Panic and a Speech

My heart stopped. I opened an email of blood test results from my university hospital Wednesday around 5:00PM to find that a test for Hepatitis A was positive. My heart sank. Hep A?!?! I quickly Googled it, was worried that I may have passed it along to Michael and my mom and maybe others. It was horrifying. We were stunned.

I quickly sent an email to the liver doctor asking how I could have suddenly gotten this as I had been vaccinated? It was a long night. After running errands yesterday morning, talking with the pulmonary rehab group and while checking my iPhone while having a pedicure, I finally read his reply. He said not to worry as it means I am immune from getting Hep A due to the vaccine, which would show up as a positive in the test.

Hugh sigh of relief. I wish I would have been warned!

The short speech to a small group of newly diagnosed lung patients was to encourage hard, consistent exercise for a better quality of life and maybe even extend it a bit. It was more of a chat rather than a formal speech. I got my points in: How my life was before pulmonary rehab compared to after 7 years of hard exercise six days a week. They got it. They were stunned how I looked and that alone made believers of a few of them. I was not there with supplemental oxygen. I was up and dressed and full of energy. I was educated about my disease. The head of the program, Louise, told me that the feedback was very positive and they said I was very inspirational.

Inspirational. That is the word that Michael uses to tease me. You can only image how! So when hearing that word, I always giggle or cringe. I just want to live my life in a forward moving, positive manner with a fatal chronic disease rolled in!

What do I think is inspirational? Early this morning, I am going for a walk along the coastal trail with Natalie while Winnie and Oliver are in school. She spotted a pod of some large migrating whales very close to shore on her walk earlier in the week. That is my inspiration. Nature. The joys of nature. The life cycles of nature always inspires me. Also, the sound and smells of the glorious ocean. It is where I draw a lot of my strength.