Day +171, Friday

I’ve got about 5 minutes before I fall asleep, so this will be brief. Today’s late arrival for labs – by 5 minutes or so – broke my on-time for appointments streak. But for the week, I was on time or early 3 out of 4 times, technically 75% (technically passing)…What can I say? It’s an improvement from last week and the past in general, so I’ll call it a win. Lab draw at 9:15 gave me time to spare for the 10:00 Hard Exercise Works class.

Class was hard, I did not move fast, and I pushed myself by selecting 55 pounds for my Cleans (a type of movement). In practice, that weight didn’t feel bad at all. In real life, well it was at the upper end of my comfort zone. This meant that the 15 reps per round were broken down into sets of 5, then 4 and later when my fatigue really built, 2. My 400 meter run was more a shuffle as well; but I was proud of myself and it didn’t matter that I was the slowest in the class – I was just there and I was doing it! After my workout, I returned for my 11:30 IV fluids infusion, which was necessary given my Creatinine level of 1.26. Balance, I reminded myself…balance.

I’m not sure what it was…either the heated chairs in the infusion room, or having just finished a trying workout, or experiencing a comfortably full tummy (likely all 3!) but for the first time ever, I fell asleep while getting fluids. It was wonderful! And it made time pass quickly; before I knew it, the IV pole next to me was beeping and one of the oncology nurses was removing the thin plastic infusion needle from my vein.

Then it was off to the Western NC Nature Center where I got to see my friend Jenni, who is in town along with her daughter and another family! WOOT!! Jenni is, as Andy would say, “good people” – I’ve missed her so much since they moved out of the state last summer. I was SO happy to give her a hug – I’ve missed her! And I was this close to asking Lilly, her daughter, to do a burpee for me….but doing so on a barn floor just seemed wrong. Plus, Lilly had assumed the identity of “Little Captain Marvel”, and I wasn’t about to dissuade her. We ended up walking and catching up, letting the kids run around and I also met Jenni’s friend, Kelly, and her kids. It was wonderful to be outside, learning about (and seeing) animals native to Western North Carolina and just being around good people. For a while there, I didn’t think about my transplant or anything medically related…what a gift!

My drive home was uneventful and I didn’t curse traffic all that much, I had a solid session with my therapist (again, one of the best ways I can invest in myself) and happily sold an old couch I listed earlier in the week on FB Marketplace! It was nice chatting with the buyers – I hope they enjoy their couch! We ended up doing breakfast for dinner – pancakes, YUM – and watching a few episodes of HOUSE afterwards. Life is good, and I feel incredibly grateful.

And now, time for bed! Andy’s asleep next to me, occasionally making adorable breathing noises, and we’ve got 3 kitties on the couch with us – WheezyBear being the only holdout and upstairs. I think it’s time we head up there, ourselves. Have a wonderful weekend!