5 Months

Well I am 5 months post-stroke...almost to the day.

This week was emotion filled to say the least.

I graduated from occupational therapy on Tuesday and was overcome by more emotion than I had anticipated.

As I walked into my appointment I had tears welling up in my eyes and was really not prepared or  expecting that to happen.

Every.Single.Day.of these past 5 months have been an uphill climb and this past Tuesday was a culmination of sorts for everything.

All of the emotions, the highs the lows, the defeats, the triumphs all came together as I took a step back on that last session and looked at how far I had come.

As I walked into the rehab center I realized that I was signing in for the last time, sitting down and waiting for my name to be called for the last time....this was my last session-forever.

My "Safe Haven" would no longer be there...

they were setting me free.

This process was something that had become second nature to me over these past 5 months...

and the therapists I have been seeing- both physical and occupational-well have become more like friends than therapists.

I have been with them 3 days a week for 2 hours each session.

The majority of my time these past 5 months has been spent at rehab and now I was having to say goodbye.

Goodbye to my friends, my supporters, and my coaches.

It was a happy, heartfelt, and tearful goodbye.

I kept reassuring everyone that they were happy tears :)

For the first time it felt so good to look back on the past 5 months and say, "Wow, look how far I have come.  The hard work that I have put in every.single.day. really is showing. The blood, sweat, and tears was worth it! I really have gotten somewhere."

I know thanks to these professional I am now on the road to recovery, and that none of this would have been possible without them.

Every session I went in there they helped me move an inch forward from where I was the day before.

All of those inches have added up and led me to where I am today.

It was a long, hard road each and every day.

I'm not going to lie there are many things I still struggle with each and every day, and I know that in time I will eventually get back to where I once was...

but I am also able to do things I wasn't able to do 5 months ago and that is amazing!

I will be forever thankful and grateful to each therapist who helped me to get to where I am today, because without their knowledge and confidence it would not have been possible.

I owe who I am today to them.

The hard work and perseverance from all of us was well worth it.

All of the days I came home from my session feeling down, mentally exhausted, or with tears in my eyes were all to benefit me.

Each day I was pushed further than the day before and that was exactly what I needed.

This week has been bittersweet in many ways.

It was my last week of therapy, my last week with my family before I return to the work field, and my last week to just be me.

Next week our family will have a new routine, a new mindset, and a new outlook on life.

Thank you so much to all of those who supported and stuck by our family through this whole process.

It has been a life style change to say the least but we are happy and thankful that we are where we are today.

I will make sure to keep you posted!