My last blog post here on WA was almost 4 months ago -- at that time I was home recovering from treatment of a brain bleed from an aneurysm and I was optimistically seeing myself getting back to posting on my website and getting back in the saddle. Well, I did not accomplish what I thought I would! So this post is hopefully the start of my return to action!

Yes, back in November when I wrote my last blog I was feeling much better. But I quickly discovered that how I felt did not encompass some other things needed to get back on track -- my fine motor skills did not quite allow me to type very quickly or accurately; my attention span was really bad; and I was still tiring much more easily than I thought I was! Combine those items, and it was very difficult to get motivated to do too much.

This week, I had to return to the hospital 3 hours away to have a cerebral angiogram performed. I was really dreading this procedure because I feared that for some reason I would find myself once again dealing with the weakness on the left side and the double vision that I faced once they had coiled the aneurysm. As we checked into the surgical center, one of the nurses expressed her astonishment -- she had read over my file before I arrived and was very excited about how well I was getting around based on what she had read (this was the first time that anyone from that facility had seen me since my departure from the hospital on November 2).

As I waited for the procedure to start, I reflected on her excitement. Yes, I knew that I had made progress since I had returned home but I realized that I had not had any medical professionals cheering me on or telling me that I was doing a great job (because I do not have medical insurance, I did not complete any physical or occupational therapy with any facilities -- simply focused on the exercises that they sent with me when I was discharged). Therefore, I was the one tracking my progress and somewhere along the way I had started taking my progress for granted!

I am very happy to report that as of Wednesday's angiogram, my aneurysm is gone and I no longer have to take the blood thinner medication that I have been on for 4 months! And I am pretty sure that I am back here at WA --not that I ever actually left, just kind of took a hiatus! I have still been reading the blogs of others and trying to keep up with things in the community, but it is definitely time to get busy on my niche website and start planning for another idea that has been floating around in my head since I got sick. A big "Thank You" to everyone who has supported me along the way -- especially a couple of people who jumped in voluntarily and left me feedback on my site when I had not even requested it!

Hang in there, everyone -- with the right attitude and mindset, you can do whatever you set your mind to! That is probably one of the most important lessons I have learned in life and I am ready to buckle down and apply it here!