Thankful

We are officially two weeks post surgery! The second week has been going better than the first, which was hard for me to imagine. My family and I are officially back in our home in Hilliard. We cannot thank our families, specifically Katy’s parents, enough for letting us live with them as we went through the most trying times of recovery. Having extra hands around to help with Avery, and myself, was above and beyond what we could have asked of anyone. It truly is appreciated.

As some of you have been seeing, I’ve been posting more on my Instagram stories about the different daily tasks I’m accomplishing to continue on the path of accomplishing my goals. I’ve also had many people reach out to me with their goals as well and that has been extremely encouraging! Each day I work towards being the best version of myself that I can be. I’ve been enjoying time with Katy and Avery. I’ve been fascinated by “Thinking, Fast and Slow”. It’s a denser book than I was planning on but provided many insights into how humans think. I’ve worked my way up to walking a full mile at a time and have even by adding another walk later in the morning with Katy and Avery! The doctors said not to lift anything over 10 lbs. so I’ve been doing very light upper body workouts with a 10 lbs. dumbbell and an exercise band. My atrophied muscles probably couldn’t handle much more even if I tried but it’s nice to see some progress there as well. Eating, I’m happy to report, is going extremely well. My appetite is actually very high and has made trying new things and staying consistent that much easier. I’m up to 165 lbs! Day by day I’m becoming more accustomed to life with my bag. It has its bad days and it’s good days. Sleeping is the biggest adjustment. I used to by a stomach sleeper and now I am exclusively sleeping on my back. Overall, week 2 has been better than week 1 and I’m looking forward to the growth that week 3 brings.

Each day that I wake up, and don’t have to run the to the bathroom or have agonizing stomach pain is a blessing. As weird as it has been adjusting to the bag, I’ll always be grateful for it compared to the alternative. One thing almost everyone has brought up is how awful the timing of all of this has seemed. And for awhile I agreed with them. But then I was reminded of and reread this passage from Jeremiah, “For I know the plans I have for you” — this is the Lord’s declaration — “plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah‬ ‭29:11‬ ‭CSB‬‬). And I read it again. And I thought about what these past 7 months have been. It is very easy for me to say what has happened to me has been a disaster. But that’s not fair, or true. I’ve had a renewed sense of hope because of this. My relationships have been deepened and strengthened. My body itself, even though it’s weak now, has been given new life. It took going to a really dark and painful place for me to realize just how fortunate I’ve been in this life so far and how much more fortunate I am to be able to keep going. I needed to learn lessons. Pain is a powerful teacher. So much of my life I’ve placed my value in my body and physical abilities. It has taken away a lot relationships and skewed my view of what is important. I wasn’t in a place where I could see this without needing to go through something like this. So that is why I’m thankful this week. Very very thankful. For friends, family, and ultimately Gods plans and timing. We have had many answered prayers and blessings, and we can hope and expect many more in the future!

With Love,

Andy