For those of you who don't know, the past month and a half has been quite a challenge for me health-wise. For myself, and for my friends out there, I want to summarize.
Facts:
1. I'm a medical anomaly - no one is quite sure what's going on. A team of doctors has consulted about me...
2. Every test they've done comes back normal, even a test that shouldn't have based on my medical history. The good news is that it doesn't seem like I have any life-threatening disease.
3. I have awesome family and friends that have helped me get through the last six weeks, providing grocery trips, washing dishes, a listening ear, and lots of hugs.
4. I'm still sick and tired, literally.
Goals:
1. Base each day on a jar of pennies. I'll spend what I have and hope tomorrow I have more. Each day I wake up, I'll have a different number of pennies out of 100. It'll be the way I can set goals for myself. Today I think was about a 50 cent day.
2. Get through this semester learning as much math as possible. WHEN I finish this degree, I will have learned tremendous amounts. This semester, I want to learn as much as I can in both the course I'm taking, background on my advisor's research, and also beginning my own research (I hope).
3. Try to learn to balance my commitments outside of school work. Learn how to say no, even if I don't want to, so that I can maintain my health enough to complete my school commitments. I hate backing out of things at the last minute, and I'm going to try to learn my limits. The pennies will help me.
Please keep the prayers coming. Help me learn whatever I can from this intense struggle, help me overcome the frustration and impatience that go long with both feeling bad and not getting answers. Prayers for enjoying every well minute I have. Plus, any suggestions on how to eat (gluten-free) inexpensively without cooking or grocery shopping would be appreciated. Miracles, people, that's what we need!
"He will never deal unjustly with anyone, neither will He task a soul beyond its power."
"True reliance is for the servant to pursue his profession and calling in this world, to hold fast unto the Lord, to seek naught but His grace, inasmuch as in His Hands is the destiny of all His servants."
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Autumn time
Fall has officially arrived - the colors were beautiful on the drive to and from State College. I got to wear a pretty dress on Saturday, going to the Barrister's Ball at Penn State. I'm loving the cool crispness of the air, but the fact that it was still in the 60s and sunny on Saturday :).
I'm reading an excellent book for my book club this month - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I suggest it to anyone. If I needed any more incentive, Elizabeth Gilbert (of Eat, Pray, Love wonderfulness) also loved the book and thought the characters were her friends writing letters to her. (It's an epistolary novel... that's a great word, by the way, and I don't know where I learned it.)
I'm also excited as the 7th book of the Outlander series has come out! I didn't even know there was going to be a 7th book, I thought the series was over. Even though Amazon was amazing and it got it to me in a day rather than 5, I've been good and not started it until my plane ride home tomorrow. Well, I take that back. I read the first 3 pages, got entirely confused, and put it down. I'm no longer confused, but not reading it until break.
Fall break won't be much of a break this time, as I've still been sick. Yep, I've been sick since August 31. No fun. Very behind in school, but it's a really good thing I'm a graduate student and I have amazingly supportive friends. Lab tests have been done, we're waiting for the results. Unfortunately, the thing that looks most likely is not mono (which I'm praying for mono - it goes away) but chronic fatigue syndrome. I hate to admit it, but my symptoms line up almost perfectly with the symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome. For the past couple weeks, I've just been exhausted. Like sleeping about 24 out of 48 hours if I let myself. I've realized it's not a good idea to allow that, so I'm holding myself back to at most one nap a day. So please keep the healing prayers coming - I really need them. I am also going to try acupuncture, probably not until after fall break, just because I don't have the time. But at this point, I'll give anything a try, and maybe it'll help!
I'm reading an excellent book for my book club this month - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I suggest it to anyone. If I needed any more incentive, Elizabeth Gilbert (of Eat, Pray, Love wonderfulness) also loved the book and thought the characters were her friends writing letters to her. (It's an epistolary novel... that's a great word, by the way, and I don't know where I learned it.)
I'm also excited as the 7th book of the Outlander series has come out! I didn't even know there was going to be a 7th book, I thought the series was over. Even though Amazon was amazing and it got it to me in a day rather than 5, I've been good and not started it until my plane ride home tomorrow. Well, I take that back. I read the first 3 pages, got entirely confused, and put it down. I'm no longer confused, but not reading it until break.
Fall break won't be much of a break this time, as I've still been sick. Yep, I've been sick since August 31. No fun. Very behind in school, but it's a really good thing I'm a graduate student and I have amazingly supportive friends. Lab tests have been done, we're waiting for the results. Unfortunately, the thing that looks most likely is not mono (which I'm praying for mono - it goes away) but chronic fatigue syndrome. I hate to admit it, but my symptoms line up almost perfectly with the symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome. For the past couple weeks, I've just been exhausted. Like sleeping about 24 out of 48 hours if I let myself. I've realized it's not a good idea to allow that, so I'm holding myself back to at most one nap a day. So please keep the healing prayers coming - I really need them. I am also going to try acupuncture, probably not until after fall break, just because I don't have the time. But at this point, I'll give anything a try, and maybe it'll help!
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