I am grateful. I truly am.
Yesterday I saw my surgeon for six-week follow-up. She was grinning from ear to ear letting me know the wound has fully closed. Impressive. Even though she did not leave me with instructions on what I should do to take care of the wound, she just said, "6-12 weeks to recover." I consulted with others who had the similar experience to get information on what worked and did not. I religiously followed the recommended regimen of care for six weeks. Some days, I was annoyed. It took more time out of my daily routine to maintain care. On the six-week mark, my wound was closed. No infection. Gone forever. The surgeon clapped and grinned as if I did exemplary work. She said it would be tender for a few more weeks. I can feel some tenderness here and there but overall this is the best I have ever felt since before my surgery #2 back in March. I am currently battling a bad case of bronchitis and am back on medications (sucky) to help me breath and I am exhausted but... I look forward to recovering from that so I can stand tall and recognize how I great I feel.
On November 3rd, I celebrated seven years I have been with my company, Network Interpreting Service. I am grateful that the team has been supportive and flexible as I work my way through my recovery. If I am unable to work full days, I caught up during the weekends. I took time off. I took breaks during the day if I needed to. I am grateful for that flexibility and am ready to return to a more stable work schedule. I am grateful that my team still treats me the same. If they need me to do something immediately, they tell me up front. If they want to joke about something, they pick on me. They do check in to see how I am doing from time to time.
I am grateful to my dissertation committee chairs who have been optimistic as I struggled to get some productive results in my dissertation proposal writing. I look forward to returning to my nerddom with the same level of energy and enthusiasm I had before this whole year. One of the chairs was in a bad car accident last week and is hospitalized. My heart aches for him and know what it feels like to be thrown off the track. I wish him speedy recovery so he can continue to be my cheerleader and mentor.
I lost a lot this year but I also gained a lot. I am grateful for my amazing support system who let me lean on them as I worked my way through anger, pain, and fear.
Lastly, I am grateful for the valuable lessons this past year has given me.
