I have spent the past several months writing and editing my master’s thesis so any other form of creative writing or blogging completely fell by the wayside as plenty of you had noticed.  It has been about eight months since I have touched or posted anything on this blog and I miss it!  Writing, painting, and reading have been at the top of my list now that life is slowing down a bit.  Here is a brief rundown of the past few months!

August – I stepped away from the blog for a bit because I needed to put all my writing energy into my thesis.  (If anyone has an interest in that I will post my abstract and a little more about what I did the past two years).  I wanted to see if the six-minute walk test was a valid test to predict peak oxygen consumption in cancer survivors compared to a treadmill test.  Conclusion – the walk test is not valid in cancer survivors who have average or higher levels of functional capacity.  I will present my findings this year at the annual American College of Sports Medicine Conference (ACSM).  Last August I was continuing data collection and starting to draft out my thesis document.  I was also gearing up for a very busy semester with courses like cardiac and muscle physiology.

September – School was immensely busy and I was there pretty much 24/7.  I was still commuting an hour plus one way so it was often draining and coursework was demanding.  I enjoyed classes though.  I spent much of this month preparing for October though.

October/November – I finished data collection on my thesis and began to look at analyzing the data for my abstract.  After several months of debating, I undertook another major foot surgery in October to correct my alignment.  The technical term for those who care was a calcaneal osteotomy with a tendon transfer.  It was not pretty and I was very unprepared for the actual recovery.  I am solely to blame because I went in thinking it was just another surgery and I would be back in no time.  I have been an ortho patient so many times in my life that I guess I took this one for granted.  I have had a spinal fusion, yet this was the worst surgery recovery to date.  Add in the fact that fall is not the best time of year for me mentally and it was a rough six-week period.  Thankfully my family took amazing care of me and my dad even drove me around to school during this time!  I was non-weight bearing for a couple months but I was sick of crutches and tried out a new fun walking “leg” which allowed me more freedom to shop or walk around.  During this time I didn’t work on my thesis a ton, I was just focused on my classes.  Looking back now, I am still not sure it was worth it to go through with the surgery, but I still have 2-3 more months before I am close to one hundred percent again so we will see.  This was the first scenario though where I realized that I have truly recovered from the eating disorder and that if I can handle a few months like that then I can handle anything.

December – I started to feel better and was relieved that fall semester was out, although this is the time I geared up to write.  It was almost a good thing that it was winter and I couldn’t walk so I could write a large portion of my draft.  The holidays used to be a big problem for my eating disorder recovery, but they honestly keep getting better and better with every passing year.

January – New year and a new walking boot.  It was a great relief to start walking and driving again.  I am very independent and having that freedom taken away was just plain torture some days.  I also began a new semester finishing up writing and an online statistics class.  I visited family in Oklahoma and started to get a little panicked that I was graduating so soon.

February – While all of the things surrounding my surgery and school were going on I should also mention I had been on the job search.  In February I officially accepted an offer as a full time professional research assistant in sports medicine.  This month was full of excitement as I finished my draft and started to continue editing with my advisors.  I was also able to find time to spend with my sister and it was unseasonably warm for February!

March- I officially started my job and absolutely have loved every aspect of it!  I had my thesis defense and turned it into the graduate school for review….party!!!  I had a quick business trip to San Diego and enjoyed some sun and relaxation away from thesis work.

Every day I wake up generally in awe of where I am in life today.  No one who knows me is surprised in the least bit, but I still surprise myself.  It was a challenging academic year and to see the light at the end is very sweet.  I graduate in a month and I am definitely looking forward to some down time that doesn’t involve academics.  I have a long list of things I want to do this spring and summer.  Lots of hiking and camping especially!  I tried to keep this a bit brief just for an update and want to post more frequently in depth on topics as they come up.  I want to keep mindfulness and mental health priority topics on this blog.  Even though I am recovered, I want to support anyone struggling and hopefully be a source of positivity that full recovery is possible and sustainable.  Take care!