Hello my dear, faithful readers and friends!
Happy New Year to you! Hope you enjoyed your holidays. One of my New Year’s Resolutions is to get back to a regular habit of blogging- I’m gonna shoot for the monthly blog, then maybe even do more than once a month. Need to take one step at a time, so I’m gonna go with monthly.
I should not have any computer excuses as I had received a laptop for Christmas from my sweet uncle, even though he is not on facebook, he emails and misses my weekly blogs via email that I used to do oh, about 6 years ago. As I type this entry, I am sitting in my bed with my laptop, doing a dialysis treatment.
The title of this entry is about summer- last year’s summer. It was challenging as it dealt with things in my personal life- from my past, things I needed to let go, so I will not go into all those details. It was by far, extremely rewarding.
I prepared to go on a quest for 5.5 days. I wasn’t supposed to have a phone or any outside connections as I needed to focus on pursuing God wholeheartedly. I did have my transplant nurse coordinator put me on hold status so I wouldn’t have to worry about getting a call for a transplant. I did bring my phone with me and I did check to see if I had voicemails regarding my health needs at least once a day. I had to break the rules; I was the exception to the rule. I made sure I knew where the closest dialysis clinic was as well as the hospital and they were just about 12 miles from where I was staying. God had my back. I didn’t need to worry. He provided me a roommate who was an EMT and cardiac specialist. We became the best of friends in a just a few hours!
Just a couple weeks prior to my quest, I actually did receive a call for a transplant. I couldn’t believe it! I was actually kinda mad; mad at God for throwing this curve ball. I was being obedient to God by going on this quest to seek Him. Luckily and oddly enough, the nurse had called a few hours later and said the surgery had been cancelled. It may happen in the future, it may not. Huh? I felt a huge relief so I could continue preparing for the quest.
The quest was an incredible life changing experience! I cannot share too many details as it is a sacred event and the organization that hosts them, prefers to keep it sacred. God revealed Himself to me in so many tangible ways, I was stunned each time! I did have some physical challenges with having high blood pressure and some miscommunication about my specific dietary needs. I persevered.
Upon returning from my quest, I needed to take a few days to absorb what had transpired; yet, I had to start packing as I had to move in a month or so, even though I didn’t know where I was moving to. I knew God would provide; even it was the nth hour.
Another personal, yet rewarding challenge I went through during the summer was a grief recovery class. It was recommended to me; not because I have had a death of a person close in my life; but more just dealing with losses in general. For me, it was loss of health, loss of job security, loss of purpose. I thought, “what the heck? Why not? It couldn’t hurt.” It was an incredible class! Little did I know, the close and special friendships I would make…
This leads me to my “new home.” I became extremely close with one of the gals in my class. We’d stay up late talking on the phone many nights. One night, after attending group, she asked me to take a drive. She felt strongly that God was leading her to ask me to move in and share her home and she felt tremendous peace. Now, she has her own chronic illness that has given her some challenges in walking. She has a quaint little ranch home that has no stairs. It has a fenced in yard for Chloe to run around. Her house is actually just a couple miles from my dialysis clinic,too! How crazy is that? I knew God would provide!
The guy that delivers my dialysis solution teases me relentlessly about how many times I have moved and I have actually broken the record for it! In the five and a half years I have been on dialysis, I have moved 7 times. I hope I last at this home for at least a year, with the final move being the last one into a home with my husband. Now, now, don’t get too excited, I’m not getting married in a year ( that I know of…;)
I will honestly say that I don’t miss having to walk up and down stairs on a daily basis. In fact, when I do have to use stairs in a home I nanny at, or maybe church, or my folks’ house, i am quite winded after climbing them, since I’m not used to dealing with stairs.
The latter part of the summer, I was crazy busy with 2 part time nanny jobs that resulted in about 13 hours of work; but completely drained me physically as well as meeting with my Senators and Congressman to advocate hard for not allowing the government to make cuts to medicare funding for dialysis. Not to mention, I still had to make time or find time to pack. No wonder some of my labs slipped and kinda went down…
Through my strong advocating efforts, I was able to get a TV interview with a local station& with one of the reporters I loved watching in the morning for years and I found a new passion that may lead into a career-More on those fun opportunities in my next blog!
Thanks always for the faithful loving support, encouragement, and prayers!
Carmen
