Project Kate Update

After a weekend of working on some upcoming stuff for my new book – and plenty of resting – I’m taking a look at where I am after the last 3 weeks of actually doing things again (after the weeks of sitting around recovering).

Physical Health

I’m incredibly frustrated to say that I haven’t made a whole lot of progress here. The surgeon I saw 2.5 weeks ago couldn’t help me. At all. His patients are an average age of 65, and they have major osteoporosis damage. And that’s not where I’m at. I wouldn’t be so frustrated with this if it weren’t for the fact that I’ve been back in Boston over a month and I still don’t have a surgeon.

What I am physically capable of every day is still very limited, and I am still in large amounts of pain. I still can’t walk as much as I want to (which unfortunately is a very limited amount). I’m fondly remembering the days when I could walk from my parents’ house to Newbury Street and back and not have to take pain medication. I can’t even physically get to Newbury now, let alone walk down and back and not need medication.

(If you’re confused about what I’m talking about, check out this explanation.)

Mental Health

Well, as you can probably gather from the previous section, my morale hasn’t been the highest recently. I had one huge breakdown last week, but, well, that’s right. I lost my life in the span of 2 weeks – it’s right to grieve it. I left my job, my home for 5 years, many friends, and a fair amount of independence. And since I lost all of that (in the space of 2 weeks) due to my pretty bad health, with issues I’ve been dealing with for over 13 years, it makes sense that I would have some down moments.

On the plus, my anxiety hasn’t been an issue, so there’s that.

Graduate School

I’ve narrowed my list of schools to apply to and started studying for the GRE. So there’s that! From I-don’t-want-to-jinx-it feelings, I’m not going to say where I applied. But I’m going to stay in New England. I wanted to come back for graduate school and living the rest of my life here anyway, so this works in that aspect. God has His own plan!

Work Plans

I’m starting to volunteer as a tutor next week! I’m really excited to get back into teaching in some form. That being said, I’m definitely not opposed to paid tutoring opportunities, so if you know someone in Boston looking for an English tutor, I wouldn’t hate if you pointed them my way…

I’m also doing some freelance writing and editing work. If you want to work with me or have me edit things, I charge $5 per 200 words BUT I have a blog special. I’ll edit 3 pages or posts (up to 1000 words) for $15. You can order here or email me about it.

Other Plans

I’ve been doing really good at eating healthy – starting my day off with a healthy and filling smoothie does a world of help, I swear – and regular yoga and taking all my medications when I’m supposed to. I’ve gone a month without missing a single dose! This may not sound all that impressive to you, but I take pills 4 times a day (grand total of 23 pills a day; oh the spoonie life) and it’s really easy to miss a dose.

I’m not doing as great a job with being more outgoing. I haven’t joined groups or anything, but I did one thing that has made a surprisingly big difference. When walking the dogs or running out for coffee, I don’t put my headphones in. Sure, while sitting at a coffee shop for 2 hours I listen to music. But while walking I don’t. If you want to meet people in a city, walk your dog(s) without headphones. Trust me.