FINALLY AN UPDATE!

Hell Everyone!

Yes I'm still alive!! LOL

The last few months have been completely insane and after many emails wondering where I went, I'm back. Now I can't promise that I'll update my blog as much as I use to but my goal is going to be at least once a week!

HHHMMMM Where to start?!

I've now been back to work for almost three months. Things are still tough everyday but I've figured out a little system that works for me. Although my job does require alot of lifting, I try to do it in steps so it's not a complete shock to my body all at once. For example... I need to purchase supplies for the Photo Lab from the store steel every week. Normally you do one big pull for the week on Monday but I buy a little each day and it seems to work for me.

I get to the store around 8 each day and I go pull whatever it is I might need and then I push it up to the Lab on a flatbed and let it sit there for awhile. Then one of two things usually happen... I wait a few hours to let my body recover from the morning lifting and then unload it all and put it away or sometime when one of my staff get in, they'll unload it and put it away.

Then during the day I only have to lift the paper magazines in and out of the machine depending on what the member orders. Since business is slow this time of year, I only have to lift 20-30 times a day vs continuously. My girls do most of the other "heavy stuff" like my Debby BeBe takes care of filling all the chemical tanks and Natasha does alot of the heavy maintenance and cleaning. I am so fortunate to have such great friends that work for me!! Thanks Girls I couldn't do it without your help!!

Now on to school...

I actually love learning new stuff so I think it's alot of fun! I'm almost through with my second semester and only have four more to go plus my internship. I've been studying like crazy and am fortunately doing very well. I even pulled a 4.0 my first semester!! WoopWoop!! This semester my grades are just as good but back in December I missed a few classes because I was in so much pain so I'm not sure how that will affect my grade. I know attendance counts for like 25% of your grade in each class so I'm curious what my average will be when the semester ends next week.

Although it is alot of work, I know that in the long run it will pay off. I haven't decided though exactly when I will leave Costco. I know that my body can't continue to work there for another 30 years so I'm going to school so I will have a back up for when I'm medically forced out. It's a wait and see situation.

Now as far as my health goes...

Mentally I feel great! I try to keep a super friendly positive attitude everyday so that my body aches and pain don't wear on me. I'm just in so much pain everyday. Since my last blog post I've had numerous injections in my back and nothing has helped and things are hurting more and more. My Dr has finally said that he is pretty positive that I do have the Fibromyalgia like I thought I did plus I also have a condition called Myoplacia which is parlysis of the upper thigh muscles. All this means is that my thighs constantly feel numb and tingly. I have various sensations like this all over my body.

Unfortunately at this point he said there's not much he can do for me except treat me with prescriptions. I told me I can play around with my Lyrica, like try taking an extra in the middle of the day or two at night instead of one plus he also prescribe a different muscle relaxer because the last one did nothing for me. The new one actually helps me sleep better. He said I could take it during the day but since it makes me so sleepy at night I haven't dared! The next step he said we could try was Botoxing all my muscles. This sounded funny to me since I've only heard of it ever being used for wrinkles but apparently he said that it parylsis the muscle so they stop contracting and stop hurting. He said exspecially in my back that it may help with my limping problem.

I guess we'll wait and see! Well that's it for now but I promise I'll take the time to update this more often!!

WORK/SCHOOL UPDATE

Well it's been awhile since my last post so I thought I'd update everyone on my situation.

I'm back at work! It's been a week and so far I'm extremely sore and tired. I'm having a hard time adjusting to my restrictions. I use to run around like a chicken with it's head cut off but now I need to go slower, only lift certain things and sit at least 15 minutes every couple of hours. Costco keeps payroll real low, so I'm alone from 8-12 every day. It's impossible to sit during that time. I got a chair I dragged into the photo lab so I could sit there but customers keep coming to the counter, so it seems like every time I sit down, I just have to get right back up again.

Today was especially difficult. Our film processor was having some chemistry issues, so I asked for a technician to come in. Turns out it was our waste lines backing up into the machine because the girl that took over for me had it hooked up backwards. The waste lines are not the technician job, so that means that I was on the floor on my hands and knees draining chemistry for most of my day. By the time I took a break six hours had gone by. so you can imagine what my body feels like right now.

I left work at 5 and shot over to school. I'm currently sitting in my keyboarding class typing this. I'm way ahead of the rest of the class and have actually met all my requirements for the semester, so my teacher said I could use the time as a study hall. This really helps especially being limited on time now that I'm back at work!

THIS AND THAT

School is going very well so far. I've been out so long that it's defiantly taking some getting use to. I've been studying really hard so that I make sure to really comprehend everything.

I think my Medical Terminology class is the hardest so far. It's probably mostly due to the fact that we got off to a rocky start. I'm not sure what really happened but the rumor is that our teacher quit right before our class started so for the first three classes we didn't really have a teacher. The school tried to find substitutes but none really fit the bill.

The best was this woman came in to interview for a job and they threw her right into our class. She was very nice but her daytime job was a gym teacher for first graders and she couldn't even pronounce the words we were suppose to be learning. Needless to say she has never been back to teach our class. They finally settled on the same teacher we had for our coding class and I love her. She's very funny and easy to learn from and she doesn't mind the endless supply of questions we come up with!

My pain level isn't going as well as school is. I've been trying to make the most of it because I know it'll only get worse once I start work next week. Not only is my back and legs killing me (I don't think the hard chairs in school help any) but my neck is acting up even more, probably because I'm always bent over a book reading or studying. I just keep trying to make myself as comfortable as possible and work through the pain. I know I can do it!

On a sad note my brother-in-laws grandma passed away on Saturday morning. Poor Abeula :(

She was such a nice lady with a great spirit but has been very sick for a very long time. As sad as it is, I'm glad that she can now rest in God's peace and never have to suffer again. The wake is scheduled for this evening 5:30-10. I get out of school around 9:30 so I'm gonna try to make it before it's over. If I don't at least I'll be at the funeral tomorrow morning.

God Bless you Abeula, May you rest in peace :)

WORK & SCHOOL

I went and meet with Costco yesterday to see if they could work with my current restrictions and get me back to work. Everything went well and they accepted my restrictions and I start Nov 4Th. I get my old Photo Lab Manager job back. Although I am not thrilled about going back to work and am not sure if I'll be able to handle the body pain but I'm willing to try. If I didn't try to go back, then they said I would have no choice but to resign. I obviously need a job so I'm thankful for the chance to go back to my old position!

Now on to my secret... I went back to school 3 weeks ago. Like I said it wasn't earth shattering news but I needed to keep it kinda quiet until I discussed with my employer. I didn't want someone else to tell them before me. I was real nervous about how they would take it since it clearly states in handbook that they don't have to work around any one's school/2ND job schedule. I spoke with my manager and worked it out. There is a few compromises I need to make to work with them but at least they're working with me too.

So my life is about to get real crazy and I'm sure I won't have much time for anything else for the next 13 months but it'll all be worth it in the long run. I'm super excited about starting a new phase in my life!!