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Wednesday, May 1, 2013

BIG Steps!!

I know, I haven't posted in forever! March and April were crazy months, from having multiple out-of-town visitors, to going out of town, to getting new floors in our entire home, yaddy yaddy yadda I haven't sat down to write.

BUT I have BIG news!!! I'm mobile!!!! As in, I bought a car, and I actually drive it around like a normal person!!! This isn't big news for most but for someone who craves and aches for independence, this is pretty huge.

Years ago when I was practicing driving with my friend Cassandra (in an empty parking lot) I refused to use my left foot for the gas and break. As she can attest to, things got a little scary a couple of times.  I either couldn't feel the break, or I would get my foot stuck under the gas without realizing it. Again, we were in an EMPTY parking lot and there were times when we were both breathing pretty hard, hearts racing. Years later, I still have the same problems. My problems are definitely not as consistent, but I'm not going to risk it. So my freedom out-weighed using my right foot for the pedals of my car. So yes, I manage the pedals with my left foot and steer with my left arm (occasionally I let "Righty" help)

I don't know how to express the wonderfulness of being normal. Just being able to drive myself to do everyday errands is pretty significant. It's hard to express how amazing it is to not have to always rely on a ride; and let me say, Memphis is not a pedestrian city, so yup, I pretty much had to get a ride ALMOST everywhere.

I know, big news in my world is hardly big news in any other person's world, but for me this is pretty off the charts. So look out Memphis! I'm on the road!!

I've always had Jeeps. This is #3, a Jeep Patriot! Jeep for liiiife!!
It's just so dang cute!!

Friday, March 1, 2013

Something To Write About

After surgery, I had to move to Michigan to live with my parents, leaving behind my boyfriend (now husband), some of my best friends, work, and a city I loved. I never expected recovery to be what it is. I thought that I would be back to my normal life in New York City in a matter of months (and I thought I was being generous). No one tells you that recovering from an intense brain surgery would be 100% life changing. 

I did a lot of things to try and speed up my recovery, especially once I got to Michigan. I had acupuncture 3 days a week,  pilates, physical and occupational therapy, swimming, and other cardio machines on my own. After a while, as I have said before, my dad started taking me to the University where he worked to do all sorts of exercises in their indoor facility. When I think about what we did, it was pretty impressive! I wish I could do that now! Besides working with my dad, I heard a lot of no's, or people's opinions of what my life would be like. I didn't care what people had to say, and craved someone (other than my parents) to give me hope and encouragement. 

When I started working out with Mike Barwis and his staff (namely my friend Cassandra), they changed and helped me physically to the point of performing miracles (which is what anyone can see when they look at Brock Mealer), doing things that no one seems to understand. Not only that, they gave me hope. To this day, I owe them everything, and am eternally grateful. 

I went from THIS...

To THIS!! My dad and I on my wedding day (Father-Daughter Dance)

A couple of months ago there was a nice article about my situation written. My recovery is definitely attributed to my parents, the rest of my family, my husband, and Mike Barwis and his staff.

Please read the article here:

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Long Time Gone

Holy Absence! I have NOT been writing at ALL! I apologize!! I started out feeling too busy to write around the holidays, then it was that I was too tired from the holidays, then it was honestly just me being lazy combined with the fact that I don't always want to write about something that seems negative. BUT I have strapped on my Big Girl Pants, feeling a little more ready to take on the world, thus making something of myself.

Because I haven't written in a long time, I feel like I have a little bit of catch up to do. I will start with the holidays. As we all crave spring, reflecting on the Holiday Season isn't really ideal, but it was a mild accomplishment for me that I feel like addressing.

The holidays were  a success for 2 reasons: 1. dealing with the holidays with this whole brain injury thing (only feeling one side of my body, struggles with walking, and major problems with balance) and I was still able to do entertain, travel, remain "on" for longer than one would think humanly possible, basically appear pretty normal throughout a trying time! and 2. Hosting and participating in my first holiday season as a married lady! The combination of those 2 things was a big feat, but I chose to succeed.

On Thanksgiving we, pretty unexpectedly, had 14 people over for dinner. We had VERY little furniture, and rushed to get more food (which wasn't even a slight problem). My awesome husband brought home 4 or 5 folding tables to set up for dinner and buffets, table cloths, a ton of chairs, and 2 industrial size trash cans. That one's such a planner! (side note: I was placing all the food on a folding table for dinner and the table collapsed. Yes, I lost it BUT by some miracle, every dish landed upright, only spilling the vase of flowers that were on the table. As my husband said, "We must be livin' right.")

Thanksgiving. I was the hostess with the mostest.
Thanksgiving appetizers and finger foods. Please note the cowboy hat  chips and salsa bowl.
Thanksgiving dinner; waaaay too much food.
I will say, that I was pretty proud of myself after Thanksgiving. As anyone can see, I cooked, KIND of decorated (barely), hosted, even survived a collapsed table! I had a lot of help, mainly my husband's uncle, who helped me with every little thing, and my friend Jaimi, who made some key dishes, and provided some serving-ware, and leant a lot of moral a support.

Christmas was much easier and just fun. We got our first Christmas tree, I took a little trip to my mothership (NYC) with my sister and one of my best friends, and went to both Odessa TX (husband's home town) and Los Angeles (my home town)

Husband re-doing my work putting the lights on our tree
My sister and I in NYC
2 pics from Christmas in Odessa, TX