While sitting at my favorite coffee shop last week, a beautiful woman from church walked up and gave me a compliment about my complexion. With all the medication that I have been taking, my skin had been having an identity crisis. It didn't know whether to wrinkle or break out like a teenager. I was using my daughter's acne cleanser and wrinkle cream! It is nice to be feeling like my old self and the compliment felt great. Not only did it make my heart burst, it opened my eyes to yet another way I had made progress. After being diagnosed with HE, it was hard for many people to quit being so serious. I found that it made the pills (oh...and there have been many) easier to swallow when I took them with a dose of humor.
Those who remember the night I was first diagnosed might remember my mother, sister, and me laughing the whole night. There were so many things we found ridiculous. Well, lets start with the fact that I chose the day that I went into full body convulsions (which lasted a hilarious 12 hours) to wear a mini skirt and 3 inch heals. Every time the nurse asked me to follow her, I wondered, "Could she do this?" Heck, I have danced backwards in heals, but never while doing the hippy-hippy shake! Another nurse asked if I was cold. Then they told me to drive myself to the hospital! Really? And this was my brain doctor!
Then I had an MRI where I was asked to be still, asked to fill out a "check the box" form, and then expected to feed myself rice, peas, and chicken...which came with a knife! We laughed as I had a food fight with myself and my mother requested a plastic knife. My pastor walked in expecting to bring peace to the situation and the first thing he said when he saw me was, "Well, that doesn't look good."
Oh, and the Mayo Clinic trip. While looking at the Air Mall magazine, I learned that they sell stainless steal wallets and portable microwaves...yet I had trouble getting a small jar of raspberry jelly on the plane. My husband, who shattered his leg four years ago, was pushing me in a wheel chair while wearing his giant brace. It was camouflage and looked like a prosthetic. He was asked many times which war he lost his leg in...he eventually started making up stories. Each one was better than the last, then they would wonder what kind of wife was making him push her all over the Mayo Clinic. I must have been really bad off!
As time went on, people close to me would have momentary amnesia. My mother asked me once, "Who is cutting your hair these days?" Hmmmm...I had a sister that owned a salon, my mother and grandmother went to cosmetology school, yet she thought I walked into a salon and said, "Please give me the hair cut that highlights how my hair is falling out and stringy...maybe a mullet?" The truth was, my hair was falling out so fast that when I asked my hair dresser to trim it up, she didn't charge me! Yep...she was done with about three snips! All in good fun.
Then there were the times people felt the need to point out the fact that I had gained weight. My steroids made me put on 30lbs in 4 months. Being that I am only 5ft tall, I went up four sizes. Several people thought I went through 3 different wardrobes and didn't realize. Oh, one even said, "It's a shame when that happens to pretty girls!" Yep, that was an attempt at compassion.
There were times when it seemed impossible to get out of bed and I threw plenty of pity parties...no really, you can look back through the blogs! What I have learned though, was that other than God, I played the biggest role in how my life was going to be. I learned that watching the world go by while I laid in bed was too painful, so no matter how difficult, I try to get out of the house. When given bad news, I choose to focus on what needs to be done to correct that, and I remember all of the ways I have overcome the past. My favorite bit of advice was, "Even though you are in pain, you do not get to be one!" Life gives us plenty of reasons to be sad or angry, so never miss out on a chance to laugh, even if it is at yourself!
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