Anniversaries, birthdays, special events all seem to hold a special place in our hearts and minds, but what about other life changing events? Yes, those seem to be remembered perhaps the most. Sunday will be my one year Floxiversary; July 17, 2010, the day of my adverse reaction to Levaquin. I guess it was my turn for our family’s July Event. You see, July has traditionally not been a good month for our family. I will never forget the day my daughter had her first large seizure, July 7, 2006. It seemed our life came to a standstill. All those unanswered questions of previous events in her life since toddlerhood had just been answered. Oddly her worst seizures thereafter would always occur in July. Then in July 2007, she hurt her ankle requiring 6 weeks of Physical Therapy. In July 2008, she broke her arm. In July 2009, my husband tore 3 of the 4 heads of his hamstring muscle from a water skiing accident. He chose not to have a surgical repair, but it still meant a long recovery. So, why shouldn’t it be my turn to add to the collection of July family trials? I guess 2010 was meant for me. After all, the previous July’s seemed to have picked mostly on my daughter. It was time someone else stepped up to the plate. I am not one for superstitions, but I will be honest, it is hard not to feel a little nervous during the month of July. So far we have not had any big mishaps. However, it is only half way over….I will hold my breath just a little bit longer until we see August.
Actually the first part of July has been nice for us. We just returned from our family vacation. (We did have a few qualms about scheduling it in July.) We were supposed to go to the Grand Canyon. Our family loves camping, hiking, white water rafting and exploring national and state parks. However, that vacation just would not work for me this year, so those plans were cancelled. Instead, we opted for a cruise in the Eastern Caribbean. It definitely was a change from our normal vacations. We are used to going full speed ahead and exploring. We were not used to lying around and being pampered all day with delicious food and drinks. However, I don’t think I could have done anything different at this point. I had to use my wheelchair some, mostly for embarking and the day of exploring where everything was on the ship. Otherwise, I only needed my cane. Mostly due to the fact there were about 4000 people on the ship, and I felt safer with it in the hustle and bustle of the other passengers.
I did get lots of sun, and I feel like I have so much more energy this week. I am suspecting it is because my Vitamin D levels are up, plus the fact I finally got to leave the house for an extended period of time for the first time in a year. Even though I have more energy, I am having Achilles tendon pain in both ankles and increased knee pain. Stairs are once again becoming difficult for me, and I am achier when waking in the mornings. I just finished my 3 months of Physical Therapy (Aquatic Therapy), it helped tremendously and I give it lots of credit for getting my energy level up and my pain down. However, despite my PT believing I need to continue with therapy, my insurance has cut me off. We have appealed, but still haven’t heard back from them. Perhaps that is why my Achilles tendons are inflamed and the increase in the achiness. But you know how it seems to go, insurance knows best, or so they think.
I am itching to get out of my house and do things again....to me a real sign I am FINALLY doing better. Before, I did not even have the energy to think about going out. So, I am setting a goal: I would love to be able to grocery shop by myself by the time the kids start school in August. I haven't been able to do this for a year now and it is driving me crazy. At first my husband did all of it, then I would come a long and supervise, and then I started helping some. Today I went with my daughter, and did 75% of it myself. I still have difficulty taking the groceries out of the cart at the checkout or carrying the heavy bags, but I am getting there. I know grocery shopping is a pretty boring goal, but it is one I hope I can achieve.
Thanks for Reading!
