It's been a long three months!

I'm not sure where to start this blog except to let you all know I am still alive, barely for a while, but I pulled through and am now at home. To catch everyone up I'll fill in a few details. On Oct. 1 I had a multiple level spinal fusion at UAB which went well and the previous xrays are of a check up. In January, I got pneumonia out of the blue, with no symptoms and spent 11 days in the hospital. During that stay, they gave me an anti-biotic which I was allergic to and that caused a full cellular burn then my face peeled. When they gave me meds in my IV line, my heart and breathing stopped 3 times, scared everyone to death, but at least it didn't kill me. They were able to kill the pneumonia after the 5th and 6th anti-biotics worked, but it left me really sick and ill. I then learned, because they couldn't identifiy exactly which drug affected me in that way, I would have to go home and come off all my meds, including morphiene, on my own, cold turkey. Let's just say that was a lot of fun, I'm glad I had 35 pounds to lose, which I did, and I am just now, in mid February, able to eat solid food without getting sick. I lost so much muscle mass in my legs that my leg with my knee transplant won't support my weight so I am in a locking ACL brace for 6 months or until my quads are the same as my left leg. Now, for those of you who know me and have been around any of my first 19 surgeries, you know I bounce back rather quickly and am quite resilient. Well, number 20 almost did me in, mentally, physically, emotionally, I almost threw in the towel. Luckily, with the support of Bill and my family, and a great therapist who is helping me stay sane through it all I am ok, thrilled to be alive, and trying to give my body time to heal and gain strength. I am also thankful that my spine surgery was not affected from the infections, so the healing process is still going forward, with no paralysis, YEAH! I did have to pull out of the gallery, I am still unable to paint, and am just now able to sit and type for a few minutes at a time without giving out, so I have missed you all, missed writing my posts, and most of all miss, still miss, living a productive life, but I know that will all come back in time because I am right were God wants me to be and all is well. I am now on Facebook, which I swore I would never do, but am glad I did because I am able to catch up with a lot of old college friends who I have missed dearly. I can't or haven't been able to understand why the events of the past few months took place, why they are still unexplainable by four of the top doctors in Mobile, but I'm just trusting that God's hand was in it and it led me here, which is a much better place than I have been in many years, so I am thankful for the journey, no matter how painful.