STRAIGHT UP DATE 2/20/17

The last three weeks since getting out of the hospital have been a bit chaotic. My first week home was a lot of sleeping, unpacking and adjustment. The second week started off strong with lots of recovery based activities. Then towards the end of the week, my dad was feeling off and went to bed early. He woke up at 3:30am panicked because he couldn’t get out of bed. His whole right side had weakened and he was talking nonsense. I thought it was his heart so I called 911. The EMT diagnosed it as a stroke on our way to the hospital which was so surreal and scary. After 4 days in UC Davis they re-diagnosed it as a skin infection that had worked it’s way into his foot and then had spread into his blood. The infection weakened his one side so much the symptoms looked like a stroke but thankfully his heart checked out fine. It was a rough go spending so many hours sitting in the ER on my new surgery and not getting the down time and therapy I had become accustomed to. The hospital was overloaded from the flooding and with the rest of my family back east, we were stuck in the ER for 3 days before they got him a room. They released my dad when the infection cleared and sent him home with a strong antibiotic. We had to return to the ER a few days later because he was having a bad reaction to the antibiotic. He ended up having to extend his stay on the west coast for another week. So we both ended up in recovery, taking care of each other as best we could. He was finally able to fly back to the east coast about a week ago and is healing up.

Right before he left, I decided to kick the giant sized opiate/morphine habit that was prescribed over the last 5 months. I didn’t feel like weening down so just stopped cold turkey. It’s was a few rough days of irritability, heightened pain, bad sleep, cramping intestine, nausea, dizziness. But now that monkey is off my back, I feel more myself and have a better gauge of my pain. I still have to take a few mgs on days when I get dysreflexia from pushing myself too far, but it’s nowhere close to the amount I was taking daily.

Now back to the regularly scheduled program… Straight Up! So the next big step is reforming all the soft tissue around my new hardware setup. My body has been deformed for so many years that it’s going to take at least a year and a lot of work before it will balance out. There is so much shifting in all the soft tissues because my core structure is completely different and more space was opened up. My internal organs have been slowly migrating back into place as my body changes, which feels achy and amazing! I’m still learning my new balance points and am engaging the muscles that were smushed and not working before. Navigating thru this entails a lot of body work to keep going. So far, I found an amazing deep tissue myofascial healer/therapist at Massage Heights North Natomas and a talented chiropractor for two disks in my neck that keep slipping out. Then I also have been doing limited PT, strengthening sessions at SCI-FIT Sacramento and working out at home every chance I get. My brother built me the same leg slider from the hospital PT so I could keep up with those awesome exercises! I still have some movement restrictions. Its killing me not to go full speed but I have been doing lots of isometric core work which gets you sweating! Still making and drinking my beef broth all the time to stoke the bone growth. Still doing my Arbonne completely kind nutritional shakes everyday. I’m amazed by how fast I have been healing and how good I have been feeling despite all the trauma. Getting stronger all the time!

I want to truly express how much I appreciate all the support that has come in so I’m able to do all of these healing things that I’m paying out of pocket for. This process is not easy and comes with a lot of uncomfortable days. I’m so grateful to have a cushion to allow me to maintain my body in a way where I can keep fighting to get STRAIGHT UP! I still have a far way to go so if you have any extra and/or are inclined to help, keep reading.

One of my dearest and oldest friends, Tara Harrison from college (the 1st time) drove from Oregon with her dog Magic when my dad left. She is finally getting sick of the Cali rain and has to leave by the end of this week so I’m recruiting some help to fill the gap until my mom gets here in mid March. Helpful things are visits, rides to appointments and meals. I looked into renting an accessible van but they want $2500 per month so I think I will stick with bumming rides or Uber for now. There is still a van purchase in my future but I won’t know what I need until the movement restrictions are lifted and I see what I can handle. They are quite a large investment though, so keep it coming!

I will set up a care calendar this week with my needs and I will send it out to all the people who have been offering to help. Oh, and if anyone wants to donate any body work, I’m totally open to receiving it! Thank you all so much and love and hugs to everyone! Stay dry! #straightup

If you want to donate to my cause:
http://www.gofundme.com/charvine
or https://paypal.me/charvine
If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation:
http://www.helphopelive.org/campaign/12154
If you shop Arbonne’s sustainably sourced, vegan, GMO-free, gluten-free, clean products, Char will get a % of sale:
http://www.charvine.arbonne.com
If you want to donate direct or product email:
mailto:char@charvine.com