Review of My One Little Word for 2019.....FOCUS!!

Welcome to Debbie-Dabble Blog!!

I am so happy you decided to stop by!!

In my last post over on my Christmas Blog, A Debbie-Dabble Christmas, I shared Part 1 of our trip to Country Folk Gifts.......

 Click HERE to see that post if you missed it.....

My One Little Word for 2019 was FOCUS......

 Click HERE to read my original Post about why I chose this word.......

It became very clear right in the beginning of the year that I was really going to need to FOCUS on just making it through the year.....

It was a year of health issues for me starting actually right after Christmas in 2018 when I got the Flu the day after Christmas.......

I was coughing my head off , had a fever of 101 to 102 and thought my head was going to blow off...

I was able to make it from the bed upstairs to the chair in the Living Room and that was about it....

Just when the flu seemed to be subsiding, I got hit with a wicked intestinal virus.....

I managed to pull myself together to celebrate our oldest son's Birthday on the 29th but it took a toll on me and I only got worse....

So much so that I had to cancel our New Year's Eve and New Year's Day dinners with our family of 5 which truly made me feel worse as I was so upset about letting my family down.....

Now like most nurses, I have to be really sick to seek treatment......

I spent New Year's Day in Urgent Care and received some medication that finally started to make me feel better but I was so weak it wasn't funny......

I had missed 2 weeks of work and when I went back to work I still was not feeling quite like myself but I had no choice....

 In November of 2018, the Rehabilitation unit that I had worked in for over 37 years, was abruptly closed and we were being either called off from work or floated out to other floors and even another hospital owned by the Health Care System that I worked for.....

It was an extremely stressful and toxic environment and it was causing my Blood Pressure to become elevated even though I was already taking several medications for it......

And to top it all off, the cortisone shot that I had at the end of December had worn off by the 3rd week of January....

I had been putting off my right knee replacement surgery for 6 years and had planned on having the surgery done in October of 2018.....

However, it was quickly becoming clear to me that I was not going to be able to hold the surgery off anymore as my knee was swollen to twice the size of the other one and could hardly walk......

On Feb, 21st, I worked the night before, went home to sleep for a bit and then had an appointment with my Orthopedic Surgeon for what I thought would be an aspiration of some fluid from my right knee.....

He was unable to remove any fluid and within the next hour, I was scheduled for knee replacement surgery with all my pre-surgical testing and a Joint Replacement Class and had a note for my surgeon that I was not able to work until I had the surgery.......

 My surgery could not be scheduled until the end of April as I had to wait 3 months after the cortisone shot because of the risk of infection if I had the surgery sooner....

So all of a sudden, I was no longer working after 41 years......

Now I am a firm Believer in Everything Happening for a Reason and with the closing of my unit and the way my co workers and I were being treated, my medical Leave of Absence could not have happened at a better time.....

 But my knee was so bad that I could barely walk......

I still managed to take down the Winter and Valentine's Day decorations that I had struggled to put up after Christmas.....

 I knew there was no way that I could possibly keep climbing up the attic stairs to get decorations down so I reluctantly stopped decorating for any Holidays or Seasons.....

I tried to do a few things around the house but mobility was a real issue for me so I decided that I needed to FOCUS on getting ready for my surgery......

I wasn't used to being unable to move around so that was hard for me.......

Finally the date of the surgery came and I had everything ready that I would need when I came home....

I had a walker, a shower chair and a cane already and I set up the Living Room for me needing to sleep there for the first few weeks after my surgery.......

I had the surgery at 3pm on Monday, April 29th and I was home by 3pm on Tuesday, April 30th......

  Okay, here I am looking like sad sack upon coming home from the hospital within 24 hours after my surgery....

I had my first outpatient Physical Therapy session on Thursday, May 2nd!!

 This was my Polar Care Ice machine that became my buddy for a few weeks.......

 It really kept the swelling down which made it easier for me to bend the knee and walk......

This was my Aquacel dressing that I had on until the week after surgery when the Dr. removed it.....

What I now needed to do was to FOCUS on my recovery and get back my mobility......

 I had the staples removed from my incision and had steri strips put over the incision....

 I was going to Physical Therapy twice a week and focusing on doing my exercises to increase the mobility of my knee joint....

They had me on the stationary bike the week after my surgery....

The knee was healing well.....

Time went by and I progressed from a walker to a cane, walking daily in front of my row of townhouses.....

 Here I am with my cane and my neighbor Lynn.......

I was now able to get back on my own stationary bike which helped immensely with the stiffness.....

It was now June and I realized that I needed to rethink how I was looking at My One Little Word for the year.........

Click  HERE  to read that post......

While I was off on Medical Leave, my co workers were resigning left and right and the working conditions at work became more toxic so I needed to make a decision......

 I was 6 months ahead of the date that I had originally planned for my retirement because of having to move up my surgery....

Did I want to go back to an extremely stressful working environment for a mere 6 months or should I  retire early........

Joe and I talked it over between ourselves and our financial advisor  and I decided to focus on ME and what would be the best thing for ME......

What also affected my decision was the passing of my 46 year old Nephew John......

He died from colon cancer in August after fighting so hard but it was a fight that he could not win....

 He left behind a wife and 3 daughters, age 10, 14 and 17......

His passing shook my family to the core......

It makes one think about their own mortality......

In the last 2 years of his life, my nephew lived life to the fullest by going on vacations, cruises, crossing things of his Bucket List and just spending as much time as he could with his family, creating wonderful memories that they will cherish for the rest of their lives...........

I am so happy to say that Joe and I were included among those he chose to spend time with and for that, I am forever grateful.....

Going to Hockey games......

 At our annual family Christmas party.....

 Visits to each other's houses and seeing Trans Siberian Orchestra together.....

I promised him that Joe and I would not forget Renae, his wife, and his daughters and that we would be there for them and I intend to keep that promise until my last day on this earth......

His passing, again brought to the forefront, the realization that Life is far too Short.....

After almost 42 years of employment with the same Health Care System, I got a really raw deal and was being kicked to the side.....

 You can read about it HERE......

So I mailed in my Letter of Resignation and August 18th became my last day of employment ......

August 19th, I officially started my Retirement......

Was I bitter about how I was treated at work?????

You bet I was.......

 But I was as thrilled as could be to done with it......

So I have decided to let it go and live my life to the fullest, a lesson well taught by my nephew John.......

There were other health scares and losses in my family during the year that because of privacy, I will not mention......

All of this, did take a toll on me both physically and mentally......

And this is pretty much how I felt.....

 I was taking one day at a time......

So pretty much for me, the majority of this year was spent battling health and mobility issues......

I spent 2 months sleeping downstairs on the sofa because I could not tolerate the linens from my bed on my knee and I could not lay on my side......

I lost a lot of my stamina and endurance because of the immobility and I did not start to feel "like myself" until around September......

And I gained weight too.....

UGH!!

2019 was just a terribly negative year and towards the end of it, I was FOCUSING on just getting through it until the beginning of the New Year.....

So today, this New Year's Eve, I look forward to a brand New Year ad a new decade.....

I am still adjusting to Retirement......

 As I started to feel "good" again after my surgery, I was able to do what I love and that was decorate my house for Holidays.....

I had a great time decorating for Fall and Halloween and jumped in to the Christmas Season with full gusto!!!

We had a great Holiday Season with lots of time spent with family and friends and I got to do a few things that I wanted to do at Christmas for years!!

I am looking forward to 2020 and I hope and pray it will be a good year for me and all of my family.....

And for everyone else because I know so many people that have had a truly rotten year filled with tragedy and loss...

I am sure you have heard the saying, " Carpe Diem"

Seize the Day!!!

Well, I plan to Seize this coming New Year!!

And this is where I will leave off.........

In a future post, I will share what my One Little Word is for 2020 and why I am looking at it more as a Theme for the year.....

I have Let Go of the Stress, Negativity and Drama of 2019........

I wish you and your families a Very Happy and Healthy New Year!!!!

 

I hope you will continue to visit me over on my Christmas Blog, A Debbie-Dabble Christmas. as I  still have some Christmas posts planned, featuring Country Folk Gifts, Part 2, which will feature the Display House.........

  And my dear friend Anne Marie's home decorated for Christmas!!

 So I hope you will stop by to visit again soon!!

Thanks to those who took the time out of their busy day to spend a little bit of time with me!!

If you do not have a blog, PLEASE  give me some way to reply to your comment, maybe by including your email in your comment.  If I can not find a way to reach you, I will reply on the post where you commented so please check back......

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