Six Months Out
So here we are six months post diagnosis. Life continues. We have great days, lousy days, medium days. Then again, didn't we always have those, just in a different way.
Work is super busy, but I think I am managing it much better. I am going to be dead bang honest and say I am SO glad the holidays are done. I felt better on January 2nd than I had in awhile. Holidays are like that, you sit and compare one year to the next, you think of future years and what they might look like. It is a more difficult time to just be in the present.
Brian is now doing pool therapy, adaptive yoga therapy. He still does way more around the house than he should probably do but I give my opinion and leave him to be who he is. I encourage him to pace his activity, eat more, etc and I think he usually does pretty well with the self care. I also think it is pretty important that I NOT become a den Mommy. There is a acronym you will hear in the ALS Community, being a "CALS", that is a Caregiver for someone with ALS. The person with ALS is called a PALS. It is a shorthand way for us to discuss issues, solutions, etc but you have to be careful I think lest the whole CALS/PALS dynamic become the entire relationship. That can so happen, even at our stage. We are the same couple, we are just now a couple who walks with this next alongside us. We adapt as we must to it, but this cannot become us. We keep loving on our animals, sharing good meals and good shows, heading out for drinks and dinner, seeing friends and just hanging out quietly together. That is us. That is today.
Now I need more self care, that is occurring to me. Better food, more exercise, maybe even a little quiet time on occasion just to myself to think and relax. I really will be no good to him unless I take care of me. I have the vitamins and sleep part down well. I enjoyed myself the other night downing a bottle of white wine while we binge watched a good show, but for a light drinker like me to consume that much unaware of how many times I was filling that glass means I need to pay a little more attention to me. Or, as my sometimes brutally honest husband said "You know, you might live another 40 years, particularly if you drop some weight. You better keep thinking what you want those years to look like". Yup, my Brian the last of the true romantics lol. He speaks the truth though. That being said, it is pretty freeing to sing "House of the Rising Sun" in bed at 11:00 PM on a work night floating on wine at 51 :)
Happy New Year everyone. As I have said before, stay warm, get some sleep and eat well. Spring will come. We are looking forward to heading up North again when it does.
Work is super busy, but I think I am managing it much better. I am going to be dead bang honest and say I am SO glad the holidays are done. I felt better on January 2nd than I had in awhile. Holidays are like that, you sit and compare one year to the next, you think of future years and what they might look like. It is a more difficult time to just be in the present.
Brian is now doing pool therapy, adaptive yoga therapy. He still does way more around the house than he should probably do but I give my opinion and leave him to be who he is. I encourage him to pace his activity, eat more, etc and I think he usually does pretty well with the self care. I also think it is pretty important that I NOT become a den Mommy. There is a acronym you will hear in the ALS Community, being a "CALS", that is a Caregiver for someone with ALS. The person with ALS is called a PALS. It is a shorthand way for us to discuss issues, solutions, etc but you have to be careful I think lest the whole CALS/PALS dynamic become the entire relationship. That can so happen, even at our stage. We are the same couple, we are just now a couple who walks with this next alongside us. We adapt as we must to it, but this cannot become us. We keep loving on our animals, sharing good meals and good shows, heading out for drinks and dinner, seeing friends and just hanging out quietly together. That is us. That is today.
Now I need more self care, that is occurring to me. Better food, more exercise, maybe even a little quiet time on occasion just to myself to think and relax. I really will be no good to him unless I take care of me. I have the vitamins and sleep part down well. I enjoyed myself the other night downing a bottle of white wine while we binge watched a good show, but for a light drinker like me to consume that much unaware of how many times I was filling that glass means I need to pay a little more attention to me. Or, as my sometimes brutally honest husband said "You know, you might live another 40 years, particularly if you drop some weight. You better keep thinking what you want those years to look like". Yup, my Brian the last of the true romantics lol. He speaks the truth though. That being said, it is pretty freeing to sing "House of the Rising Sun" in bed at 11:00 PM on a work night floating on wine at 51 :)
Happy New Year everyone. As I have said before, stay warm, get some sleep and eat well. Spring will come. We are looking forward to heading up North again when it does.
Much love to you both. Sounds like you're both taking proactive steps.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lynn.
ReplyDelete