Good Monday evening, September 10, 2018 @ 21:30:15. I have not been writing for a few days because I was so exhausted that I realized the dive was more important. Quoting the flyer Dad in Independence Day….”Hello Boys…..I’m baaaaack!”
I am enjoying my dives more and more. My left ear is adjusting well to the pressure. I yawn often during the dive and especially open my mouth in deep yawns with the chamber is inflating and deflating. I am really liking the effects I already notice with the auxiliary oxygen. I bruise easily because the walls and chairs and table and doors seem to find my arms as I walk past them. Those boogers! I am sure its my gait. Okay, it is! Anyway, I am three weeks in and my arms are nearly the color they should be. I’m hoping for the wrinkles to fade and the few grey hairs to get color back in them. But that’s vanity isn’t it? Why not! I will take all of the good benefits that I will experience because of my mHBOT chamber. My headaches have been cyclic recently. I notice moments when I do not have head pain. YAHOO! My eyes are quite blurry but this morning I realized that they were nice and clear when I first went outside but in less than fifteen minutes the blurriness returned. I got so tired this afternoon it was impossible to keep my eyes open. I slept for two hours. YES!. I am enjoying my essential oils and use them often to combat the headaches, muscle tightness and joint pail I live with every day. I am most of all enjoying sleep again. I realize that I have been dreaming more too. I am sure that it’s a good sign. Mom is still with us and we have been having a good time just being with one another. We play a card game nearly every day and I have been doing pretty good at keeping focused. Its called Three Thirteen. I can not find my dice or we would be playing Chicken too.
I chose the theme Rituals today because I overheard a person saying that they “hated rituals” and it really stung my heart. So, this girl who has to know everything looked up its definition: Ritual–a religious or solemn ceremony, or a common activity done repeatedly or routinely that follows a certain set of rules or tradition customs. That sounded accurate! Synonyms include an attitude, codes, established ways, etiquette, formalities, manners, morals, policies, practices, principles. protocol, rites, routines, rules, social conduct, standards, and way of life. Antonyms are difference, neglect, disagreement and discord. O my!
I have been thinking about why that person was so objectionable. It’s because of a set-in-stone mindset that is different and is in opposition to another person’s practices and principles. We see this in every realm of life. In school, it’s the playground bully who picks on the compliant schoolmate. In politics, its one party’s agenda over another. In religion, its one denominational practice degraded by another one’s belief system. In marriage, its conduct in discord. WOW!
Rituals: I have chosen to change-up my way of life and do these dives every night before going to bed. It is a new ritual for me. I need these dives to assist me in healing from the TBI and all of the continuing effects associated with the injury. Here’s a list of symptoms I continue to have that effect me to some degree every day: balance problems, blurred vision, cognitive decline or changes, cognitive function problems. compulsive behavior, confusion, difficulty following instruction, difficulty integrating information, difficulty learning new things, difficulty performing familiar tasks, difficulty with concentration, disorganization, disorientation to time or place, distractibility, double vision, severe fatigue, flashbacks of the trauma, frequent headaches, frequent dizziness, gastrointestinal problems, general anxiety, grief, hallucinations, hot flashes, impulse control problems, insomnia, irritability, losing things, loss of appetite, loss of interest in things or people, low frustration tolerance, making careless mistakes, mood swings, muscle pain, muscle spasms, nausea, nightmares, panic attacks, performance anxiety, problems paying attention, problems with abstract thinking, problems with language/word finding, racing thoughts, ringing in both ears, sensitivity to light, sensitivity to sound, sensitivity to touch, short-term memory problems, social anxiety, worry. These are constant with TBI and PTSD.
Rituals are in every area of my life. I brush my teeth in the morning after I wake up. I drink a cup of coffee with whole milk every morning, I watch a news program every weekday morning when I am here at home and not at an appointment or out with D for breakfast. I take our dogs outdoors every few hours daily for them to romp and me to get some sunshine. I take my prescriptive medications in a certain order throughout the day. I play Sudoku daily to wake up my sleepy mind. I tend to my garden every day. I tidy up the house and do the laundry and wash the windows and dishes every day — realistically. Life needs order so the chaos does not overwhelm and overtake me.
Rituals: I have a very important ritual that I practice daily. I developed it as a small child. I continue to make it a way of my life and I pleasingly applaud anyone else who agrees with this daily activity……I say “I Love You” often to my husband, my children, my grandchildren, my Mom, my brothers, my friends and myself. It is my pleasure to express the LOVE I have in words and deeds and also in my prayers.
My dive is ending now. D just came in the room and turned off the air compressors and opened the valve. I am yawning big. All is good.
God Is Good All Of The Time….And All Of The Time God Is Good!
Happy New 5779 to you. Its Rosh Hashanah!
Sending my very best to all of my family and friends tomorrow. The day we remember as 911.
I pray Psalm 91 over you today
1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.[a]
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
3 Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.
9 If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14 “Because he[b] loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”
I am sending you an “I Love You” tonight. Know that it is a joy to express myself in this way to you. It is who I am. It is what I do. It is my daily way of life. I intend on living fully in the rituals of life!
Suz
Suzanne's LiveWell Blog 