April 26, 2007 is a day I will never forget. It is my official disability date aka the day I officially became disabled. It's the date I had the second transplant in my knee; after my body ate through the first one. The second transplant in Birmingham, Alabama (a 13 hour drive one way from Naples) was very different. ACI surgery is where a doctor removes a piece of cartilage from your knee, grows it for 4-5 months then puts it back into your knee. It was a new and very serious procedure. I would have to live in Birmingham for a few weeks, be on crutches for nearly a year and go to physical therapy for even longer.
The best orthopedic surgeon in the country was performing my surgery and it was supposed to be successful; except it wasn't. I knew fairly quickly afterwards that something wasn't right. I couldn't ride in the car for weeks afterwards without getting sick and my body felt off. Turns out my body was rejecting itself. For years, doctors had no clue what was wrong with me and they still don't. Apparently, it's autoimmune related as Im the only patient who has ever rejected their own cartilage.
My body has never recovered from the surgery. I had another transplant in 2008, which was successful and two other minor surgeries on the knee. I'm much stronger than in 2007-2010, but I'll never be even close to myself again.
The journey has been like a roller coaster ride: up and down. Right now I feel great about my ebay work, companion work, writing, organizing my next MAJOR project and home life. We all face adversity in life. My hurdles to jump may be a little taller than most, but why not? You will never catch me saying: why me?! My thought is: why not me? I was built to be successful despite all my obstacles. And so were you, as long as you believe. Thanks for listening.
Ebay was pretty slow this week. I only sold 9 items and had my first 2 day dry spell of the year. Was your week slow too or was it just me? I have some new items to list so maybe that will help? Here are a few items I sold the last week:
NYDJ Leggings Size 10
Cost: $2.50 Sold: $29.99
Lot 29 Vintage Looney Tunes Shirts
Cost: $1.00 Sold: $17.99
Brooks Brothers Trench Coat
Cost: $5.00 Sold: $29.99
Harley-Davidson Men's Sweatshirt
Cost: $2.50 Sold: $24.99
Hickey Freeman Madison Jacket
Cost: $3.00 Sold: $30.00
Hopefully, next week is better! Have a great week everybody.
A painful anniversary - literally! I'm so sorry that happened to you, but I love your attitude. I lost my husband six years ago to cancer, and I try to remain positive and count my blessings instead of being sad and bitter. There's so much heartache in this world that some of it will touch most of us at one point or another.
ReplyDeleteSuper slow here! I had two sales total since Monday, and a total of 19 sales this month. I've sold about 1/3 less in dollar amount than I did last month. I'm bummed. My daughter's tuition payments start in June, and I'm really hoping that ebay picks up to cover or heartily subsidize those payments.
Wow! I can't imagine what you've had to go through - it's not a set time - you are living this every.single.day. For all you've been through, you sure do have a great outlook on life! Inspirational!
ReplyDeletePlease know that you are making a difference and a positive contribution to people who love reading your blog.