Lubbock, Texas in the Rearview Mirror

Goodness! It's the end of June! Where has the time gone?!?!

Well, let me first apologize for the gap in writing. Rest assured that there is good reason for that gap and I will do my best to sum it all up in this blog post. My goal is to utilize the K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid) method, but I find that I tend to veer off course with my wording often and so it becomes a novel.

Family Updates:

We've Moved! Cities! My last day of work at University Medical Center in Lubbock was June 1st and then we turned around 4 days later and moved to Austin, Texas. Moved is a relative term at this point, because we are currently living with my parents while we look for our new forever home. Jeramy started working at Clinical Pathology Laboratories home base lab on the 7th/8th and has been very happy with his current situation (although he does miss his co-workers and the lab back in Lubbock). He enjoys the furious pace of the special chemistry department that he works in here and has already established professional relationships with many folks within the company at the Austin location. Jeramy is loving the hours he selected because he works from 2:30a.m. to 10:30a.m. and gets off early enough to assist me in the house hunting business. I am not working (yet), as I have decided to take some time off to adjust to the city and learn my surroundings and the market before I dive deep into a job. I have been talking with two different companies and have some prospects available in the Pflugerville area. It will likely be August before I return to the work schedule, and it will be on a contract/PRN basis with the goal of eventually returning to full time. My time is spent slowly venturing out to discover new areas and activities and discovering new neighborhoods. Moving to Austin was a giant culture shock. The cost of living here is; for lack of a better word, intense. We are working with a realtor already, and she has done an excellent job of prospecting for us so we can see what's out there. Jeramy and I have a long list of items that we would like to complete, but recognize it is impossible to accomplish them all in a very short time period.

Health Updates:

I am pleased to announce that I continue to experience improvements in my seizure activity. I still experience very unpleasant episodes, but my frequency has decreased significantly and my seizure activity has become much more predictable. I know when to expect complications and I can better prepare for it. I have been able to incorporate small amounts of caffeine and even the occasional libation with much less difficulty. I am, however, experiencing some rather unpleasant side effects as a result of the medications. The most noticeable issue is extreme tiredness or fatigue that varies in intensity depending on my activity level. The second largest issue, weight gain. Good Lord. The weight gain has been very challenging to over come. When I started the current medication dosage in February, I weighed 155lbs (my normal average). As of today, I currently weigh somewhere in the range of 168-170lbs. 15 lbs in 4 months is scary and I am working to make some pretty drastic diet changes to help counter this side effect. It is a concern I will have to address with my new neurologist once I get established care here in Austin (I have my first PCP visit June 29th to begin the referral process). One way I am trying to counter the weight problems is by increasing my physical activity level. This has been challenging with the Austin humidity. Humidity is the one thing my neurologist in Amarillo cautioned me on with exercise programs. Humidity makes me experience intense aura activity and has put me to bed early on a few occasions already. It provides me with increased episodes of nausea and headaches, which pretty much take me down for the remainder of the day. Thankfully, I was able to participate in my friend's 30th birthday shenanigans this past weekend and experienced no aura's or unpleasant side effects while celebrating! It was a welcome sign of relief and showed me that there is still progress to be made.

Well, Once we get settled (officially), I will be sure to post another blog update and maybe even some photographs? Who knows! The biggest thing is that I am so incredibly happy to be living in the Austin area and feel much better than I have in quite some time. It is a fresh start for Jeramy and I, even though the transition was very stressful and somewhat a surprise. We found out about the move at the end of April and then 5-6 weeks later, moved. That may sound like a long time, until you consider all the stuff that has to be taken care of in the process of moving. So happy to finally call Austin my home!!