That Forrest Gump Guy Had Something Right…

Forrest Gump had it completely right: life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re going to get in life. Sometimes you could luck out and get one of the really good ones, like the chocolate covered peanuts, a caramel, or even a nugget; or you could get a total bummer and end up with one of those nasty ones that are supposed to be strawberry or cherry flavored in the center. But, then there is the worst of the worst: synthetic coconut ::shrill screams of horror::!

As Christians we know that we are never going to be given more than we can handle. The Lord knows the exact amount that we are able to handle before we are going to reach a breaking point. We think that we know when that breaking point is, thus the “Forrest Gump” reference, but it’s ultimately up to God to decide when that point is and what that point consists of. Trust me, the night of Bart Fest 2010 (March 18), I was crying my eyes out, telling my mother that I didn’t think that I could take much more of this because I had been vomiting for about 3 hours straight; but here I am, nearly 2 months later, and not doing all that much better, but I am keeping on because it is by God’s grace and mercy that I am able to keep on living. Believe you me, this is not an existence that I would wish upon my worst enemy—not that I consider myself as having any enemies—but even if I did have any, I wouldn’t wish the life that I am having to live right now upon them.

Here is a tiny peek into a day in my life…

I wake up around 8am and immediately—without even getting out of bed—take 4 pills called Raglan, a medication that is supposed to help move food through my body. Then I grab my pill case that contains the rest of my medication for the morning, my cane, and then proceed cautiously out to the living room where I make myself comfortable for the next 30-45 minutes until the Raglan has worked before I can eat. Then I get up—cautiously—and make my way to the kitchen with my cane and make a shake with fresh strawberries, Activia, and a little bit of milk in a blender (it makes about 16 oz., enough for breakfast and lunch). Once I put everything away, I go make myself comfortable on the couch with one shake in a sipee cup and sip away on the shake for about an hour, take my morning medications, and then fall asleep for the next 3 hours or so. Once I’m awake enough I drink some vitamin water and then drink the second shake, have my afternoon medications, and then fall back to sleep for another couple of hours. Any time I happen to get up to use the facilities, answer the door, or prepare an evening shake; I have to use my cane because I am so off balance I run the risk of falling backward. This morning I tried not using my cane to make my morning shakes and had to grad onto my helper in order to keep myself from falling completely over.

If I don’t use my cane when I walk I do the Christine Shuffle to get from one place to the next, but my helper has now decreed that I use my cane no matter what, so I am no longer allowed to walk anywhere without using it because I am such a fall risk.

So, that is a very brief glimpse into my life as it stands (no pun—well, maybe a little—intended). I often walk like a person who has recently had a stroke, but that has been ruled out as a possibility; but I do have a very strange gait, especially when I don’t use my cane. The important thing is that I am alive, so I am trying to just run with that at the moment