Still Me... Anna

Feeling very much like myself today.  Sleep was excellent, pain is minimal, and I'm moving well.  Still quite bloated or swollen or whatever it is; this morning it feels like 6 months pregnant.  But things are rolling around in my guts as they get back to normal so that will probably vary throughout the day as it did yesterday.  Mentally and energy-wise, I feel VERY normal.  No fatigue or run-down feeling whatsoever, and my thoughts are clear.  

Dale and I had a nice easy day yesterday.  Visited downtown; the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum.  Somber place.  Took me back to 1995 when it happened; I was in the early months of pregnancy with Tyler.  It is very well done and I'm glad we went.  We had lunch at Toby Keith's restaurant and then headed back to the hotel to rest and maybe do another outing later, but our only outing later was a slow ~1/2 mile walk outside after having a sandwich for dinner.  It was the right amount of activity for me.  I feel pressure and discomfort after too much moving and walking and standing, so that is my limiter.  I have a back warmer brace thing that helps, and holding pressure with my arm or a small pillow helps, but I think I just need to listen to this and rest as needed.  

Last night I read through my Kidney Journal that goes from early January until the day after surgery, now with the "after" perspective.  Looking in the rear view mirror now, I ask myself, is this what I wanted, envisioned, and worked for these last 6 months?  The answer is clear.  YES.  Absolutely, this is it!  It's wonderfully ordinary and at the same time, amazing and extraordinary.  The fact that Dustin and I are both celebrating the ability to do normal things and for things to be as they would be without any of this needing to happen -- moving well, showering, normal trips to the bathroom, feeling good, having energy, not having restrictions -- this is the great stuff that most people take for granted and this was the primary goal.  The icing on the cake is the value of the journey, the experience, the learning, the new friendships and bonds.  I am feeling very grateful and appreciative of it all.  And yes, it is what I wanted, and way more.  I feel so very, very glad that I did this.  

There is a new publicity event brewing with a local news station, and we've been mentioned already on two local news stations here.  I didn't think much of it yesterday, but this morning I realized that "local news" here in this big city is a lot bigger than I'm used to at home.  Maybe I should be nervous or something?  Haha.  But I'm not.  This story tells itself; all we have to do is be genuine and let it out.  A lot of good can come from that.  Kenzie shared a post from the National Kidney Foundation who shared OUR news story.  Seeing the successful stories on these groups all this time, and now BEING the story -- WOW!   The hope and education of each story shared feeds the assembly line to everyone behind us, so I am really happy to be a part of that.  

Time to get packed up and move towards the rest & recovery location.  Grateful for family and friends to look out for me during this time.