Great Parking Spot!

I received the handicap sticker for my car this week. This was strange, it was another stark example of how my life has changed and this isn't just a bad cold I'm recovering from. I get asked many times a day how I'm doing. I feel blessed I have so many people that care about me (or else they are just being polite because what else do you say to the gimpy one coming towards you with the walker?) I feel as though I'm disappointing some, I should be progressing right? I keep hearing that I'm looking better. (again, this could be a phrase that people use because they don't know what else to say to the gimpy one, but I'm just going to go ahead and believe it anyway!) so how can I say there is no change? Am I not trying hard enough?

What I have learned this week is I need to measure progress differently. Yes I know we can make the charts delivering bad news look good if we make it pretty enough, but hopefully I'm not saying that! My body did not progress this week, physically. But I gained confidence in my abilities and limitations. I learned that if I drum for part of a class on Saturday, no matter how much fun it is, I will not be able to move the rest of the weekend. I was reading up on a GBS site and did not know that a particularly frustrating consequence of GBS is long-term recurrences of fatigue and/or exhaustion as well as abnormal sensations including pain and muscle aches. These can be aggravated by ‘normal’ activity and can be alleviated by pacing activity and rest. Well we all know how well that's going to go over with me! I also found out I can walk about a half a block without my walker! I really wanted to know how far I could go without depending on it. From this exercise I learned I better figure out a plan for when I turn around and need to get back to the house, but this is part of learning my limitations and something I won't be doing again for awhile :-)

The biggest lesson this week has been I have many friends that want to help me, but I have to be willing to ask for help. I suck at that. So thank you to all of you who just stop over with a little left-over soup, a visit, a comfy chair (no kidding!), a book, and a ride. Bonus! I can get us a great parking spot with my shiny new handicap sticker!