I felt for certain that this year had to be a vast improvement over 2009. After my car wreck in Feb 2009 and subsequent physical problems, I had hoped that I would have a more physically healthy year. Of course it's much easier to remember the second half of the year as it is more recent...
I did get some major projects taken care of this year that I am really proud of. I got the kitchen painted and updated a bit with new hardware. It definitely looks much fresher and less dated than it did, especially when we moved in. We also got a new water efficient toilet and a new vanity for the bathroom this year. The rest of the bathroom will hopefully be finished in 2011. We rearranged the whole house and wound up with a dining room, separate living room, and a library/study of sorts with a fireplace.
I completed all three graduate classes that I needed to finish for licensure this year. I took the first one in the spring semester, and it was relatively easy to complete. I only had to drive to Quincy four times over the semester. I took the other two classes this fall and they were much more time intensive and difficult. I drove to Quincy twice a week and had class three hours at a time each night. Add that to all the homework and papers we had assigned and I am not surprised that I was so stressed out. And to say that I was stressed out is probably putting it lightly. I did get an A in both of my classes and felt pretty good about that!
Health-wise, this was another tough year for me. I think I did pretty well the beginning of the year, just the normal colds and such things. But about half way through my fall semester of classes, I started experiencing pretty bad pain in my stomach, abdomen, and sides. When I finally broke down and went to the ER, they said it could be my gall bladder or an ulcer. Then when I went to my doc, he said pretty much the same thing. The gall bladder ultrasound came back normal though so they ruled that out. Finally after dealing with it too long, I called a GI doctor and got in there. He was pretty sure that it was actually muscle pain probably exacerbated by stress. That had no more than really stopped hurting and one day I suddenly had double vision. It really came on that fast. After it didn't go away for a week, I went to my eye doctor who then called my regular doctor to order an MRI. There were spots on the MRI that suggested some problems so the eye doctor referred me to a neurologist. The neurologist ordered an EEG and a lumbar puncture. The EEG was fine and easy. The lumbar puncture however, that is a whole other story. The nurse warned me of a potential spinal headache which results if the spinal fluid continues to leak after the LP. Well, I had that horrible headache for six days. I went to the ER here in town after four days and all they did was load me up on Demerol (seriously, I was slurring they gave me so much) and gave me a script for pain meds that didn't help. Finally, the sixth day, I tried going back to work but felt so horrible that I couldn't make it and called the neurologist begging for a blood patch. Thankfully he ordered it and I went up immediately and got the blood patch to stop the leaking spinal fluid. It worked and I was soooo glad. I haven't gotten any results yet, I don't go back to the doctor until Jan 4th. They are currently trying to rule out multiple sclerosis (MS) and I am really praying that I don't have it.
Regarding health, I did lose a lot of weight this year. I have obviously been chronicling it on here so if you have been following you can see where I am currently at. I gained a little bit back over Christmas but am looking forward to losing that an more. I have gotten up to losing like 42 pounds but am currently at about 38 I think. Am still doing weight watchers though we haven't been walking for awhile. My classes were so stressful that I just didn't feel like walking and then of course it got cold outside. That makes it a lot more difficult too. I have grand plans of starting that back up again and I know my husband would really like that.
I had a lovely Christmas with lots of running around like normal. Nice presents from the family and my husband. We are taking a mini vacation this week to spend some time together and shop with our Christmas gift cards. I am very much looking forward to relaxing and getting to spend time with just my hubby. I am seriously considering turning off my phone while we are gone!
So, that's a bit of a look back at the year 2010. Some really good things (weight loss) and some not so good things (health crap) but over all, I am still hanging in there!
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