Spring 2000 - Jim's Place



Spring 2000

I started the year 2000 with a great deal of optimism. I had now been on the new thyroid medication, Synthroid, for over two months. If the doctor was right that my problems stemmed from using generics, I ought to be feeling pretty well by now. Sure enough, during my traditional New Year's Eve party, I was telling my friends that I was feeling much better, gaining confidence that my illness issues were under control. I was looking forward to having a big year. I was anxious to get back to my exercise program, back in the choir at church and perhaps most of all I was excited that my brother Danny was coming to San Diego to live with me...

Danny and his wife had visited me in 1998 and had planned on relocating from Texas. The idea was that Danny would start up a wedding video business and go to computer school. His wife was finishing up nursing school and would come out a few months after he got things established. Finally, it was happening. When he drove up in a U-Haul the second week of January, I realized how much of a void not having any family nearby had been ever since I came to San Diego in 1980. Although I had two other brothers Danny was the one I had the most in common with growing up... fishing, hunting, building model airplanes, playing flag football... We were both excited because there were so many things to do in San Diego that never really worked back in Fort Worth due to the weather. The mild climate here meant we could participate in outdoor activities such as camping pretty much year-round.

We set up one of my extra bedrooms as a computer video editing center and he got right to work establishing his wedding video business. It wasn't long before he started bringing in steady work. I did video editing as a hobby and helped him at times when he needed someone to run a second camera at a wedding. We made plans to go camping. We started having a lot of fun going to movies, going to the ocean, exploring the nearby mountains and we even started working out at the gym a couple of times a week. For the first time in a long time, coping with illness was not my main focus... A thyroid test at the end of January had indicated things were in the normal range and I cautiously began to think that maybe my illness challenges were a thing of the past. It seemed like all I needed to do going forward was get my thyroid level checked every few months, continue with my allergy shots and focus mostly on getting my weight back down. I had started the year at around 260 pounds, and I was anxious to get my weight down to my normal 180 pounds. I was back in the gym, and before too long I hoped I could get back on my bike. However, I was too heavy to ride my lightweight road bike, so I decided to buy a mountain bike. It would be much more suitable until I lost a big chunk of weight...and if there was anyone who knew how to lose weight, it was me! Unfortunately, I had done it numerous times!

For several months, I pretty much forgot about illness, although I still had occasional issues with sinus infections and asthma. Certainly, having my brother here gave me a big emotional boost and I suspect a physical one as well. It made me much more aware of how important support of your family is when dealing with a chronic illness. Although I certainly didn't have anywhere near my normal energy back, I at least didn't feel sick. That Easter my mom flew out for a rare visit, anxious to see how Danny and I were doing. We were both building a new life and she was thrilled that for the first time since we were kids we were getting to do things together. It meant the world to her to see me up on stage singing with the choir in the Easter musical... Afterwards, I introduced her to the choir director and my numerous friends at church. My Mom was obviously glowing with pride, but I could tell she also felt a great sense of relief...that the son who lived so far away, fighting chronic illness was no longer living alone…that maybe he was going to be OK after all...that he was in good hands and for now at least, she could take a break from the constant worry of the last few years...

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download