Thursday, July 24 and still breathing on my own

Well, another week has gone by and I am still here. My shoulder is still quite sore, especially when I reach for things. I went and tried to help Megan and Matt repair things on their old apartment. Several things I wanted to help on would not work right. They did have some things I could do with some help. They had one light that would come on when the switch was flipped and my volt meter showed the switch was the problem. Next was the kitchen light. It was one of those fluorescence lights that just did not get bright as it should. Matt took this down and I was told the bulbs were new and still did not work right. Megan had to get some supplies from Home Depot so I told her to buy a new ballast for it. They did not have any of these so I told her to get a cheap light for a garage and I could make it work. I sat on the floor and disassembled one and re-built their old one. Poor Matt had to re-install it. Next, the bulb in the fan upstairs moved too much. I worked on it and got it tightened after a little work. Again, poor Matt had to re-install it. This reaching up still hurts too much to do. Next we started on the bathroom floor. They had done some of it but the small pieces next to the toilet and tub were still waiting for me. We ended up taking the toilet up so we would have to cut less tiles. This got the floor wet so we dried it the best we could and had to quit there because the flooring would not have stuck to this wet floor. One of Megan's friends from school was there to help Matt carry things. I was so glad for that. Justin and his wife, Brittney, were so much help to have around. I was so thankful Matt had this kind of help since I was not much help on carrying heavy things. My truck was filled up several times with stuff, so I guess my being there was not a total loss. All the stuff we did got my back to hurting. I could not move right for a couple of days, but it worked out OK.
I still have my doctor's appointment set for August 4th. This will be a week from Monday to check on my right elbow. I am a little scared about what he might find, but also excited that this might be a good improvement.
I will be training someone at doing my job starting Monday. After two weeks of training, it is his and then I will start training to take over my new position. Change is not always good, but this is something I am looking forward to. I know my pressure will be lower with less things that have to be done NOW. As a Material Coordinator, you are always rushing deliveries and hot jobs and when I came back from being out, they were glad I took it back. Now I will go to planning regular jobs that are not a DO IT NOW. I am so excited about this change. Now someone else can feel this "all the time pressure".
Life is great for me right now. Every day is great to wake up and realize just how great it is to have God there for you. Without Him and His help in my life, I think my life would be much different. I don't look for the day to see the grass from below. Thanks to all of you that helped pull me and my family through this time. I looked at some of my early pictures and they STILL bother me. Seeing myself in a wheelchair was not too pleasant, either. It makes me feel good to see how far I have come.
I love you all so much,
Mark 7/24/08