I have been blessed with a strong immune system, high energy level, and an active life. Most days, and weeks, I'm doing something all day long, work, entertainment, something. However, on occasion I'm reminded to slow down and not take my gifts for granted.
Last week Monday, I woke up with some congestion, as I had for a few weeks, and an uncomfortable stomach. Checking into paperwork, I had my nurse relieve me of unwanted pressure, also called taking a dump. As a quadriplegic, this is something I have no control over and need to have someone else do my duty so to speak. Unfortunately, this nurse hadn't helped with this in a while and it took much longer than usual. By the time she was done, I could hardly breathe due to congestion and was exhausted, at 8:30 in the morning.
Throughout Monday, I kept switching between my vent and DPS due to feeling bloated and tired. Monday night into Tuesday it continued to get worse. At several points on Tuesday, I wished I could throw up, but my body can't do this very easily and I never did. That night continued to get worse and I had pain in my belly.
After an unproductive visit to my GP Tuesday, my parents and I went to the ER in Des Moines. After several hours, they shoved an NG tube down my nose to my stomach and everything started improving. The next three days were spent in the hospital waiting to see what would happen and possible surgery at any time. Thankfully, surgery wasn't in God's plan and I was able to come home yesterday. I am still pretty tired, but thankful to be home.
During my time in the hospital though, I saw God's care several times. I had a few times that I needed immediate suctioning, with my O2 dropping quickly. Thankfully I was given experienced nurses during these times that knew how to suction without guidance from me. I have had times when nurses thought they knew what they were doing, but needed much coaching to get it done.
I was given lots of time to stop and think this past week as well. More of that will be coming soon, but I'm thankful to be back to nearly normal once again.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Monday, February 6, 2012
Work
I'm an independent web developer, meaning I'm on my own. My bosses are my clients, I work for them, and nobody else. This means some days I have more work than I can shake my mouth stick at, and others I barely have enough to bother waking up for.
Lately, my work load had been more of the former than the latter. Fortunately, I did get an unexpected project today that resulted in more work than I thought, but it's already complete. At this moment, I don't know of anything that I'll be doing tomorrow. Therefore, I posted in one of my networking sites, Linkedin, on how to improve my marketing efforts.
What I have mainly done is word of mouth marketing, friends or contacts give me a name, or give mine, and then I have a site. This has worked well, but I want to be able to do more. My peers suggested that I define a particular market, find out where that market is active, and pursue it. Many suggestions also say to stay in a particular industry, like schools, churches, or perhaps railroads. I don't see being able to stay interested in just one topic hough, I like a variety of subjects to explore.
Therefore, after thinking and praying this weekend, I think it will be best to go with a business size instead of industry. This fits with a diversified interest group, but finding out where to market to will be harder. God has brought me along well so far, I just need to remember to continue to rely on Him and not try to go on my own. Within the next few weeks to months I hope to report a busier work load.
In other news, I spent some time last week researching multiple ways to control a computer without your hands. It was for a young boy who recently became a quad, but also for self interest. I have been noticing my mouth gets sore much faster lately than it used to, so a time may be coming that I need to adjust my system. Fortunately, several methods exist for mouse control, but most are lacking in adequate keyboard function. We'll see what's available in time, but I think the mental adjustment will be more difficult when the time comes.
Lately, my work load had been more of the former than the latter. Fortunately, I did get an unexpected project today that resulted in more work than I thought, but it's already complete. At this moment, I don't know of anything that I'll be doing tomorrow. Therefore, I posted in one of my networking sites, Linkedin, on how to improve my marketing efforts.
What I have mainly done is word of mouth marketing, friends or contacts give me a name, or give mine, and then I have a site. This has worked well, but I want to be able to do more. My peers suggested that I define a particular market, find out where that market is active, and pursue it. Many suggestions also say to stay in a particular industry, like schools, churches, or perhaps railroads. I don't see being able to stay interested in just one topic hough, I like a variety of subjects to explore.
Therefore, after thinking and praying this weekend, I think it will be best to go with a business size instead of industry. This fits with a diversified interest group, but finding out where to market to will be harder. God has brought me along well so far, I just need to remember to continue to rely on Him and not try to go on my own. Within the next few weeks to months I hope to report a busier work load.
In other news, I spent some time last week researching multiple ways to control a computer without your hands. It was for a young boy who recently became a quad, but also for self interest. I have been noticing my mouth gets sore much faster lately than it used to, so a time may be coming that I need to adjust my system. Fortunately, several methods exist for mouse control, but most are lacking in adequate keyboard function. We'll see what's available in time, but I think the mental adjustment will be more difficult when the time comes.
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