So much to be grateful for…
Yesterday Stuart and I were talking and I told him I was grateful for many things this year. He looked at me a but stunned. Yes, it’s been a rough year.
- I was diagnosed with Idiopathic Intercranial Hypertension, this knocked me off my feet for a while, and I got a bit depressed over it…but I’m so very grateful that the medication works!
- I’m still having severe vertigo attacks….but I’ve only had 3 or 4 this year…That’s amazing, and something to be grateful for!
- I have migraines, and migraine associated vertigo – I’m grateful I have a super doctor now who specializes in headaches. I’m also grateful that the vertigo I have with migraines, is not as severe as the Meniere’s vertigo.
- I lost my dearest companion of 19 years….I still miss my Sandy so much every day – but I’m so grateful she did not suffer, and I’m grateful for all the wonderful memories I have of our lives together. “Everybody Loved Sandy”
- I’m grateful my father pulled through a near death experience, and my sister was there to help him.
- I had a very hard time after someone wrote me a note that simply shook my world, and not in a good way. I’m grateful (thanks to studying Buddhism) I can breathe in that hate, and breathe out happiness and love toward others. I’m also grateful that I do not have to send a reply. It’s a rough thing to accept, but some people will not like me, may even hate me, but as long as I still like me, I’m ok.
- I lost my hearing in my left ear as of July last year (2011), and have greatly reduced hearing in my right ear. I’m very grateful for modern technology, with my cochlear implant (received July of this year) and hearing aid I can hear. I may not be able to hear as well, but with the help of technology I am not deaf all the time. I’m so very grateful for this!
- (**a TMI note) I was diagnosed with vulvar vulvodynia, a painful condition of the vulvar region. I’m so grateful that my doctor gave me topical Lidocaine, now my husband and I can have relations with much less pain. (thank goodness there are times my head stops spinning long enough to try this.) : )
- I’m grateful we were able to come to Tucson for the winter. The trip out was not as hard as I expected….Thank Goodness. The time we’ve been here so far has been rough, but I have faith I will feel better and better. I’m so grateful for the beautiful weather we’ve had so far.
- With every challenge I’ve been through this year….and I haven’t mentioned them all….I’m so grateful my husband has been right beside me, holding my hand, being the best advocate for me (he has to make many calls for me since I can’t hear on the phone, he’s a wonder at making doctors understand), he loves me, and thinks I’m so very special. I tear up just thinking about how very lucky I am to have married this wonderful man. (I am most grateful for my husband and our relationship.)
Every time I look at this photo I can feel the love pour over me.
I’m so very grateful for the love my husband shows me. (photo by Jenn Dorff)
- And last but not least, I’m grateful for my friends. Especially the special people I’ve met through this blog and others. It makes me sad that others have to go through chronic illnesses with pain and suffering, but I’m grateful we can share our experiences with each other and know we are not alone.
There are many other things I could list that I’m grateful for but this post would be very long indeed. This post has made my lightened my heart and helped with things I was coming more and more depressed about, I believe I should take the time to notice the things I’m grateful for much more often.
If you are in the US, may you have a safe and joyous Thanksgiving. (remember, take care of yourself first.) I was not able to partake in the family festivities today, a migraine and unsteadiness simply would not allow it. (especially with all the noise, I admit I was afraid, this would have been the first get together since I got my CI, it’s scary going into a situation with a lot of noise when you can’t hear like you used to.)
May we all remember to take time to think about the things for which we are grateful.
Picnic with Ants 
I am so grateful for you my friend. You are such an inspiration with the perseverance you have to find answers and be willing to try new things. I’m not sure how much you realize how much your sharing helps others. I say you sure help me 🙂 Love ya
LikeLike
I love you Lisa! I’m so looking forward to seeing more of you when I return to NC. and thank you for the comment….sometimes you just need to hear things like that. hugs w
LikeLike
Happy Thanksgiving my friend. I am grateful for finding and getting to know you too.
(Love your Buddha. I know I still have to answer your email. I’ve been a bad, bad girl in that regards. 😉 )
LikeLike
Maureen, I lost track of who owed who an email. Never worry about that. Besides, you are doing a post a day this month. Whew! I need to catch up on reading them.
w
LikeLike
Wendy, Your colorful, joyful Buddha is the outward expression of your own special soul.
They are beautiful.
LikeLike
What a beautiful post! It has been such an eventful year for you. You really do have your soulmate in your life. Love and hugs, Rita
LikeLike
Wendy, Lovely post! You know how I feel about your illness and the problems you are up against. Some of your episodes are just horrifying, and I don’t know how you get through them. But you do with Stuart because he is quite a guy!
I had an on-line bully who kept it up for about a month. It was so upsetting and I didn’t know what to do, or how to stop it. Scary. We’ll have to talk someday about it. My Buddhism forgiveness has not kicked in yet. She really was mean and vicious to me. I’m glad you were able to get through it. (That is the biggest reason I have not been really active on my blog and with posting comments…..which I always did before. She made the internet a scary place for me)
Feel as well as you can Girlie…………..mo
LikeLike
Mo, Oh my dear, I hate you have had to go through that. I only had the one vicious comment, but I know the person, so it cut deep.
I had a web stalker at one point. We started being emailing buddies, and soon she was finding me all over the web, where ever I had been. I tried to be nice and explain that I wasn’t comfortable with that, but I had to block her from Facebook, and my blog….then I got a card from her in the mail!! She found my address on line through one of those search sites that will find the people you are looking for. So she knew where I lived, and everything. She scared me, and she just couldn’t understand how she had crossed the line. Luckily she lost interest in me…finally.
i’ve missed you. I will admit, the nasty comment I got slowed my posting down a lot. But I really shouldn’t talk about it on here.
hugs to you my dear, and may we only have friends get in touch with us from now on! w
LikeLike
LOVE your buddha Wendy, he is beautiful!! Wonderful post – there is always so much to be grateful for, even in our darkest moments. Wishing you health and hapiness down there in the warmth and sunshine!! : )
LikeLike
Sorry I haven’t been stopping by! I’ve put the wordpress blogs on weekly digest, and haven’t been keeping up the weekly list of posts I get.
What a wonderful thankful list; to find things to be thankful for when dealing with chronic illness can be hard.
Wishing you all the best
LikeLike
no…sorry I haven’t been stopping by. How did you put the email posts on a weekly reminder. I did it to one and can’t remember how I did it. I’m taking so much time going through my Inbox of email each day I’m not getting anywhere else. Thinking of you…often, even if I haven’t been showing it.
LikeLike
My computer has been touchy, and blogs seem to be one of the places it doesn’t want to go (freezes up — have done the usual diagnostics but everything comes back “okay.” I blame (as usual) Vista as an operating system.
I’ll see if I can find where I put blogs on digest (only a month late with this!), and let you know.
I’ll have to try and do a grateful list; right now grateful is definately not how I feel.
LikeLike