I Swear I Have a Good Excuse!

Posted by Leah on 3/11/2019 12:48:27 AM

Dear Everyone,

I’m sorry it’s been so long. To say I’ve missed you and writing here, is an understatement. I feel as though I’ve neglected a little piece of myself. But it’s all been for good reason.

Over the past year I’ve had one health issue after another,and none of them are connected (except they’ve all happened to me, so I guess they ARE connected).

I got a concussion in early 2018. Usually someone with this type of minor head trauma would be long healed by now; I have not. I’ve had too many concussions in my life (I’m accident prone), and at last count, this one was my sixth or seventh. It has left lingering effects that still bother me on a daily basis, including light and sound sensitivities, headaches, sleep issues, and more. Long story short, protect your head and brain whenever possible. Also, be careful when running across an icy parking lot.

In October I was feeling well enough to finally sit down and post something. I couldn’t sit too long on the computer, but progress had been made. The day before Halloween I vowed that after walking the dog, I’d get online and post something. But it was not to be. During that walk an old man tried to hit me with his car. My temper got the best of me, and I punched his car and swore loudly at him (I sure showed him!). The result of this encounter was a severely bruised bone in my right hand; not broken, but not fine either. As I healed, I taught myself to write halfway decently with the left hand, but still couldn’t type efficiently. It took two months for the hand to heal enough to type again.

Bringing us to mid-January, this year. I had been out of a cast for a week and already my mind was reeling with the first thing I’d post here…my triumphant return. But alas, it was not meant to be. I was hospitalized for severe abdominal pain, leading to emergency exploratory surgery and the loss of my appendix.  I’d never had surgery before. It terrified me. Not only because surgery, in itself, is scary,but because it wasn’t the appendix causing my problems. It was “mystery gas”floating around my abdomen outside my intestines.

Two weeks into my surgical recovery I had the same abdominal pain, but on the left side this time. I didn’t have an appendix, so it couldn’t have migrated. I was worried and confused, and went back to the hospital.

Since the last hospital visit I have had countless tests,and been poked and prodded. They’ve taken blood, done CT Scans, ultrasound,more blood tests, more ultrasound, and on and on. They’ve found a few minor health issues in all this, but nothing that will kill me anytime soon (although I still have a few tests to go). All of this has gone on while I heal from surgery…not fun.

So now, having a (mostly) clean bill of health, I’m ready to get back to doing what I do here. At least a little at a time. With so much time lying around healing lately I’ve come up with some exciting changes for this site. I hope to make it more fun and interesting, more engaging. I want to make it something you want to read, and don’t just read out of guilt. The amount of change I want to implement will take time, and I appreciate your patience during the slow transition.

Really, my plan is to start over. Yes, I’ll leave all of the old stuff here for you, but I want this to be a new beginning. I want it to be like when we first met, all over again.

Are you willing to come on that journey with me?