First published on March 24, 2012 at 3:41 p.m.
I should be set to go home today! While I have enjoyed my six-day, five-night stay at the FABULOUS St. Mary's Hospital, complete with a room with a view of Duluth's iconic Copper Top Church adorning the crest of one of our many rolling hills, it will be nice to sleep in my own bed/not be woken up at 5:am to get weighed. I had another brain splitting headache today, which caused me to be fairly comatose throughout the morning. I'm a little nervous about getting these headaches at home, because at home there won't be a nurse ready to inject pain killers into my veins when the throbbing becomes unbearable. Here's hoping the Rx's they prescribed me will yield similar pain-free results. My neurologists warned me that even after receiving my last IVIg treatment today it could still take several weeks to months for the numbness in my hands and feet to subside and for the strength in my legs to come back. Although the extreme six-month projection is a bit daunting, I remain optimistic that I will come out of this thing on the faster end of the spectrum. I mean, I'm pretty lucky in that I made it in here before the Guillain–Barré Syndrome reached my lungs or other major organs... I was told about a boy who had to be hooked up to a ventilator for three entire weeks, and there was also another woman whose Guillain–Barré Syndrome had progressed so far, she was only able to blink her eyes. So yeah, I'm pretty lucky. And by the way, both of those people made a 100% recovery, which is EXACTLY what I am planning on doing ♥. In other news, my last in-patient physical therapy went well today. I practiced climbing up and down stairs, which was pretty exhausting, but at least I can do it. I'm incredibly thankful that I started running last year! The strength I built up in my legs running 5k's, 10k's, and Half-Marathons made my already strong legs even stronger. Now I call upon those reservoirs of strength to do simple things, like getting on and off the toilet without using my arms. And I believe my always-optimistic personality has helped me just as much. I am so happy that we KNOW what is wrong with me, and that I CAN make a 100% comeback, that I never really get frustrated about how hard little things can be. Actually, I think it's sort of funny the way I toddle around with my super sweet cane :) I'm not too worried about how long recovery may take, because I am good at focusing on taking good care of myself one day at a time. I think my running career has also really mentally prepared me for this. I use the same sort of thought process to tackle this as I did on my 14 mile training runs - rather than get overwhelmed by the total length of the run, I would focus on moving my legs one gentle, comfortable, easy step at a time ♥. After I leave the hospital, I will continue to follow up with a neurologist and physical therapist for an unspecified amount of time. I have also been told I am not to go back to work for several weeks, which is really daunting financially, but even I have to admit that my body probably shouldn't be working those 80 hour work weeks anytime soon. For now, I will continue to work on my leg exercises, and try to eat extra healthy to make up for all of the comparative inactivity I'll be doing. I love working out, running, and going for walks, so it will be a bit hard to limit myself to leg lifts in a chair, but I'd rather be bored than push my body too far and thusly prolong my recovery time. All of the wonderful phone calls, messages, and visitors have really acted as great distractions! I want to thank Anne and her beautiful babies, my neighbors Mary Ann and John, my Uncle Eirik, my cousin Shawna, the fabulous Amanda Franklin and Cole Maki, and of course, both my parents for keeping me company yesterday. Today I was surprised by Sarah and Thomas J Clements, and I have plans to rendezvous with Allison Hartl at some point this weekend ♥. You guys have really helped to lift my spirits and have kept me laughing every day. Once I'm home I will have terrible-to-zero cell phone service, so if anyone wants to get a hold of me they'll have a better chance of doing so through skype or by calling our land line. Just message me if you need that info. Or, if you're in the Twin Ports area, you can also make the trek out to our beautiful log house in the woods :) In the meantime, I'm getting antsy so I'm going to sign off and go walk a couple of granny-laps around the floor. I'll talk to you all soon, and hopefully the next time I update, it will be from home! ♥
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