The Road to Recovery

I've been holding off posting about this, because I was afraid it was temporary, but given that I'm now at 4 weeks, I am going to share my news: I am feeling well!

It sounds so simple, and yet the difference between how I'm feeling today vs. how I've been feeling for the past few years is so radical that it defies description.

What does a well person do that an ill person can't?

• decide to walk the dogs, come home and realize the cat could use a walk too!
• travel to Amsterdam, come home, have a miserable cold followed by a sinus infection and still have enough energy to cook a meal, go for a walk, study...
• plan two trips in the next month and have some vague confidence that they will actually work out.
• start working on literature review for comprehensive examinations
• wake up and get out of bed, every single day!!
• go for a walk and burst into a light run (only for a minute, but it felt SO GOOD).
  

I wish I knew what triggered my recovery. Here are my top theories:

• Gluten-free diet (followed strictly since mid-January)
  
• Longer days with more sun exposure (valid perhaps, but happens every year without this kind of impact)
  
• Husband finishing thesis?
• Illness spontaneously in remission?

My vote right now is on diet, I'm sure that is simplistic, but it is the only factor that has truly changed in my life.

Whatever is responsible, I cannot begin to describe the joy that comes with feeling 'normal' again. Trust me, normal does not equal boring!

Holiday

After our whirlwind month of March (DH successfully defended his thesis), I accompanied my brilliant husband on a short trip to Holland, where he was launching his new book.

What an amazing trip. I spent my days wandering the streets and canals, taking pictures and sipping cappuccino at sidewalk cafes.

Being gluten free in Holland is surprisingly easy, the hotel concierge called ahead to book reservations and ensured that there would be GF options available. One restaurant even baked me a little gluten-free cake with a chocolate centre. Delicious!!

I am savouring my health...enjoying every day that I can be out in the world exploring, not locked away in a hotel room sleeping.

From here, my advisor's comments sting less and I feel more alive. What more could I ask for?

At last

My thesis proposal was approved today. At last.

It is good news, but was delivered with a spoonful of bitter advice. "Stop being so whiny, Penelope", my Advisor told me. "You drain the oxygen out of all your relationships when you mention your illness".

Good to know, I didn't realize that I was causing O2 issues for the folks on my committee!