This July I attended a whole day yoga and surfing workshop in Aptos, a small vacation town south of Santa Cruz. The notice for the workshop came through the yoga studio where I regularly go and I was intrigued.
The event was organized by two great teachers: Jackie Long and Kristen Lansdale. The promise of was to do lots of yoga on the beach and to try some surfing. As a total novice to surfing, I was a little concerned about the last part. Will I be cold? Will I be able to do anything other than just tumble from the board? Will it be just too much? But my love of the style of yoga that Jackie teaches and great experience with her other workshops prevailed. So I signed up and also dragged along a good friend for support.
Thanks to Jackie and Kristen this turned out to be a perfect day, filled with fun and play. To start our adventure, we were greeted by about a dozen dolphins playfully moving along the coast. What a magical sight! This really set the tone for the day.
My 8 year old daughter may have juvenile arthritis. The news hit the deck just yesterday. The day before she woke up with a swollen elbow. A quick trip to the doctor and some motrin brought the swelling down. But this is a second time in 4 months that one of her big joints is swollen.
Back in February it was her knee and we landed in ER for 18hrs while waiting to be admitted in the hospital. There were no beds available and we waited and waited. Fortunately, with a bit of motrin, she recovered on her own so we were sent home.
Yesterday we saw a pediatric rheumatologist at the Lucille Packard hospital. After a long examination we were sent for lab test, xrays and a few weeks of waiting. The only therapy is naproxen, an anti-inflammatory med. Back for a checkup in 4 weeks and more definitive answers.
Yesterday was "one of those days" for me. The CEO of my company was in town and visiting our research lab. Which meant mad scramble to make all of our demos perfect. And then it was also the 10th birthday of my older daughter. Which means cupcakes for the classroom, etc.
What a day!
This time I was determined to take care of myself and attend to my needs, as well as everybody else's. In an ideal world, I'd first take care of myself, then do the rest. But we all know that this is not an ideal world.
So, what did I do? Well, for starters planned things in advance. That goes without saying. Having a supportive network of co-workers helps a lot. Also the family needs to step in.
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