A moment of peace and reflection at work.
I felt a heaviness going into work directly after receiving news that I was to begin a pre-lung transplant evaluation. All throughout this lung disease journey, I felt like I got hit with waves of new information at each appointment and as soon as I’d get up, I’d get knocked down again. It wasn’t necessarily a negative thing, but it was difficult to grasp my reality. I continued to keep moving regardless.
When I got to work, I was taken outside of my fears and the unknowns, and felt immediate relief being amongst nature and art. I had a meeting with an incoming artist, and was grateful to have that commitment lined up. Art and nature and the connections that evolve between people is the ultimate elixir. I let a couple of close coworkers know and it was emotional for sure. I was inbounded by love and support out the gate. My team had my back and that’s not guaranteed. And while the emotional support was there, the job was demanding and it was a stressful time of year. We had a beach trip to Hilton Head planned, so I was going to have a week of rest/family adventure with a toddler.
The trip to Hilton Head was awesome. I rekindled my love for bike riding, and would go on several mile bike rides. It was a form of meditation and release for me. Not to mention I was in pulmonary rehab and needed to move my body everyday. I felt physically OK, but when we were on our way home back to VA, I felt a little uncomfortable. The following day, when I was working on Labor Day, I really felt like something was not right.
A couple days later, I was in more pain and was having trouble walking. Sores began to develop. Since I was immunocompromised, I decided to go to Patient First. They said I had saddle sores and gave me an antibiotic.
By Saturday, around 5 am, I was in so much pain, we went to the ER. I thought they’d be able to determine what I had and I’d be out in time to still co-host a bridal luncheon for my best friend. I got admitted, and ended up being in the hospital for three weeks and out of work for a total of six weeks. It turned out, I had shingles…
A case of shingles never stops an Alabama Football watching party. RTR!