Blogging, Breathing, and Blessings

     I have been blogging on this website since January of 2012. I know that, for continuity and for people to continue to "care" about my blog, I'm supposed to blog weekly. I was really good at that for a number of years, but life happens, and the last two years have given me loads to blog about but the lack of desire to do it because of illnesses, surgeries, blah-blah-blah. I feel like blogging is a lot like jogging (not just because it rhymes).
     For those who might be new to my stories (and suck it up if you've heard this a time or two :) ), I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. While it was extremely scary and it rocked the world for Dave (my husband of 33 years) and me, there were so many blessings that came from that. First of all, other than having to have a double mastectomy, I did not have to have chemo or radiation. Next, even though Dave made sure I was okay with putting it all out there on Facebook, I found out that three of my friends who had not had mammograms in too long (every year, ladies, for the ladies!) went to get them. Two of them had lumps that needed to be dealt with. They said, quite honestly, that had it not been for me sharing my story, they likely wouldn't have gone for even longer, then what? Now, there's a blessing that cannot be denied. Then, Dave and I found out that humor was one huge way we dealt with stuff like this. After finding out that I needed a double mastectomy (we thought the cancer was just in one breast at first....au contraire), I went straight to one of my favorite AA meetings and talked about what a blessing it was to have caught it in time such that I didn't have to have lymph nodes removed, AND we could do the surgery two days later (no lie----two days----that meant less time to fret and worry). Some of the ladies in the meeting were baffled and said things like, "How can you laugh or be grateful when you have cancer?" Ummm.....because I could have Stage 4 cancer instead of Stage 2? Because I could not have a husband who makes me laugh? Because I could not have an AA program that helps me deal with all my crap? Because I could not have two best friends from college who immediately volunteered to come down right after my surgery and help (Dave was still working at the time---he's now retired, which means he is on the golf course at least 5 days every week). 
     The moral of that long story was that I changed...a lot. My body changed, my gratitude changed, and yes, my irritation at having cancer crept in a lot.  A couple of years after all the surgeries were completed (for then), I began jogging 4 miles a day. I felt good; my body felt like it looked a lot better than it had in a while (except my ladies, who looked a bit like they had been worked over and sewn and cut.....oh wait, they had). L.C. (our middle Labrador Retriever, whose name is pronounced Elsie) was a COVID-bought dog. Dave and I had rescued, fostered, and adopted out about 25 Labs over the course of 4-ish years. But during COVID, we couldn't do home inspections, show a dog to people, etc., so fostering sort of was put on hold. "But what a perfect time to get a puppy!!" (or maybe that was just me saying that), and we bought a little yellow girl. Who knew she was going to be one of those pups who needed to burn off a TON of energy? Well, running with me was her life. We continued to do it when we lived in Tucson, come rain, sun, sleet, or snow (okay, who am I kidding? I think it's about 350 days a year that Tucson gets sun), then we continued when we moved to Boerne, Texas waiting for our house in Bandera (the heart of the hill country) to be finished being built. 
     But then it happened! In 2022, I was traveling up to New Jersey for three days of work in three different places. I got off the plane, and I felt like I had a fever, aches and pains, etc. Dave found me an Urgent Care close to my hotel and I promptly went. The doc came in, I told him my symptoms, and he said, "I think you have Covid but I'll do a test to check." I kind of laughed and said that I had gotten all my Covid vaccines, and then I promptly threw up on his shoes. The Covid shot came back positive, so I had to call three different school districts and tell them I wouldn't be able to come see them. Once home, I was really sick for two weeks, to the point that medical staff came to the house to give me IV infusions. So, I thought that was it. I thought I was done with Covid and all its symptoms until I began getting upper respiratory/pulmonary issues on a regular basis (at least every three weeks). I used inhalers, a nebulizer, a spirometer, and a myriad of antibiotics. Uggghhhh.... The last 18 months in particular have been rough as I have had double pneumonia on top of scar tissue that was left from the Covid love, kidney infections, and so much more fun, it's tough to remember it all. 
     All of that is to tell you that I have not been active, and I love my bed more than I ever have before. But one thing has not altered. I get down on my knees every morning (I used to have an iron-footed prayer stool inherited from my late grandmother until one leg of it gave up, and I have since gotten an actual wooden kneeler (like a miniature pew) so I can pray for gratitude of all the blessings I have been graced with. No, life is not perfect, and L.C. can't wait until I am back to being able to jog a little bit, but I am blessed with so much, I can't express how grateful I am. All of THAT to tell you that I am trying to get my butt back to writing my weekly blogs. If you feel so inclined, you can poke me on Facebook, LinkedIn, and/or Twitter to remind me if I miss a week.
     Thank you for reading what I write, and I pray that it is helpful in some way to you, even if a line gives you a giggle every once in a while.

Happy Communicating,
​Shelly

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