The year ahead

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Today, I was asked a simple question: "What do you have planned this week?"

As I ticked through a short list of menial tasks, I started thinking even farther ahead. It was then I realized something monumental. I started to cry.

For the first time in a year and a half, I have very little to plan in terms of my hips. No research to pore over. No phone calls to doctors. No packing for hospital visits and extended leaves from home and work. No diet changes to accommodate blood donations and blood loss. No special appointments. No trips to buy post-surgery items and mobility aids. No surgeries.

When I start adding up all the time I've spent either planning for or recovering from my PAOs, I understand just how much I've been consumed by them. The thought of the year ahead without the majority of my time and mental capacity being used on hips is hard to believe.

And so unbelievable freeing. My thoughts are boundless, as are the possibilities for 2009.

Comments

Kris, in New England said…
Monumental is right - congrats on reaching such an amazing milestone. At some point in 2009, I hope to have that same realization - after 20 years of pain, 4 years of wondering what to do - that hip pain will no longer define my life.

It's the ultimate end-goal.
January 06, 2009
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