T.G.I.Thursday!

Today is June 15, 2023 and the title says it all…I’m so happy it’s Thursday. This week was my first post-hospital week of follow-ups and it was a very draining one. I guess we were just trying to find a rhythm to it all…being back home, without the kids, getting things taken care of for ease of my functionality and mobility (wheelchair, ramps installed, toilet seat chair, shower chair, bedside rail…I even borrowed my mother’s electric lazy boy…It’s so comfortable!), and just managing the logistics and planning of all the appointments and timings. So many things were happening but we pulled through and it gave us a preview of what’s to come next week, and then the following week, and so on…

I had a very early start today as I was awake from 4:00 am. By 5:30 I got out of bed and started getting ready for the day. We arrived at Amiri hospital at 7:20 and by 7:35 I was done with my second bi-weekly bloodwork. We had to wait for the results to come out before going to see my rheumatologist. In the meantime, I had my next appointment…yup, you guessed it, physical therapy. We headed to the physical therapy gym and my session was from 7:50 until 9:20. This was a bitter sweet session for me. On the one hand, I surprised myself when I did an exercise I thought would be impossible for me to do. Accomplishing that move, as scared as I was to even do it, was truly gratifying and motivating and I can’t thank my therapist enough for giving me the confidence to believe in myself to try to do it in the first place. So thank you, thank you, thank you for that…I needed it. So that was the ‘sweet’ part of today’s session. The ‘bitter’ part was me knowing that this was possibly the last session I’d be having at Amiri Hospital with my incredible therapist as I’d be starting my new rehabilitation program at the Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Centre (PMR) on Sunday. But she said it herself, continuing my rehab at PMR will be for my best interest and well-being, and we should both be happy about this next step. We said our goodbyes and then I got the call from my rheumatologist to meet her in her office. I’m very happy to say that my CK levels are continuing to go down and I hope and pray we keep seeing them decrease and decrease. ألف الحمد لله. There is a slight drawback to today’s results though…my protein and potassium levels have been going down and that’s not something we want. I have a follow-up appointment next week with my nutritionist to discuss this and hopefully put an action plan in place. For now I just want to enjoy the good news of the day and continue reveling in the satisfaction I felt from my physical therapy session. I also plan to really, truly, fully relax as much as I can this weekend to gear up for the work I have cut out for me next week. I got this!

اللهم لك الحمد والشكر في الأولى, ولك الحمد والشكر في الآخرة, ولك الحمد والشكر من قبل, ولك الحمد والشكر من بعد, وآناء الليل وأطراف النهار, وفي كل حين ودائما وأبدا.