A Doctor a Day

Even though I returned to work on November 17, 2008 completely full-time, there were a lot of therapy appointments thrown in throughout each week. I began a couple weeks after returning to Colorado. At my workplace we had a Health and Wellness department with a small gym to work out in plus services from a massage therapist twice a week and a physical therapist three times a week. So, I started with physical therapy in the office 2-3 times weekly.

This therapy was completely different than any of the therapy I had been doing either at the hospital/rehab hospital or the home therapy in California. While those sessions entailed me doing the majority of the physical work, this therapy was all manipulation of muscles, nerves and/or scar tissue. While it was working on softening those areas, it really wasn't strengthening my muscles or toughening me up to walk more, better or stronger.

For several weeks, this was the treatment I was receiving. Don't get me wrong, it didn't hurt me to have this type of therapy; it just didn't help the way I thought it should. Simultaneously, I was seeing a chiropractor who was working with me several times a week to ensure my upper back and arms along with my neck were doing well and not straining. Being on the walker was more of a "leaning forward" walking motion which could add strains in other areas of the body. The physical therapist was a not fan of chiropractors and made it plain that she didn't agree it would help. She thought it was doing more harm than anything else. So, it was a catch-22 situation for me. I knew the chiropractor was doing great things for me, and I was torn.

Needless to say, I was having all kinds of appointments throughout the week, including massages, which kept me very busy and tired after a full day of work. Every once in awhile, my therapist would throw in something new like taking the stairs or learning how to get in and out of the driver's seat of my car. After all, mom was going to have to go home to California and I would need to get myself around to appointments and work and fun stuff with friends. I also had the dermatologist to see as I was still weaning off the steroids from my allergic reaction in September.

While I was working and going through appointments at work, mom was setting up my place and cleaning the old place so I could get the deposit back. She did such a great job cleaning and filling nail holes in the walls that I got my entire deposit back with a note that said they had never seen a place so clean once someone had vacated the premises. Go mom! Can we hire you out?

Mom did a wonderful job of decorating too. My new place was now more of a home than an apartment (and it still is to this day).

A few days before Christmas, mom and I flew home to California so we could be with the family for the holiday. It hadn't been too but a few weeks since we had moved me back, but it was good to see the family and spend the holiday with them. The only thing that went wrong was I broke a tooth. I had broken this tooth back in 2005 before I had gone to Thailand on a missions trip. I had a root canal and a temporary crown put on. The temporary crown wasn't meant to last more than a couple weeks until I had returned from my missions trip. But I had made it last a few years. Now I was going to have to take care of this on the fly when we got back to Colorado. Bummer.

Christmas was a lot of fun with the family though. We had everyone over to our house, including some neighbors who didn't have other family to visit for Christmas and a friend on mine and her husband. This has become a tradition for us to have this Christmas party at our house over the years now. Soon, it would all be over and we'd be back to Colorado soon. I love Christmas! Not just because it is a time t spend with family and friends, but because it allows us an opportunity to share our faith with those family and friends and celebrate our Lord.

We have a lot of fun at our house at Christmas. Mom out does herself every year.

After cleaning up and putting everything away, mom and I head back to Colorado.

Next..."Losing Wisdom."

Reflection:
"For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." 1 Corinthians 13:12-13

Question:
Are there family traditions you have for Christmas? How does your family celebrate our Lord?