8 1/2 Months Update: End-of-the-Semester-Stress – and then some…

In this Update:

• Ponce drama
• Managing full-time work with school stress
• Cleaning is a workout, too!

Ponce drama

So, we have a furry son: Ponce. He is our most important member of the family, and even though he has been going through some health-issues for a while now, we have managed his health well with medication and certain lifestyle adjustments. However, while I was still at work, Ralf called me last night because Ponce was in respiratory distress, coughing, wheezing, and unable to lay down. He has been diagnosed with an enlarged heart that has been pressing on his little trachea at times, but overall, he is a happy (13-year-old) puppy! When I got home, Ponce’s breathing was shallow and he kept gagging and couldn’t lay down for most of the night. Our poor baby! Nobody got much sleep during the night, and to be honest, we were bracing ourselves for the worst. First thing in the morning, we scooped up our baby and rushed to our vet, where he was diagnosed with acute pleural effusion (water in his lungs). Maybe it was the cold-front that came through that triggered the event, but who knows? He got an injection of Lasix (diuretic) to get the fluid out, and so far, he appears to be better. Ponce has finally slept a few hours but has to go outside frequently to pee. He’s not out of the woods yet but we are hopeful! Ralf and I are a mess right now… at least I am off today!

Finally able to lay down, hope it will last...

Here is my boy during happier times…

Managing full-time work with school stress

Work-School-Sleep-Repeat: that has been my life over the last couple of weeks. I wish I could report more activities, such as biking and working out, but life has not let me get much of a break lately. In a way, this was a test of endurance and the ability to sit and focus on graduate schoolwork for long periods of time. I truly wish I could have worked out as planned but I just haven’t had any time to do so lately. In addition, I am experimenting with a new saddle for my bicycle that will agree with my seat bones better but so far, I haven’t found the right one yet. Work has been very stressful, especially with all the snowbirds coming down to Florida. I had some pretty intense days at work, which included having to restrain somebody while avoiding getting kicked in the head. Between tomorrow and Friday, I will hopefully be done with the last giant paper, and this will finally conclude this semester.

I feel the lack of structured rehab in terms of being “tight” allover. The muscles between the shoulder blades are in knots, and my lower back feels sore. HOWEVER, this soreness is also muscular and I have not had any pain creep up on me, for which I am grateful for! I mentioned in a previous post that I can still clearly remember the pain, how it felt like, and what kind of (even micro-) movements provoked it. I never had any of that pain come back. In a way, this was the test of my tolerance for sitting for extended times, coupled with tons of mental and physical stress. I’ll be honest: it sucks, but I got through it without major issues.

Cleaning is a workout, too!

With that being said, even today and tomorrow, I will add more challenging activities to my agenda: cleaning and moving stuff around. I also mentioned in a previous update that I was not able to clean my home anymore due to the pain and disability. Well, we decided to buy a new couch, shoe cabinets, and dressers from Ikea, which are going to be delivered tomorrow. That means moving things around, vacuuming, etc., in order to be ready for the delivery. Oh, we also decided to assemble everything ourselves, which should be interesting.