Anyone still there?

I’m not sure I’ve got any sort of readership left, since my posting has been so erratic the last few months.

February’s been big.

Let’s start off with the best news. I had a scan on February 7th, and the results were good. Everything’s still stable! That means I’ve been stable for six months now, and can continue on the same maintenance treatment I’ve been on for the last two years, since its still working.

Next best news.  I turned 30 this month!!! Big deal, since there was a time when we weren’t sure I’d ever get here. It’s nice to see a milestone birthday come and go. I got to spend some incredible time with my husband, family and friends. It’s been a pretty blessed celebration.

Third best news. We got a new car, outfitted it with hand controls, and I’m driving again!!!! I got my license last Thursday, and it’s already opened my world up again. The closest I’ve come to describing the independence that driving gives me back is that it almost feels like I can walk again. Just to have the option to go out my own front door into the big, wide world, without having to ask for help or assistance has already been so huge. Just let me know if you need help running an errand – I’ve got a lot to pay back from the last three years of constantly asking for help!

Catching Up

There’s been so much going on, and yet at the same time it’s been so ordinary, that I haven’t known what to write about.

So let’s catch up.

I went to Charleston, SC for a week in the beginning of January to visit one of my best friends. It’s a beautiful city, and we had a really wonderful time.  A week was definitely too short a time.

Then the snow hit, and Chris and I stayed in the apartment from Tuesday till Saturday. Without killing each other! It was actually really fun to be holed up for four days like that. Almost a mini-vacation, except Chris was working the whole time.

And we decided to buy a new car so that I can start driving again. We need a car that we can install hand controls in, which means we have to trade in our manual for an automatic. Preferably an automatic that I can load my wheelchair in and out of on my own. We spent five hours this past Sunday combing car lots and testing out dozens of vehicles and finally decided on a Mitsubishi Outlander. And yikes! We bit the bullet and bought it. Brought the car home last night. I have never thought of myself as an SUV driver, but I just couldn’t get the chair in and out of smaller vehicles.

Lastly, my 30th birthday is coming up this Sunday.  I made it to 30! This sounds horribly morbid, but now, if cancer gets me, at least I am in my 30s. There’s something so much more tragic about dying in your 20s.

I think I’m finally discovering a routine for my days. It’s taken months, but I’m getting there. I’m now walking once a week with my great uncle Fred. I’m meeting a friend once a week for breakfast. Another friend is going to start tutoring me in French. And I’ve started volunteering back at KEXP once a week (or once in a while) as well. All those little outings, combined with my regular doctor appointments, and the things that Chris and I do during the week, actually makes the time go by in a fun and productive way. I no longer feel like I’m just lying in bed all day every day watching the whole world pass me by.

We’ve got a few more steps with the car before I’ll be driving again. We have to get the hand controls system in, and then I have to train on it. But my license expires on my birthday this weekend, and the DMV won’t renew it because of my handicap, so I have to get a 60-day “driving permit” that will allow me to train and practice before I go in and re-test for my license with the hand controls. It’s really a gigantic pain that they won’t renew my license. I understand that they need a way to keep unsafe drivers off the road, but this feels so punitive. Eh. C’est la vie. Freedom and independence, here we come!