Who’s Done For The Week?

Today is Thursday, July 6, 2023 and I’m so ready for the weekend. Because I knew I had an early appointment this morning, my sleep was thrown off and my internal alarm woke me up at 5:30 am. We arrived at Amiri Hospital for my first appointment of the day at 7:45. We headed straight to the surgery outpatient clinics to meet with a surgeon regarding my diastasis recti that I had mentioned in one of my earlier posts. As I had stated previously, this is not related to my current condition…it was just something that showed up on my CT Scan which we had done for screening purposes earlier. The scan showed that the separation of my abdominal muscles was at 6 cm and for that reason my rheumatologist thought it was best for a surgeon to see me and better advise on what to do next. The surgeon I saw today was fantastic, straight to the point and really reassured me that I had nothing to worry about for now. Had the separation been 4 cm or less I would have been able to repair it through some abdominal exercises. However, at this point the only way to fix it would be through surgery and she would only recommend the surgery if the separation was causing me any pain, interfering in the functionality of my daily living or visually bothering me, which it’s not for any of the above. She also told me that my focus right now is to work on my treatment for my dermatomyositis and to only consider the surgery if and when I’m physically and mentally ready for it. I’m definitely not at this point. She guided me on things to avoid and things to work on that could help in the meantime, and told me I could come in for a follow-up in 6 months to a year and we’ll take it from there.

We were done by 9:30 and I was on my way to PMR for my occupational therapy and physical therapy sessions. My vitals are always taken before we start and today my pressure was little low. Both of my therapists wanted to take it easy on me so we amended our usual sessions slightly. We did a little bit of OT that included upper body strengthening and stretching. Then it turned into a combined session of my OT and PT working together to really stretch my tense muscles and relieve any muscle pain I was feeling. The deep stretches were excruciatingly painful at first…but with each repetition the muscles would loosen and I’d feel better and better. We ended with my PT having me work on my leg strengthening and endurance using the cycling machine for 10 minutes…that was a workout!

I came home, rested for a bit then got dressed and headed to my family’s weekly Thursday gathering at my parent’s house. Although I felt drained and exhausted from the week, I was still very excited to be heading there because the last time I was at our family lunch was on Thursday, May 11…just two days before being admitted at the hospital. It was a beautiful feeling to be surrounded by my family again, young and old, in a setting that has become a routine comfort over the years. Unfortunately there were some family members missing due to work or travel, my kids and parents included (tears), but it was still lovely and heart-warming to be with my siblings, their spouses and their children all together again. There’s nothing like some family time to make you feel love and joy all around you. Cherish the time you spend with your family this weekend and really appreciate having them in your life. We’re all blessed to have the family and loved ones we have in our lives and we should never take them for granted. Enjoy your weekend and I’ll be back with some more updates on Sunday!

اللهم إني أستودعك ذريتي وأهلي يا من لا تضيع عنده الودائع، فاحفظهم وعافهم من كل آفة وعاهة، ومن سوء الأسقام والأمراض، ومن شر طوارق الليل والنهار، ومن شر عين كل حاسد وغل كل حاقد ومن أصدقاء السوء، اللهم احفظهم من بين أيديهم ومن خلفهم وعن أيمانهم وعن شمائلهم ومن فوقهم ومن تحتهم.