Thursday (11/22/2018):

Thursday (11/22/2018):

Five years ago on Thanksgiving Day (it was on 11/28 that year), my wife realized that what we thought was a bad case of the flu was something much worse.  She decided to take me to the ER.  It turns out that I was in septic shock and the doctors weren’t certain whether I would live.  My wife was told that if she had waited another hour, I wouldn’t have made it.

So do I have something to be thankful for on Thanksgiving?  Most certainly!!  I was given additional years to live and enjoy life.  I’ve gotten to witness events that I would have missed (the birth of three grandchildren and watching them grow, the marriage of my youngest son, my brother’s wedding, my wife’s movie being made, and numerous family member’s birthday celebrations, etc., etc., etc.).  The Lord God saw fit to allow me to play some “extra innings” and I am grateful!

I am much more attentive to the little things that are sometimes easy to ignore, such as a beautiful sunset, stunning scenery, the majesty of a powerful thunderstorm, the beauty of a heavy snowfall, and good times with friends and family.  Things that before I might have taken for granted.

Every day is a gift!  Even on the difficult days, I can find something to be thankful for, even if it’s only that I am alive!

Remember your blessings.  Enjoy the little things. Take time to give thanks for what you have been given, including the people who make your life more rich and fulfilling.

Have a happy and meaningful Thanksgiving!

Monday (11/5/2018):

Update:

The other day I realized that I currently have the most energy, endurance, and potential that I’ve had in the last five years since my amputation. Presently I’m able to do more for longer periods of time. However, I still have lots of limits and I’m not even close to being back to my pre-amp levels.

Immediately after my amputation, I figured in a few months I would be back up to speed and “boldly go where no amputee has gone before” (yes, I just misappropriated a Star Trek quote). I ended up with a number of other medical issues besides my amputation so my future didn’t quite live up to my hopes, but I am grateful for every step forward that I’ve been able to make in resuming my life. I seem to be very slowly continuing to make forward progress.

I saw this meme about “usable hours” and I thought it was a helpful concept. There can be quite a difference in the number of hours of productive time between someone who has no health issues and someone who has chronic pain or a chronic illness.

I’m doing the best I’ve done in over five years, but I still run out energy too soon and take longer to recover than it used to take. I run out of time and energy before I get through my list of things to do for the day. I’ve reconciled myself with the idea that I cannot do everything that I want to accomplish. So each day I try to do the most important things first. A lot of things get left undone, but there isn’t anything I can do about that except to accept my current reality. There are days and times when I get a sudden burst of vitality and I am able to do so much more than normal—those are the fun days! But I often pay for it afterward and need more rest or to take it easy for a few days afterward.

That’s life! Or at least that's my life! I’m very grateful for everything that I’ve been able to do recently and I hope that this trend continues.