This personal recovery journal shares the challenges of two ongoing recovery journeys—my cancer recovery and the lasting effects of a lightning strike. Even simple tasks often left me worn out, but through Scripture, prayer, journaling, and gratitude, I was learning to be patient, trust God, and take each day one step at a time.
January 1
7:00 fair night only woke a couple times. Still have bad headache. Joe woke me at 7. I didn’t move. Still not feeling well. Few minutes later he asked if I was going to church. I shook my head no. Able to fall back to sleep after the family left. Slept until about 10:30.
Feel like I broke a sweat.
Forearms itching fiercely. Applied a lotion which made it itch more. Washed arms off. Applied colloidal silver. I guess I need to find an all-natural lotion I’m not allergic to.
Scripture: 2 Thessalonians 5:17; Genesis 4-7; Joshua 5:12
12:00 took morning vitamins and gerd rx. Morning exercises for arm. Have a bit of cording difficulty, but know that it’ll eventually work itself out as long as I keep up with the exercises. Suture sure under arm is very sensitive.
Working on cooking food items for lunch.
Wearing out quickly. Sharp pain in left side of chest and burning, tingling sensation at suture sight. Shoulders ache from exercises. Have bad headache.
Hudson came to borrow potatoes for lunch. Glad I could help. Need to get more potatoes. Want to get a bunch of collards to cook down and canned. Need to can a lot more this year.
Jordon fixed dinner – BBQ pulled pork. Quick and easy. Able to help a little with picking up the house.
Went to room to scripture journal for a bit. Joe decided to go to bed. Ugh. He said I could journal for a while.
Pm exercises. Having a bit of cording in left arm. Drainage is a bright yellow from wound.
Took PM vitamins and medicine. Choked on a vitamin C. It got stuck in my throat part way down. Had to drink a bunch of water to get it unstuck. Almost thought I was going to puke. Throat hurts. Guess it’s a bit swollen.
Listening to music.
I’m tired but awake. The hot flashes are driving me nuts.
Surgery Recovery
bcc151_your_operation_and_recovery_2022_web
January 2
7:55 fair night awake off and on hot then cold. Arms itching woke me a few times.
Song: How Firm A Foundation
Whole body stiff achy and throbbing. Bad headache. Think the pain med is cause. Still very tired.
Scripture: Psalm 90:12; Genesis 8-11; Romans 16:20
Both arms and hands are numbish, tingling, and have stinging needle pain. Burning sensation in underarm area. Moderate itching on forearms – wish I could figure out why.
Immunotherapy in Cancer Care
https://www.cancercenter.com/community/blog/2021/01/immunotherapy-cancer#Q2
Took nap and fell asleep until about 10:30am.
Not feeling up to par today. Attempted to balance checkbook. I’m off somewhere but cannot find it. Need to take a break. Laid on couch for couple hours.
Noticed when I need to use brain to concentrate for a while it gives me a headache and wears me out for a while.
Help put a few dishes away. Start load of clothes. Tried to put crock-pot away but ended up losing balance and falling. Caught myself on shelving in pantry twisted back in process. Joe called out to see if I needed help. I was so frustrated I couldn’t get anything out except “None ya business”. That’s against my personality so I thought Joe would come check on me right away. Nope took him few minutes to stir to check on me. Broke foot off the crock-pot. Ugh. Went and sat down till throbbing in back eased up.
Cooked grilled cheese and chicken patties for dinner. Wears me out. Need to rest more.
Able to get three sets of exercises in today. My arms are throbbing. Sill feeling a bit under the weather. Made comment to Joe that I’m not bouncing back as fast as last time. After a moment, he replies it hasn’t even been a week yet. Oh, it feels like it’s been longer.
We did manage to get Christmas tree taken down. The ornaments and lights are all in bags waiting for totes to put them in and away. Joe took tree to burn out to burn.
Journaling Scripture before bed. Hard to believe Dezirae goes back to school tomorrow. Our family also has a funeral to attend tomorrow. Didn’t realize that Joe was getting off early to attend. I’m secretly glad though.
Thankful for…
- At least getting tree down
- Able to do a few things though moving slowly
- Jordon brought me ice
Muscles cramping in arms. Headache finally eased again.
New Here?
If you’re just joining my journey, you can read how it all began — from the lightning strike to breast cancer and the faith lessons God carried me through along the way.
👉 Start at the beginning here:
Hello world! – Charitymaeprosper