6 Months Update: I am So Stressed!

In This Update:

• First trip to New York City
• Federal Disaster Response Team
• Jury duty, work, and graduate school
• Calisthenics workout

The last couple of weeks have been pretty intense and “non-stop”. Between full-time work, graduate school, getting ready for a possible deployment to a disaster zone, and jury duty, I haven’t been able to take a breath yet. I am trying to take care of myself but I admit that it is not easy if the day doesn’t’ have enough hours for me to get everything done.

The day after my last update, I flew out to New York City to meet up with long-time friends from when we all worked at the German Biergarten at Disney 18 years ago, and to celebrate a 40^th birthday. To make this happen, I had to work four days in a row to be able to string together my days off. I lost all my vacation time during my surgery and recovery, so I had to get creative. But I shouldn’t complain, since one of my friends (Beth) flew in the same day from Switzerland for only four days! But it was so worth it, especially since I haven’t seen my friend Dennise (who now lives in San Francisco) in over a decade!

So, after working the mid-shift for four days straight (in a rather busy ED), I tried to work ahead on my assignments for graduate school in between, so as to not to fall behind. I actually worked on a discussion post during my entire 2 ½ hour flight to NYC, which required me to drag my heavy books and laptop along for the journey. I am happy to report that I was able to maneuver and lift my carry-on suitcase without any problems, and sitting in the cramped seat was inconvenient but not painful.

After yet another hour of sitting in a taxi to get from JFK to the hotel in Manhattan, I was finally greeted with a glass of champagne by my friend Katharina, and that was the end of my efforts to get my homework done. For the next four days I did a LOT of walking, sightseeing, took the subway, and of course attended a couple rooftop bar parties.

I arrived on a Thursday in NYC and got back home Sunday evening - with a deficit on sleep for sure. On Monday, I had to work again, but Tuesday was a little different. Instead of going to work, I had to report to the downtown courthouse for my first experience of being summoned for jury duty. Well, let me just say that this was very different from what I had anticipated… I guess the universe thought that I wasn’t busy enough yet, so it decided to really make me do my civic duty. My jury duty turned out to be a long-term commitment that will fill my schedule with even more obligations for the next year (!!!) to come. Oh, well…

But wait, there is one more thing! In case you haven’t heard, but there was an enormous hurricane (Florence) aiming at the Carolinas/Virginia coast, which means that I am now on stand-by for deployment with the Federal Disaster Response Team. If I do go, I will stay for up to two weeks in a disaster zone to provide medical support to the community. Even if that isn’t going to happen now, the hurricane season is still young, I suppose, so I am trying to stay ahead on my school assignments while working full time. In any case, my suitcase is packed (again), my gear in order, and my back is compliant and pain-free!

Did I mention that I was a tad stressed lately? Needless to say, my rehabilitation efforts have been sabotaged more than once. As I mentioned in an earlier update, little “aches and pains” usually sneak up on me when I don’t work out. So, today (I am actually off, woohoo!), Ralf and I went to the calisthenics park at the Black Hammock trailhead for some rounds of pull-ups, push-ups, rows, and interval sprints. Even though I didn’t like doing them at the time, I feel really good right now, sitting showered in my comfy chair and writing this update. Looking back over those crazy couple of weeks, I feel so incredibly thankful: not for all the stress, but for the ability to do all those things without being crippled and in pain!