Sunday, July 13, 2008

Giving Thanks

Those of you that have been reading my blog since last year know that I was hospitalized last year. You can read abou it here, and here. I really didn't get into too much detail about what happened to me. It was the scariest time of my life and the Dr's feared I would never recover. Fast-forward to 8 months later and have a made an almost complete recovery. I say "almost complete" because I am still having follow-up visits and have been told by my Dr's that you really need to give it a full year to be considered completely out-of-the-woods. To this day there has never been a formal diagnosis made and no one knows how I caught whatever it was. I seem to be a medical mystery of sorts. I had spinal taps, CT scans, MRI's and although they found that I had encephalitis, and my spinal cord fluid had an extremely high white blood cell count, they still couldn't pin point anything in terms of giving it a name. The "last resort" treatment was steroids, and thank God, it worked. Of course, I gained weight as a result of the steroid treament. A lot of weight. 50lbs. to be exact. This has been the most difficult part for me, in terms of my recovery. I've been working really hard to get the weight off and so far I have lost 10lbs. I'm very motivated and determined, so I'm sure I will lose it all in due time.

To be honest, I don't remember much of it. It's like I lost 2 months of my life. I got really depressed about it because it's like losing control of your life. Now I see things a little differently. I am so much more appreciative of things and I feel like I have been given a second chance at life. Even just going for walks, I take my time and really take in my surroundings. Sometimes I cry when I think about what I've been through and how far I've come, because I am so happy to be alive.

Today I was cleaning out my room and I came across an email that Ale wrote me while I was in the hospital. I won't get into the details of what it said, but it made me so emotional that I burst into tears. I can only imagine how he must have felt being so far away and unable to be with me. I am so lucky to be loved by this wonderful man. He stood by me (albeit from thousands of miles away) and never gave up on me. I feel so blessed and I thank God for him everyday.

I had the support of family, friends and strangers alike. I am so thankful for everyone's thoughts and prayers. They really moved mountains for me. I really feel in my heart that the worst is over and I have a bright future ahead of me. I wake up every morning with a renewed energy. I am anxious to see what the future has in store for me!!

Ale will be here in a week and a half and I am so excited!! I must admit that I am a little self-conscious about my weight, but he knows how hard I am working to change that. I have lots of activities in store for us throughtout his visit and you can believe I'll be blogging about it!!

Again I want to thank everybody for your prayers and support. They won't soon be forgotten.

6 comments:

Jessica said...

I'm so glad you are better and made it through a very difficult situation! I am excited for that Ale is coming! Can't wait to read about your adventures together. Sending you good thoughts :)

Michelle | Bleeding Espresso said...

So glad you're doing so much better! Enjoy Ale's visit :)

LuLu said...

I'm so glad to hear that you are feeling better and doing better. I can't wait to hear all about your time with Ale...I'm super excited for you!!! Stay strong!! Ciao bella!

Leanne was in Italy now in Australia said...

Good on you for being so positive. Have a great time with Ale and don't worry about the weight. You could put a plastic bag on your head and I'm sure he'd still think you the most beautiful person :)
(Not that I recommend a plastic bag on your head of course!)

Amber said...

I am so excited for you and Ale to be able to spend some time together. (Of course, we are hoping that we will be able to meet you both while he is here). I remember when you first posted about how ill you had become... that was scary. The worst was when Ale posted that you were in the hospital. I know of a prayer chain that was praying for your recovery. I suspect a lot more people were praying for you than you could ever have known. And look, it worked! :) I am so happy to know that you are better... that is the best news possible.

Piccola said...

Thank you all for your kind words and well wishes. They mean so much to me. Ale and I are so excited to be able to be together again after all that. We are both so thankful for everyones prayers. The reach of blogs around the world is amazing!