Friday, May 16, 2014

A Little Bump in the Road

As I write today I’m a little less scatterbrained than I was on Wednesday, but a little more disheartened. After impatiently waiting for what seemed like forever, I received a call from my physical therapist in Detroit, Diane.

Before I get into details of the call, let’s talk about bone density a little bit. Bone density is measured by what they call T-scores. Your T-score is your bone density compared with what is normally expected in a healthy young adult of your gender and it shows you if you are above or below the average.

If you have a T-score of -1 and above, your bone density is considered normal. If your scores are between -1 and -2.5, you have osteopenia, a condition which your bone density is below normal and could lead to osteoporosis. Anything below -2.5 is considered as osteoporosis.

My T-score in my hips is -4.2.

Despite my extremely low T-score, I hoped that Diane would have good news for me – that I would still be able to come up in June for therapy. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. The medical director for CSCIR sets bone density parameters in which patients must adhere to and still be considered safe and not subject to a possible fracture. The lowest T-score they allow in the program is -3.5 which means I am .7 units away from qualifying.

Being .7 units off doesn’t sound like much and you would think I’d be able to acquire that in no time, right? Not necessarily the case. I am going to start on a medication that will hopefully help me regenerate some bone, as well as begin a calcium regiment. Between those things and continuing my workouts of peddling 10+ miles on my e-stim bike and standing in my standing frame, I hope by next summer I will be at -3.5 or better.

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t bummed about not being able to go. I love Detroit, but I can’t tell you how glad I am to find out about my osteoporosis through a bone scan instead of the hard way…fracturing a hip. I’m confident in our plan to curb the degeneration and I know that as fast as time passes, next summer will be upon us soon and hopefully I’ll be packing my bags to head up to the D.

It’s just a little bump in the road, but God has a plan, right? He must have know I’m a first-year head volleyball coach and that it would be in my best interest to stay home and put all my energy into prepping for the season!! Those girls better be ready because I sure will be! =)


Side note:
 After Wednesday’s post, I have to thank you all for your support and your prayers. It means more to me than you’ll ever know! 

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Patience is a Virtue…and a Tough One, To Boot!

My mind is swimming today. I can’t complete one task without thinking about something else, then my cell phone beeps, an email comes in, the phone rings, and I’m totally distracted.

I’m preoccupied to say the least. With what, you ask? Bones.

Yep, you read that right, bones. You see I had a bone density scan yesterday because it is now a prerequisite for the intense physical therapy in Detroit. (I’m hoping to make another trip up there this summer.) Going into the scan, I knew my bones wouldn’t be like an able-bodied person…that they might be a little softer than normal, but I didn’t think it was going to be anything serious.

Wrong - turns out I have a pretty good case of osteoporosis in my hips. This was devastating news to me and after I read the report yesterday evening, I had a million thoughts running through my mind about it.

What about Detroit? Will they let me still do therapy? Can you regenerate bone? What medication do I need to take? Am I going to break a hip? You name it, I thought about it. After going through every scenario, I could think about...I prayed. I went to bed thinking what will be, will be and that I’ll soon know my fate.

Fast forward 8+ hours to today and I’m calmer, a little less emotional, but still scatterbrained. I’ve put in two calls to my doctor and three emails into Detroit and now I wait, impatiently.

Why is it when you really want/need to know something, you have to wait? The seconds feel like minutes, which in turn feel like hours, and the hours feel like days. Come on people, don’t you know how badly I need to know these results!!


God is testing me, no doubt, and while I would like to say I’m accepting His challenge with open arms, I’m not too keen on it. 


Waiting sucks, period!

Thursday, May 8, 2014

A Happy Heart Habit

I am a creature of habit and unlike my younger years full of spontaneity and flying by the seat of my pants, I have a routine and I stick to it pretty regularly. Every morning when I arrive at work, I login to all of my programs, get a cup of coffee, and open my email.

Before I begin looking at anything work-related, I find the email that holds my daily devotional and read it in its entirety. It’s the boost I need and it starts my day off right. Today’s devotional held the verse of Proverbs 17:22 “A happy heart is like good medicine, but a broken spirit drains your strength.”

At every speaking engagement I have had the chance to participate in, I talk about attitude. I tell the story of how I consciously made the choice to put a smile on my face, be positive, not dwell on my accident, and put every ounce of energy into my recovery. I knew at that time if I was to fall into the ‘woe is me’ trap, I wouldn’t get out of it nor would I get any better…and that wasn’t an option.

Easier said than done, right? Trust me I know, but even Aeschylus said, “Happiness is a choice that requires effort at times.”

There is so much hurt in our world right now that we can’t even turn on the TV without hearing something bad - about another shooting/stabbing, the crisis in Ukraine, the kidnapping of nearly 300 Nigerian schoolgirls, the sinking boat, the missing plane. Every day, something new…it’s exhausting to hear and unfortunately we can’t change it.

We can’t control other people’s actions nor can we control every situation we may face in life, but if there’s anything I know it’s that we can’t dwell on the hurt for forever.
 
The hurt will suffocate us if we’re not careful – it will drain every ounce of strength that we may possess and therefore we must hope. We must hope and pray for the good…make the choice to smile…maintain the good attitude….make the heart happy. 
 
Seeing that verse today not only made me realize how important it was to make that small little decision almost eight years ago, but how those words still resonate with me today. I'm blessed to have the life that I do and for that I will smile as much as possible and always look at the glass half full.
 
  Now that's the habit I hope to keep!