Tag: health

Decluttering And Marching Forward

~ 1kindness2day ~ 6 Comments

There have been some adjustments to life since my last post.

To begin with, I have opted not to return to work for now. Why?

Mostly because I had a medical calamity last year (which I’ve written about as The Event); while I’ve completed my rehab and been certified fit to resume normal activities, within reason, the thought of the usual busy-ness of work is now daunting. And since the local library has restricted its opening hours and limited the facilities available to users, there is no need for volunteers at the moment.

Staying at home and using the time to take stock of life After The Event seemed a timely thing to do.

So, here is a spread I made in my bullet journal that reflects my plan. My January theme was Alice In Wonderland.

This is my vision and my mission for 2021. I have the word ‘Declutter’ on every daily entry, and a space to fill in what I did.

Know what I found around the home? Expired food items, forgotten coupons, and 62 pens, of which 22 no longer worked!

Why did we keep these pens? Because they were gifts? Because they represented memorable hotel stays? Yes, some of the labels conjured up wonderful family holiday recollections but the point is, the memories have been there all along. We didn’t need to hold on to a stationery item.

Know what else I found? Decluttering takes time and more than a little courage. It isn’t easy to let go of some things: it feels like cutting loose a part of your past. But letting go can also be therapeutic precisely because it is cutting loose that which might have caused pain, damage or which simply no longer work. And that includes relationships.

Medication and rehab may have physically started the healing process. But emotionally healing a broken heart takes longer, and the process causes as much pain as it seeks to heal.

I have a long way to go in healing myself. But I am marching forward, one decluttering act at a time. And, yes, I am OK if there is a day where no decluttering took place.

Frustrated

~ 1kindness2day ~ 1 Comment

AAARGH!

Right. With that out of the way … deep breath … write.

January started well enough. The world and its politics continued spinning along. Then came February. With Valentine’s Day and all its accoutrements, life still seemed normal. Shops, physical and virtual, had morphed from Christmas themes to embrace hearts, bears and cupids.

Then came March, and bam! Gone was the cherubic cupid, here was contagious Covid, and the start of a period of frustration that continues to this day.

I had to work from home during the lockdown. The biggest frustration was coping with a new regimen that had been thrust upon me with little preparation or training. Where there used be the banter and bustle of a normal workplace, now there was just the restricted rectangle of a computer screen for all manner of communication whether it was verbal, written or everything in between.

My days were spent flitting between Zoom or Google Meet instead of a Conference Room or break room, clearing documents on PDFs and softcopies that refused to be edited, cursing the devices when the screen froze or programs hung or inexplicably shut down, wasting time searching for files that never arrived or ended up in strange shared folders. Technology will never replace human contact and spirit.

I also volunteer at a library which, obviously, had to shut its doors and my heart cried for the regulars I knew would be adrift because there was no access to reading materials, companionship and a quiet refuge. I think about these regulars constantly, wondering if they are safe, if they have food and care, if they are mentally up to the conditions imposed upon them.

Each day, I watch as the news reported the ever increasing toll on human life and on humanity. Each day, I cheer and salute every single one of the frontline workers, praying for their safety and continued good health. Each day, I pray for a cure, a solution to the shortages of supplies and aid, and for the horrible numbers to stabilise.

I’m not going to ask why this virus descended upon us. Ebola, H1N1, SARS … these should have taught us that viral pandemics are inevitable. But I am going to ask why things became such a disaster. Those earlier viral spreads should have taught us that by being vigilant, by being prepared, by being well stocked in supplies and medicines, and by taking charge and having a robust plan, we should know what to do, how to do it, and do it for the sake of our citizens. Yet there are leaders that cannot lead and citizens who care little about each other.

This virus is novel. How we should deal with it is not. Yet, here we are.

To be honest, things are not the worst where I am currently. Despite the quarantines, masks, swabs and restrictions to our movements each day, I am grateful there is adequate healthcare, enough facilities, and a low death toll. I am grateful I still have my job and I look forward to resuming in my library. But I know not every country is in a good place at this moment and it frustrates me.

To every single person who has been affected by this virus, or lost someone, I am deeply sorry. I have no words that can take away your pain. To every one who has had to make sacrifices in one form of another, I thank you. To every one, be safe.


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RDP ~ FRUSTRATION


The Event

~ 1kindness2day ~ 6 Comments

If there ever was a time I was woefully unready for what would confront me, it would be 1 July 2020. You see, that was the day I suffered a heart attack, aka The Event.

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If you’ve known me awhile, you’ll know I’m struggling with a poor relationship with my mother. And that the current distancing situation has been both a blessing and a challenge. However, I never saw this challenge coming.

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Well, on the Tuesday before The Event, I’d gone to work as usual and then had lunch out. Where I live, work and dining out are allowed provided a group does not exceed 5, and work spaces are spread out and we work in teams to reduce intermingling.

I felt tired and not terribly chatty but passed it off as the after-effects of having submitted two projects that morning. Then I went home and had dinner with my family.

I felt muscle spasms across my back and a pokey hollow feeling in my chest. Again, I thought it was exhaustion, and regretted not having headed home early for a nap! I had an early night instead and woke up feeling normal.

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Wednesday was my off-day so I was at home when the spasms hit at around 2pm. This time, I felt like I was running a vertical marathon and unable to stop. My chest felt as if it was splitting apart, I couldn’t fill my lungs and then came the cold sweats … and the realisation that this was Not Good!

I went to the hospital.

It must have been a sign of the severity of The Event because I went from check in (mandatory temperature check and Safe Entry registration) at the hospital entrance to the OR in less than 30 minutes. No usual 2 hour wait for a doctor this time!

I was strapped to an ECG machine, had multiple needles inserted to draw multiple vials of blood, had two teams of personel to change me out of my home clothes and into scrubs, had chest x-rays done and gone from the Emergency Admissions area to the Heart Centre OR.

I had no time to feel fear really. I was more agog at all the activity going on around me and I remember thinking these medics were as efficient and coordinated as Formula 1 pit crews! Two doctors explained that they’d have to put a stent into one of my arteries; it would be inserted via an “injection” near my right wrist. I learnt later that they’d also spoken to my waiting family. Throughout, a nurse held my hand or kept her hand on my shoulder, patting me in silent comfort. Bless this lovely person!

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In the OR, the surgeon explained the processes and asked if I wanted to watch how the stent would be inserted. Sure. Why not. The other option was to stare the overhead lights.

A huge video screen was angled towards me, and I was thus privy to an exclusive front row seat to view my beating heart. Coloured dye flooded the screen and highlighted the problem artery. Suddenly, a stent appeared in place like an elongated UFO. This was the moment that brought immense relief from the pain and tension, and the moment of total peace.

“You feel nothing now, right?” the surgeon asked from the other side if the monitor. “No more pain?”

Today, I would have asked if that meant I had moved on to some other plane but at that moment, being able to inhale normally was good enough!

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I spent 2 nights in the Cardiac ICU and was discharged to recuperate at home for the rest of July.

So here I am. I’ve had 2 weeks of Cardiac Rehab and physiotherapy sessions. I’ve spoken to a counsellor, and will be meeting a dietician next month. Then I’ll be meeting my surgeon to discuss affairs of my heart moving forward.

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There has been nothing conclusive about the cause of the event. My bloodwork, blood sugar, cholesterol and so on were all within range, as was my BMI.

My physiotherapist wonders if The Event was stress induced. So do I, particularly considering how much has happened in the past 12 months.

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Right now, I want to rest and heal. It feels weird to not go to work. And it is (selfishly) annoying that there’s nothing new on the telly. The books that I want to read won’t arrive in time so ebooks will have to suffice.

But I am breathing. It is enough because I am unready to leave yet. I know it’s not up to me but I pray for more time to take time for me. To let go of people and situations that do me no good. To chart new paths and learn new skills to enrich my world and make me a better, calmer person. To accept that there are lifelong medications to take and that certain activities will no longer be possible.

I am, at least, ready to make positive changes.

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RDP ~ UNREADY

What Are We Doing?

~ 1kindness2day ~ 17 Comments

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photo credit: esther merbt

Son: Why are we walking on these stones with no shoes on? It’s painful!

Dad: Walking barefoot on stones massages and stimulates the reflex points in our feet.

Son: Huh?

Dad: When you walk on the stones, there’s pressure on your feet, right?

Son: Totally.

Dad: That pressure is a form of massage. Massaging the different parts of your feet improves blood circulation to different parts of the body.

Son: Get real.

Dad: It’s true. Even helps with blood pressure and cholesterol problems.

Son: Says who? Ow!

Dad: Traditional Chinese medicine practitioners.

Son: We’re not Chinese.

Dad: The stones won’t discriminate.

Son: How do you know this is good for you? Did you ask Dr K?

Dad: Dr K’s always said we need to walk more to get fit. So, if walking on stones improves health, then we’re getting double fit.

Son: Haha! Ow!

Dad: Anyway, I checked online and read up about foot reflexology.

Son: Right. So, how about running? Like regular surface running? That good?

Dad: Not so good. Bad for the knees.

Son: Then this is really bad.

Dad: Why?

Son: Because the dog’s made off with your shoes.

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DAILY PROMPT ~ ASSAY

 

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