Something exciting happened this morning: I GOT TO TAKE A SHOWER!

After four weeks of taking sponge baths and washing my hair in the kitchen sink…this felt BIGGER than going on an exotic vacation. And I am not exaggerating.

Wound vac is still on (cue eye-roll)…but I was allowed to unhook it for a couple of hours…shower and then head back to the Wound clinic to get it put back on.

I truly believe in everything happens for a reason.  Most of the times…it’s not rainbows and sunshine when it’s “for a reason.”

I took all of the little things for granted. There…I said it. I’m admitting it.

Showers…getting down on the floor to play a board game or Legos…going for a run…getting dressed “normally”…lifting weights…just being able to walk without a 2-pound contraption strapped to me…playing kickball in the backyard with the kids…teaching my daughter how to make a jump-shot…running upstairs without having to worry about tripping on a tube…being able to sleep without being attached to a cord so this vac can charge…taking a nice long bath.

Every little thing. I took it all for granted.

Now let me say this: I didn’t deserve to get as sick as I did. It ws supposed to be a routine delivery and recovery…just like my first three children. It could have been prevented (at least in my opinion). My kids didn’t deserve to lose out on precious time with their mom. But, it happened. There is no turning back from it.

The important thing is I learn from it…I grow from it…and I never go back to taking things for granted.

Sure, I still don’t feel 100%. I get tired pretty easily. This vac makes some loud noises from time-to-time at the most inopportune moments. I can’t take normal baths. I can’t shower. I can’t exercise. I can’t sleep without being plugged into the wall. It’s beyond inconvenient. (But it IS healing me!)

This is the thing: I have a warm home that has food…healthy children…a supportive husband…a lot of belly laughs…and ton of excitement for Santa…a job that has the ability to save and change lives.

So maybe I needed to be stripped of some things in order to get back to the basics. Get back to being GRATEFUL for simply having air in my lungs.

“And once the storm is over you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, in fact, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm you won’t be the same person who walked in.”

I definitely won’t be the same person.

I will be better.