My blog is moving...

I am moving my blog over to Wordpress. Please come check it out and follow me there. http://designsbysachs.wordpress.com/ I hope to have my domain name point there in a couple weeks, so you will also be able to go to http://www.designsbysachs.com

See you over there!

Eating "Right"

Things have been pretty much the same as of late. I have not had any major breakthroughs or setbacks. I have just been. I have been working full time or at least close to it and my days have been I guess what one would call “normal”. Last week I started back up with physical therapy. This time I am seeing a guy who is a personal trainer and nutritionist. The big thing this time is DIET. No, not the kind that you hear on the news and on so many t.v. shows, not the lose weight kind but the kind that we all should follow, eating right. He has me eating things that are “good for me”, and to my dismay this does not include double stuffed Oreos, candy or Diet Mountain Dew!!! In our first meeting he informed me that carbonation is the worst thing for your immune system. It has to do with the destruction of calcium and therefore the lack of the ability for your body to absorb nutrients and vitamins. So, I have not had any soda since Monday, I have had only water. Now don’t get me wrong, a majority of the time it is flavored by Crystal Light or some other brand of mix in, but it is water none the less. I just have a hard time with just water, but I have been doing rather well if I may say so myself. I have been eating at least 5 times a day and fruits and veggies have been a large part of what I eat. I must say that it is harder to eat “healthy” when you really try. The grocery stores and restaurants don’t make it easy at all. I have committed to do my best with this new diet because I don’t want to get sick again. I have read too many stories about people who have had GBS more than once and I don’t ever want to feel that kind of pain again. There are many people that don’t have pain when hit with GBS, but let me tell you, it is possible. Just because your nerves are being stripped apart does not mean you can’t have pain, at the right stage of progression pain is excruciating at least for me it was. During our sessions we are talking about nutrition and he is slowly adding exercises that I can do to help build up strength and add muscle mass. According to the tests that were done I have about 5% body fat that needs to be turned into muscle and then I would like to add on about another 15 lbs on top of that. So, that is where I am at the moment, working on living a healthier life, and with the love of God I know it is possible, because through Him all things are possible.

Not so down with the sickness

Well, those that know me well know that I do not like to throw up, vomit, puke, toss my cookies, spew chunks or any other variance one might come up with. In fact I will do almost anything possible not to do any of the aforementioned. Now as many of you know that about two weeks prior to December 26, 2008 I had a 24 hour bug, as did everyone else in my house, and that is what led to everything you can read about in this blog. So, now when I get sick I don’t take it lightly and really it kind of freaks me out a bit, especially since I am still recovering. So yesterday I was not feeling too good and at about 6:30 pm I settled in on the couch and that is where I stayed till about 9:00 pm with a very bad headache. It was one of those that felt like someone stabbing a railroad spike thru your temple and every now and again they would tap it or wiggle it a bit. Not something I consider fun. I also had a lovely feeling in my neck and that is because my second cervical floats and when it gets out of whack it can cause issues, painful issues. On top of these two things my body just did not feel right. It is a feeling that I can’t really explain, but after a long day I usually get this feeling around 9:00 pm, and yesterday it started around noon or so. So, once bed time rolled around I was not feeling good at all. I gently laid down, because every moment made that evil person that was wiggling that railroad spike in my head really force it into a tender spot of my brain. The entire night was no fun. I was sweating so bad that every time I woke up my forehead was soaked as well as my t-shirt and sweat pants. It reminded me of several very uncomfortable days in the hospital when I was sweating so bad that one night I had my sheets changed three times. I don’t think I have to say that those were not very good nights of sleep, well neither was last night. Then somewhere around 2:00 am I rolled over onto my side and that was a no-no. My stomach made a very strong recommendation that we head to the bathroom and get to know to toilet a little better. So, I got out of bed and with that evil railroad spike wiggler following right along with me I made a dash for the bathroom. Now, please remember that my muscles are still tender and squatting down is not comfortable at all. Bringing my heels to my backside hurts a lot and as far as I know that is the natural vomiting position. So as I hurried to get “in position” I was stuck not knowing what to do because it hurt but I also needed to be in “position” and ready to discharge. Well, I finally found a position that worked for everyone and I proceeded to get to know the toilet on a more personal level. Once I decided that we had become close enough and I would try to make it back to bed I did so very slowly, because although my stomach now felt better my head was still throbbing. I finally slid out of bed around 12:30 pm and over time my head began to feel a bit better and now I am doing okay. My stomach is not perfect, and neither is my head, but all is tolerable. Well, sorry this post was not filled with great reports of progress and notes of recovery, but hey it is what I call life and all I can do is put it in God’s hands and do my part.

More Road to Recovery Pics

Well, here it is late again and I am ready to head to bed, but just felt the need to share the pictures I just finished working on. I took these pictures in the complete dark again and used the same light I did before. I am really enjoying the effect that this technique creates. I thinking about finding a way to take in donations and depending on the amount would determine how many of my pictures the individual would get and then donate the proceeds to charity. I spoke a friend tonight about how I could go about doing this and I am excited about the information she shared. I think I am going to try to ride under another organization for a while and if things actually go well and I am ready to start my own organization then I will look further into it. My goal will to one day start a non-profit organization called Photos for Life. I would like to have a wide variety of photos that I would group together and make available and each set would be connected with a charity and the proceeds would go to that charity. Well, that is what is going on in my head right now… Enjoy the pics!






Saved by the blood,
Donovan

Just a little note and update…

I did not mention that the pictures of the wheelchair were taken in pitch black room. I focused the camera in the light, then turned out all the lights and used a flashlight to light the spots I wanted lit. I took several shots to get the look I was looking for and I plan to use this process to do the rest of the series. I hope to have another picture or two in the next several days.

I also just signed up for SoFoBoMo which stands for Solo Photo Book Month. You take photos in a 31 day period between May 1 and Jun 30 and make a book out of them. I have been wanting to do a book that is “a day in the life” all taken in macro form. So they will all be very up close shots of things that are part of my everyday life. Now I have to buy my lens that I have been wanting! Can’t take macro shots without a macro lens.

I have been doing well this past week. I had my last day of PT on Friday and now I am waiting to be set up with another therapist that is a personal trainer and nutritionist. That should be fun. I have a feeling I will hear something about no Oreos, but do I have news for him!!! I have been having issues with my left arm, it has been numb. I had some pretty good pains in it this afternoon, but this morning I was able to trim bushes and do yard work. So, I guess some pain and numbness could be expected. Well, tomorrow I have a meeting with a potential new client and then I will spend the rest of the day at the office. On Friday we looked at some new office space. We are looking to expand a bit, just don’t want anything too big and to much $$, just don’t know what is going to happen with all the economic “stuff” going on right now. My plan is to stay as healthy as I can and do my job and in my free time have fun with my hobby. And all along the way thank God for what he has given me and take care of it the best way I know how.

The Road to Recovery Series

This isn't really an update, well I guess in a way it is. Here are a couple pictures that I took and I guess the fact that I took the pictures is a recovery update. I am planning to do a series of pics that will include pics of my wheelchair, walker, cane and shoes. Hope you enjoy...

One step closer!

Well, it may not sound big to many folks but today I cut my own finger and toe nails. Last time I tried to accomplish that task I did not have the strength to squeeze the clippers closed and today, success! This was just one more step to a full recovery. However, I am still not able to wear my crocs, which is something I would love to do,but the texture in them is just too much. My feet are so sensitive that it hurts to put my foot in them. I have the scoots and I love wearing them here in sunny Arizona, but they are just too darn uncomfortable at this point. Well, it is getting late and I need to be thinking about gettin’ to bed, I am planning on going into work in the morning. Just wanted to drop by and share my most recent accomplishment, cuttin’ nails!