This Is My Story

Good Wednesday Evening, August 29, 2018 @ 20:46:10. It’s a perfect time to take today’s dive. I don’t want to sound like a broken record but it is true that I am getting used to this new routine. The pressure gauge is at 1.3 and the O2 is engaged. I am cool with the towel around my head and the cool vest on too. I am thinking about locating a circulating fan that I can put down at the floor to move more of the air around me. I took another antihistamine before I came in. My left ear is still sensitive but the descent was hardly noticeable. It’s interesting how the inflation of the chamber is actually a descent and the deflation of the chamber is an ascent especially when I live at an elevation of over 6000 ft above sea level! Trivial but interesting.

I mentioned a week ago that the song Blessed Assurance is the theme of this chapter of my life. The writer was blind and she wrote over 8000 hymns, multiple poems and two books. Another hymn that she wrote is To God Be The Glory. I, Suzanne, am assured that God Is and He Is My Story.

I am a bit congested. I need to remember to bring some kleenex in here. Maybe that’s what the hook on the wall of the chamber is for….stuff.

In a few days it will be Labor Day Weekend. I have a large number of seedlings that I hope to plant in containers to wait out the fall and winter temperatures. They should be very hardy to plant in the spring. D has purchased most of the items I need to create an elevated garden. We have eight truck tires that will be stacked to accommodate potatoes. We have multiple 12′ pots for some of the plants. We have three very large round planters that will have the strawberries, the lemon grass, the peppermint and spearmint and the basil and chives that I am preparing for next spring to continue to flourish. We also have two six-foot sheep troughs and eight cinder blocks and four ten foot poles to create the larger plots I will plant next years crops in. We are going to store everything inside of the large plot that was already here when we moved in. We will need to clear it of all weeds and aspen tree babies and lay some ground cover and then put something down so I can walk around it comfortably.

I have been in the chamber for about 40 minutes. The time goes by fairly quickly. It’s really good to have a full battery on my phone and on my computer when I come in here. What a great idea! I also decided to bring a cold glass of ice water in here. I love water and drink it all day. But last night I noticed that biting/chewing on the ice was good for the ascent with this sensitive ear. I am sure also that as I get more accustomed to daily dives that my ears will react positively as well.

D asked me today if my headaches were declining. I did my best to explain what I am experiencing. The constant intensity is not as evident but I continue to have a numb feeling across my forehead and temples with focal pain in my eyes and across the back of my head. Laying flat usually is when I get more painful headaches or when I am suddenly faced with really bright light or a suddenly loud sound. So, I suppose that I am noticing a difference but not really a decline in headache pain.

The dizziness is still not good. For the past few days my eyesight is bad whether I am wearing glasses or not. I did notice that putting my reading glasses on helps when I am working a crossword puzzle or reading my bible or a book. I also do not like the mental dullness I experience. Its pretty much all of the time now. Simple things are now more complex but yet in a different way from the first year following my fall at work when nothing made sense. Now, I deliberately look into whatever is not right and try to resolve it. I was vacuuming the living room today and had trouble trying to remove the dirt collected. It was puzzling to me. I did master it but I looked at what I was doing and shook my head at myself until I got it right.

Ten more minutes and this dive will be over. WOW! Pretty good! 12 dives @ 90 minutes each. 18 total hours already! Now, that’s an accomplishment I can cheer about! Good going Suz. Thank You LORD for providing the income, the space, and the incentive to do this very good thing for me.

Have I mentioned that in mid-October, I will be going to my Dr.’s clinic for further advanced treatments that will include stem cell, protein rich plasma, cranial manipulation, and hard shell hyperbaric? Yes, I will. Keep praying for me and believing that the very best that God has for me is right around the corner. I truly need the support of those who love me. The road I have chosen to journey is less traveled so it has its unknowns. I came face to face with the demon that has tried to take me down and I am advancing daily in the direction I believe that God has chosen for me. I won’t give in. I won’t give up. I will put my RAMBA gear on and kick that demon right in the belly. Your support and encouragement and constant intercession for me is what I need to stand and keep on standing against all odds. I need this. I need my God. I need D. I need our family. I need my friends. I need me too!

This Is My Story!

Suz