valentine

I've found that I can pretty much no longer watch news marathons about disastrous happenings as they set off feelings of anxiety and then I have a lot of trouble sleeping, have nightmares and a general feeling of gloom. I like to watch a little news in the morning but I try to stay away from anything more than the weather after that. Best wishes to you. It sounds like you're taking all the right steps to complete recovery.

paS2K

Thanks for the update John and glad that you're taking off the month to work on the PTSD.

We are planning to come to AZ in Feb 2014 for our "snowbird" escape....so I hope that we're able to get together again

paS2K

In a strange way, I'm glad that I am not the only one having trouble getting in/out of the S; it's deterioration of the hips in my case....pretty sure of that. I have discovered that getting into the S works well for me with this procedure: 1) open door wide; 2) sit down on the seat sideways; 3) first, bring the OUTBOARD leg over top of the other one (sounds counter-intuitive )....which serves to rotate my lower body into the driving position; 4) now my INBOARD leg is already half way "IN"....so I just pull it under the OUTBOARD leg and into driving position. I have always had flexible joints, so maybe this only works for me

PS: Getting into the Dodge Dart and the Prius is not a problem....since I'm sitting higher off the ground. I knew that people would be wondering about this...

RMurphy

John,

With all the positive thoughts of everyone here and your own obvious tenacity, I have faith you will overcome this. You are doing so well already.

On a lighter note, someone's comment earlier that "this too shall pass" seems like a wonderful bit for wall art in the bathroom.

boltonblue

yep right outside the endoscopy lab.

silvershadow

Another update:

I have added acupuncture to my regimen and have had two treatments. I am also about two and a half weeks into my month of medical leave and it has done me a lot of good.

One of the minor miracles that has surrounded my recovery - I have mentioned that I am quite wobbly. Well the strangest thing happened. We went to the movies on Froday night (Wolverine). I was my normal wobbly self going in, but when I stood up at the end of the movie, I was suddenly much more balanced and could walk straight (I still have my wobbly moments). I don't know what it was - perhaps the acupuncture treatments.

Emotionally, I am doing much better. I still have my moments, but I recognize them coming on and can prepare myself and redirect the conversation, or sometimes I just say "I can't talk about this right now - we need to change the subject".

My brother, who is a PhD psychologist, is moving to Tucson, and I helped him move on Sunday. We spent two hours together in the truck while moving furniture to Tucson, and of course, much of the conversation was about my trauma last fall. He has done lots of work with trauma patients, so we were discussing both the specifics of my trauma and the general aspects of patients that experience traumatic events (amputations, horrific auto accidents, etc). I made it through the whole two hours without falling apart. I certainly had my moments where I had to stop and take deep breaths to relax, but I didn't fall apart. Believ3e me that is a mojor step considering where I was in June.

I'm feeling that there is light at the end of the tunnel now. I sill have my days where I am under a black cloud, but they are getting further apart. I'm sure I won't fully recover physically or emotionally, but I now feel like I'm well on my way to getting back to a normal life. Hopefully, I won't regress too much when I go back to work in mid August.

I want to thank everyone for their support and good words. It means a lot to me.

valentine

Great!!!!! I hope the acupuncture continues to help. It is great that you understand the mechanics of trauma and its effects. imho that is a huge step toward emotional recovery. Often people do not know what is happening when they experience post traumatic stress and its accompanying panic, anxiety, etc. Understanding the cause is of uber importance and understanding that it is a normal reaction to an abnormal situation makes a big difference. I often think of you and wonder how you are doing. Thanks so much for the update. If going back to work brings you problems and setbacks, perhaps you can extend your leave. I hope that instead it helps you along.

Lainey

Good to hear of your progress, John. Keep it up!

MsPerky

This is an encouraging report.

dlq04

Good to hear.