Kristen, texted me on Thursday morning and said she would be praying for me on Friday. When I told her that the surgery actually got moved up to Thursday night, her response was almost verbatim of what my Mom had said the day before, to which I replied, "How are you not my mom's child?"!! Seriously! Lots of people take Fridays or maybe Mondays off to get their batteries recharged, by going for a long weekend to the mountains or the lake or just a stay-cation. But I took a long weekend (Friday) to LITERALLY get my battery replaced. I'm half bionic once again. ;)

I worked a full day on Thursday and left the office around 4:00 pm. I had to be at the hospital at 5 pm for a 7:30 pm surgery. I won't lie. I was nervous. I really don't like being put under. Not because I get sick, it's just that I have this fear of being put to sleep and never waking up again. It's irrational and silly, but that's my fear nonetheless. It felt weird getting to the hospital when everyone else was leaving the hospital! :) I registered, got my hospital wrist band, signed papers and then Mom and I arrived at the surgical waiting room where we waited.

A nurse came out and said that there was one patient before me. She offered us a private room to wait in until the surgery but we opted to stay in the waiting room. So we waited. Work followed me to the hospital as all the waiting room TV's were set to HGTV! So we watched that until another nurse, Emily, came and got us. Once we were ushered back to a room, we realized we had made a mistake earlier in not taking that nurse up on the private room. ;) It was MUCH nicer/comfortable then the waiting room! I had a bed to lie in and Mom had a reclining chair. Oh well. You live and learn!

This was before the IV. The hospital gown was HUGE and I felt like it was swallowing me up. I'm smiling though because this is the first surgery since DBS that I've had hair going into it and coming out after it! Also, it's become a "thing" for me to take pre-op pics. ;)

Back in the pre-op area, I got an IV. The nurse couldn't get the line going the first time in my arm because I was dehydrated. She ended up getting one in my hand. Mom told me later that she never allows them to get it in her hand because it hurts the worse. Today my arm aches and I have a nice bruise starting to develop. I told the nurse that I've been through brain surgery and more, but the worse part is getting the IV. I can't watch. I can see it afterwards in me and I can watch medical shows galore and others getting IV's but I'm a big baby when it comes to getting an IV myself. I also can never become diabetic, because I want to faint every time my finger is pricked. Like even typing this into the blog, I want to faint. What is my problem?!?!

See! I can take pictures and look at this AFTER it's in, but I almost faint as it goes in. (Kristen, skip over this picture, you'll faint!)

I got purple socks to wear (no yellow socks this time. I guess I'm not a fall risk...or maybe they have a different color scheme - ha!). Mom and I told the nurse that my brother is an ER doctor at the hospital. She asked what his name was and said she knew who he was but didn't know him personally. I was texting back and forth with him so he told me to tell her hi. ;)

Purple socks, purple gown!

The first doctor to come in was the anesthesiologist. He was super great and eased my worries. Mom asked him why I was going under general instead of local anesthesia. He said local was an option as was twilight, but he explained that it's easier to do the surgery under general when possible. The area where my battery is located makes it hard for a local and there's really not enough room for both the neurosurgeon and the anesthesiolgist to work in the OR around the same spot - they'd be getting in each others way. He gave other reasons as well, but in the end general sounded better and better. ;) He said it would either be him or his co-worker that would be the main anesthesiologist during my surgery - you know shift changes and everything. ;) But he promised, whether it was him or his co-worker, they would make sure they woke me up! And, since you're reading this, they kept their promise!

After the anesthesiologist, a representative with Medtronic came and spoke with me and Mom. Medtronic is the company that creates the electrical system that I have in me now. Two guys had this idea that maybe a battery-operated electrical device could be used to shock an irregular heartbeat back into rhythm. And that's how both the heart pacemaker and Medtronic were born. I personally think how awesome God is to give people the brains to think of these things. It went from 2 guys with an idea and has turned into a company with thousands of employees all over who have saved more lives than I can imagine. While they first started with just pacemakers for the heart, along the years they came up with a system to help the brain. I've been told from the beginning that I have a "pacemaker for the brain" and it's so true!

What struck me was that the Medtronic rep didn't bring in the huge remote I was expecting. She came in with an iPad. Just this week, Medtronic started using this new system that works with an iPad. The rep said that my neurologist, Dr. Tolleson, just got his iPad that day. This is what floored me and also made me really proud: She said that my neurologist, Dr. Tolleson was part of the group of doctors who invented this new method of being able to check on patient's systems with this iPad. HE helped invent the system!!! How amazing is that?! This new system means I no longer have to be tethered to the remote when I go see Dr. Tolleson. No more wire hookups and such. I asked, jokingly, if the device shows a depleted battery picture when the battery is low. I was so picturing this in mind and it turns out that is exactly how it is. She showed me the iPad and there's a depleted battery image on it!

Mom asked the rep if this new battery would only last 2 and 1/2 years like the old battery. On this, we kind of got bad news. She said that no one likes to hear this, but actually the second battery has less of a lifespan than the first. The reason is, the first battery was not activated until a month after it was surgically implanted. Then, when it was activated, I was started out on the lowest dose of electricity and increased it as needed until I'm where I'm at today. The new battery will be active instantly and will be at full electrical force from the get-go, so it will "die" faster than the first battery. So now I have something to go by. I know that the battery will last less than 2 and 1/2 years, but I don't know how long. Once this new battery dies, I'll know exactly how long I have with the next battery and the battery after that.

I've recently been thinking hard on how God uses trials, tribulations, difficulties, setbacks and more in our lives so that we can help others. His greatest command is to love one another. I love when I hear a story of a person who had cancer and when he/she was better, he/she went to medical school and became an oncologist. Doctor's who have experienced what a patient goes through, in my opinion, are the absolute best. I don't hope to go to medical school and become a doctor, but I do hope that my experiences can help someone else. If it helps just one person, it would all be worth it. Mom said that I'm one of Medtronics success stories. Ya'll for 10 YEARS...YEARS, I walked with a walker. And then deep brain stimulation happened and it changed my life. Yes, I still have some major problems, but, I would do the surgery again in a heartbeat because it has given me so much freedom. If you're reading this and debating whether or not to do DBS - debate no more - DO IT!! How blessed am I to have been given this opportunity to have this surgery?! It's not perfect by any means, but it's a life changer and I will be forever grateful for it!

After the Medtronic representative finished with us, the surgeon came in and spoke with us. It was actually the first time I met him. Yes, that's true. I met with his physician's assistant before, but this was my first time actually meeting him. I can say this now that everything is done. I didn't want backlash on never having met my surgeon until the night of the surgery - haha! ;) Talk about putting your life into the hands of someone you've never met! I did research him though before the surgery and every single nurse or PA or doctor that I met from the time of my first appointment at his office until Thursday night in the hospital raved about him. Every single one of them. And when Mom and I met him, we both felt instantly at ease with him. Dr. Boyer knows his stuff and calmed me down. He spent a good deal of time with me. He also said that his last patient was just being wheeled into recovery so it would be about a half hour until my surgery would begin. When he left, Mom and I both said that we had an instant calm about him. He was super sweet and when asked (by me!) if he'd had his coffee and if he were wide awake and if he had steady hands, he calmed me right down in saying YES to everyone of my questions and giving us a little of his background. He used to perform surgeries all the time overnight. Whew!! Thanks, God!

When Mom and I were alone in the room, she prayed with me. She knows how anxious I get and how to calm my nerves. Jesus is always with me.

After Dr. Boyer left, the OR nurses came in and gave me "happy juice". That stuff is amazing. I don't really know what it is, but I care about NOTHING when given it. All is right with the world. ;) Mom gave me a kiss and left. I remember being wheeled into the OR and getting on the table and getting oxygen. The OR nurse said she'd be with me the whole time and the next I thing I knew I was in the recovery room. The recovery room nurse told me her name was Joan. I instantly forgot it and asked a couple of minutes later what it was again. This time she said it was Joan like Joan of Arc. That time, her name stuck with me! Mom came back and helped me get dressed. Nurse Joan asked if I wanted anything to eat or drink. All I wanted was saltines, so that's what she gave me. She gave me some oral pain meds, removed my IV and Mom and I busted out of the hospital. As we were driving away, I asked Mom, "Do you have my clothes?" to which she responded, "You're wearing them!" Aww, yes, drugs are good when used properly....I was totally out of it.

Mom stopped at the pharmacy and got my pain med script filled and we headed to her and Dad's house. I'd been wanting ice cream as my "reward" and recovery meal. I even told the anesthesiologist this. He said that he would give me meds so that I could enjoy the ice cream afterwards and not get sick from it. ;) I hadn't eaten since the night before, so I made it a whole 24 hours plus with no food. We got to Mom and Dad's around 10:30 pm. And first things first: I got the ice cream and it was glorious. I got ALL the ice cream. Mom had two kinds. She started me out with two scoops of Oreo ice cream and when I requested more, but of the mint ice cream this time, she gave me an entire bowl of that. Then she said she had raspberries (my ultimate favorite fruit), so I put the raspberries on top of the mint ice cream and came up with my new favorite flavor. It was heavenly!!

This is not the best picture, because I had eaten half of it already, but oh did I enjoy this!!

Unexpectedly (to me), I wasn't quite ready to head to bed, so Mom and I watched HGTV (I mean come on, what else would we watch? She HAS to support me - haha!) for a little bit and then went to bed. I slept great in G and H's playroom on the bottom bunk. Ya'll just don't know how much I love having nieces (or maybe you do!). Mom has a designated room just for them at her and Dad's house and it's filled with everything they could possibly want! So sleeping in there was like sleeping in every girls dream room. :)

Friday I woke up and was very pleasantly surprised that I wasn't in much pain at all. I was mainly just sore. My head hurt worse than the surgery site. I had a dull ache of a headache all day and it felt like I was clenching my jaw, but I wasn't. These were just all effects of the previous night's surgery and the anesthesia. I told Mom that it felt like I had had surgery on my brain again. I could only look at my phone or the computer for short periods of time without feeling nauseous or having to lay down. So, as much as I love getting on Facebook and Instagram or blogging, I couldn't do either for very long. I stayed away from blogging until today. Facebook and Instragram, I got on for a few minutes at a time. I spent all day Friday at my parent's lounging around and eating their food - ha! :) But, Mom brought me back to my house last night. I got sick feeling on the drive over, but didn't get sick, so when I got home I just went to sleep. Mom's words as I shut the door to the car, "Don't be afraid to take medicine!" She knows me so well - haha! I don't like taking medicine, unless I absolutely have to. But, I slept great last night, no pain meds needed.

Today's been great as well. I've been sleeping off and on. I got flowers from my friend, Savannah. She's been texting with me as well.

Another friend, Rebekah, brought brownies over and visited for awhile.

Another friend, Tina called. I got a bunch of text messages from friends and co-workers right after the surgery. Thank you to everyone!!! I'm finally feeling like myself again, minus some soreness from the surgery spot. I have to keep the incision bandage on until Monday (three full days), but then can have the air hit it. So it's sponge baths and dry shampoo for me. I'll be sure to put deodorant on too and brush my teeth when I go to church tomorrow. ;) I am having difficulty walking however. I'm not as steady as I was before the surgery. This is where my blog helps. I wanted to make absolutely sure that I was on the same frequency and amount of electricity that I was on before the surgery, even though they said that I was. So, I went back to my blog postings and found one from March that listed my settings. I'm where I'm supposed to be. :)

The Medtronic rep thought that maybe Dr. T. had put me at a different level to extend the length of the battery, but according to my blog, he didn't and I'm on the correct level. So, why am I not walking like I did before the surgery? I think that has to do with the device being turned off and the battery being replaced and then activating the device again. I probably was without the electricity for 30 minutes to an hour, so that can effect my walking. God's just teaching me more patience. I have to be still (haha, see what I did there?!) and know He is God. He works everything out for HIS good. If you read this tonight and see me tomorrow at church (or elsewhere), you'll know why I might be struggling a bit. But then again, God is God and He's got all power. I could be walking miraculously well tomorrow.

Thanks again for all the prayers and for reading this book-length blog post! In everything, I always know that God's Got This!