The Week in Review

It is a tradition at my school to designate the Friday before Martin Luther King Day as Grade Activity Day, in which each grade goes off and does some sort of activity. It is also tradition for the senior class to do something fun and exciting, like bowling or laser tag. So tomorrow, instead of going to my normal classes, I will be meeting with my classmates in the library to be talked to about resiliency so I can survive the rest of this year and (hopefully) college.

My week, in other words, is more or less done.

Out of four possible days to return to school, I made it back on three. During those three days, I had very few problems with wheelchair accessibility, barring an incident during which my brother briefly drove me off the sidewalk (without incident). My energy levels seem to be on the rise—I felt dead after returning Tuesday, beyond dead after returning Wednesday, though perking up later in the evening, and functional today. I went from being subjected to my youngest brother's action movie choices to being able to select movies myself today, going with Dumbo, a movie I hadn't seen in years (thank you, Netflix). I started showering every night again without being completely depleted. I left the wheelchair behind for school, turning entirely to the walker for home transportation. I've gained lots of independence as a result—being able to walk on your own power is really different from relying on somebody to push you around.

In another noteworthy accomplishment, today marked my first complete day back at school. Now, this accomplishment is entirely due to a quirk in my schedule that has me done with class at 12:05 PM each and every Thursday. But at the same time, I made it to school today without missing a class. Definitely a step up from Monday where I stayed at home all day and missed every class.

But perhaps best of all (aside from some truly gorgeous snowfall today) has been the blister on the bottom of my foot. Or, that is, what used to be the blister on the bottom of my foot. If you recall, it used to look like this:

Note: this thing was three-dimensional, filled with fluid, large enough to interfere with toe movement.

Today, it looks something like this:

Ignoring the poor image quality (blame my phone) (and my phone photo-taking skills), note how there is no longer fluid in that blister and how it is now more or less flat against the surface of the foot.

Yes, I can now place the entirety of my foot on the floor. Progress.

Next step: walking. Well, actually it'll be weight-bearing, followed by walking, but you get the idea…