Renewal

Weary. Overwhelmed.

When asked to say honestly how I was really doing--by my doctors, my friends, my parents, my family--these were the two words that remained front in center in my mind. Just the night before my last GI attack I cried into my mom's arms saying how weary and overwhelmed I felt.

The unexpected break from the Lyme medications, which at first terrified me, has turned out to be an unexpected blessing. It's turned out to be a time of renewal for me as I get ready to make the next decisions on my medical journey. The break has been healing for all of us, I think.

It's given me some time to fill myself up a bit emotionally and spiritually. I've been soaking in every ounce of extra energy, every beautiful day (we've had a most perfect summer), and every chance for an outing. As you've probably noticed, most of my blogs lately have focused very little on medical or 'deep thoughtful things' and much more on the 'fun stuff' I've been doing.

It's not that reality is far from my mind at any moment or that my thoughts don't easily slip back to what I need to be doing medically, but I have tried very hard to simply enjoy the gift of this time. I realize how much I needed this break after 3 1/2 years of treatment.

Tomorrow I will be sharply reminded of reality when I head to the doctor for testing at 7:30 AM! And speak to my Lyme doctor later in the afternoon by phone.

Today Mom and I went to a relatively new nature center built around some wetlands. We had never been here before. Even Asher got to go! The above picture is my favorite one from the day. We spent a long time just sitting here, watching the rippling water, listening to the birds sing, looking at the reflections in the water. Asher just kept trying to jump down into the water because he was so thirsty!

This lovely nature preserve is located just ten minutes from us! Most of the places we can go are not wheelchair accessible and are not so close by. Being here felt so peaceful and felt much farther than just ten minutes away from reality. We were able to be out for about two hours from the time we left the house until we got home.

We were thrilled to find that there are a lot of boardwalks to go on, along with bike paths and some grassy paths. The wheelchair was great on all of the various terrains. I feel like I have a whole town to rediscover after eleven years of illness.

We took the first picture of me in my new wheelchair. So here it is.

I'm sure my next blog will be a medical update after all the testing and appointments tomorrow! (I know, so exciting!) I have to set my alarm for 6:30 AM (and you know how well I do with mornings!)

Blessings,

Emily

Photos in the collage (click on it to make it larger): Water under the boardwalk (that I'm pictured on in my chair); Cool grasses; The water at the spot we stopped to rest and eat a snack; Fallen tree; Black willow tree over the water (where we were stopped to rest); More grasses; Water under the boardwalk; Cattails; A really cool plant with cool colors!; Asher looking out the window at one of the lookouts :); Mom on the boardwalk; Boardwalk with mountains in the background

Photos: Favorite photo from the day of the wetlands; Me and Asher in 'The Rolls'/'The Beetle' or whatever it's called!