Ask just about anyone, and 2020 is already one of the longest years ever. One of my New Year's resolutions was to blog more in 2020. And here I am on February 16th with my first blog post of the year. Guess I can scratch "blog more" of my New Year's resolutions list. Nevertheless, here we are.
I want to take a minute to reflect of 2019 - I feel a lot of life lessons were learned and memorable moments made last year. For starters, I had my thyroid removed in February to treat hyperthyroidism caused by the autoimmune disease, Grave's. I'd finally become so sick that it was time to take the drastic step, but it was absolutely the right one. Here is a pic of my thyroid after it was removed. Nasty little thing, I know.
Once removed, I began to work on my path to feeling like myself again for the first time in years. It took us awhile to get my medications leveled out, and I feel better than I have in years.
The surgery was no easy thing. It took months to recover. For a while, I feared I wouldn't get my voice back. And then there was the scar, or Scarlet as we decided to call her. Recovery with those two issues made doing any acting/modeling/hosting last year, but for a last-minute quick voice over session. I was happy when I heard the sound tech say my voice sounded the same as it did prior to surgery. I cried.
The rest of the 2019 school year was great. Will wrapped up middle school while Bryn finished elementary school.
Last summer was absolutely amazing. First up - our trip to Big Bear with the fam for the 4th of July. All was well until we started feeling the ground shake! EARTHQUAKE!!!! We were all a little panicked by everyone kept drinking. The quake ended up being the biggest earthquake in the area since the Northridge quake back in the day. So guess what happened the next day? And even strong earthquake than the night before. The chances of having another record-breaking quake the following night were low. But we experienced them, and it sure made the trip memorable. Highlights from the trip were the balcony were we sat and chatted all weekend, the Mexican restaurant we found in the village, and our roof deck to watch the amazing fireworks show. I think it's actually going to become our bi-annual family traditions.
Then we had some real fun - we went on our first Neufeld family vacation and we went big. We booked a perfectly spacious suite on Royal Caribbean's Symphony of the Seas. We sailed with a group called Autism on the Seas. We were so lucky to have gone that route - our helpers on the ship were incredible and we couldn't have done it without them.
When we were back on solid land, it was time for another major surgery. I had stage 3 pelvic floor prolapse issues, so I had to have surgery on my, um, who ha. The surgery was great, the recovery... not fun. But necessary, because if I didn't, the chances of me peeing on myself when I laughed or sneezed were pretty high. It was such a hard recovery. I had to do therapy for a 6 weeks that involved probes and things. It was the worst. Between my thyroid and prolapse surgeries, I hope those are the last I need for a very long time.
So there it is - 2019, with it's ups and downs and all. By the end of 2019, we were all totally over it. 2020 was like "hold my beer."