Recovery

 As I was out on a small hike today I got the urge to pen a blog entry. I was going to write something on paper when I got back to where I was staying but decided to leave it till I got home and write directly online. 

So a couple of weeks ago I ended up with the doctor rather suddenly on a Thursday evening. This resulted in her signing me off work for just over a week. I had to return to her the next morning for bloods etc. She wasn't entirely sure what we were dealing with but treatment wise she went in very hard, there was a couple of possibilities that she needed to get in quick with treatment, waiting for results could have cost me. So she sent me off the Friday morning on three different tablets. Thankfully two of the tablets were once of meds and the third one didn't have any side effects. She kept an eye on me over the next few days and on the Monday evening she told me she wanted to see me by the end of the week to examine the area again. I went to her the Thursday morning, left on two antibiotics for two weeks, again she was going for the hard and fast approach as a precaution. From the results that were back an infection had been identified. Due to the symptoms I was presenting she suspected another problem also that needed to be treated in order to prevent lasting effects. She also extended the course of the other medication she had put me on. When I picked up my prescription I got a fright when I saw the amount I was on, something that got scarier when I thought of what I was already on for my asthma. So I made a call and she reassured me of the whys. 

I have had a hard couple of weeks, physically and emotionally. When I went to the doctor on the Thursday evening I certainly was not expecting this. Signing me off work was originally just for the Friday but then she extended it to all of the next week. She was treating the problem but I needed time to recuperate, physically and mentally, this certainly was a shock to the system. Physically I needed to be put on very strong painkillers the pain was that bad. And they worked. The pain started to settle on the Tuesday but lingered a couple more days. 

I was in the process of changing jobs. It saddened me that I was signed off for what was meant to be my last week in my former job, I didn't get to say goodbye to people, but I knew that I needed to look after my health. I did very little during that week, I wasn't able to. I did do some training for the new job, with it taking place via zoom I didn't have the stress of traveling. Boy George was I tired after though. The next week I still stayed fairly quiet as the energy wasn't great. I decided to head down to Glendalough towards the end of the week for a few days to try to aid my recovery, fresh air, and all that. 

When I am in Glendalough I usually do a good bit of walking. This visit was different. While I did get out every day I wasn't doing the distances or the heights that I have come used to doing. I had a bit of a climb today and I thought it was going to kill me. The thing is I wouldn't class that as a big height! It was pointed out to me after that I am on antibiotics, I cannot expect to be able to go at 100%. No wonder I was wrecked when I got back from my flat walk Friday. 

It was great to have the opportunity to get out into nature, to look at a different four walls than I had been stuck looking at for the previous two weeks. As I walked today I thought to myself, this is certainly helping my recovery, the space, the nature, the clean air, prayer, writting, no pressure. For me, this is the best way to recover, to be in a place surrounded by trees, water to sit by. Okay, maybe I didn't get to reach any mountain peaks but the body just needed to rest, digest and recover. I am so grateful to have such beauty around me, especially at times like this.