Tourennatrix wonders what's next

[tourennatrix]

Hello Strangers!

 

I am entering another period of extreme uncertainty, and have had to step away from NF coaching, so I thought I might try the forums again as a method of accountability. But, also due to said uncertainty, this will need to be rather 'freeform.' Goals may change week to week depending on how things progress. I'm also super heckin' tired right now so not sure how coherent this introductory post will be, lul. 

 

The general theme will revolve around these thoughts I doodled down the other day...
(I'm sorry I don't know how to make this not huge right now...)

 

The actual things I will be focusing on to start with:

 

1. Daily Movement

This can be yoga, capoeira, dancing, bodyweight exercise, going for a walk (once it's not frostbite within 10 minutes weather outside), etc. 5-15-30 minutes- Whatever, as long as attempt is made to be more active than a potato. It is tempting to consider work days as exercise, but I would prefer to have something more mindful and fun as my daily movement 😉 

 

2. Daily Peace

Meditation, journaling, or breathwork, Specific activities that help me be more aware of my body and how it feels.

 

3. Eat with your Gut
Easing into mindful + intuitive eating. 
Step 1: actually log every meal for 1 week (forego harsh judgement on food choices)

 

Project for week 1: 

Begin tracking hormone cycles and research "habits vs routines" based on monthly cycles of energy.

 

[Mad Hatter]

Heeey welcome back!!!

 

Cute doodle - the "embrace the imperfections" line is great.  

[tourennatrix]

6 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Heeey welcome back!!!

 

Cute doodle - the "embrace the imperfections" line is great.  

Hey Hatter, glad to be back!

I want to doctor that picture up in photoshop and add color and print it out full size to hang on my wall where I can see it daily  

 

 

Ok so now that I'm awake, here is a rundown of the Current State of Things (tm)

 

I am currently working as a physical therapist assistant, which is awesome because that's what I've been going to school for for the last couple years. However, my current job(s) are "PRN," meaning they only call me in when they need extra help. This varies a lot and can result in situations like this morning where I wasn't planning on working and I get a text before I wake up asking if I can come in. The good news is I always have the option of saying yes or no. The bad news is I don't have a set schedule. *shruggie* Overall, I have been getting way fewer hours than I need, and my non-PTA job has decided that my project with them is done, so my backup is gone. Swell. Time to look for a full-time PTA position. Except...

I have been having health issues. I found out in January 2020 that I had a cyst on my pancreas (happy new year 2020). The doctors weren't immediately concerned about it, but after monitoring it for a while, my local doctors referred me to a specialist. The specialist took a look at it and said "It's not cancerous but it might become cancerous, I'm going to refer you to a surgeon." So I have a consultation with them this Friday to see what my options are. Because as much as I really don't want to get cancer, I also really don't want to be completely out of work for a couple months... 🙄 

 

It's not all bad news bears though! Like I said, I am working in my chosen field, and I currently have an adorable apartment with my lovely kitty, Monkey. And her biggest complaint right now is the weather 😅. Since I'm working in healthcare, I've already managed to get both vaccines, and when I (surprise!) tested positive for Covid at the beginning of December, I had a week of zero symptoms. So something in my body is working right! 🤭

 

Looking forward to keeping some amount of accountability through all of that mess, lol. Such as my meals  :

 

 

[tourennatrix]

Sleepy start to the challenge 😬

 

1. Daily Movement

>>> Movement has been ugh this week, but I have been working more hours (and thus, getting up and moving) a bit more than expected. Still not what I'm aiming for, but it's a non-zero amount of activity! Getting up and moving early in the morning or after work is so hard because I keep just... cocooning. Weather will be improving soon, so that should help!

 

2. Daily Peace

>>> Nothing yet- see above about work and cocooning

 

3. Eat with your Gut
Easing into mindful + intuitive eating. 
Step 1: actually log every meal for 1 week (forego harsh judgement on food choices)

>>> I have been mindful of my meals, but it's really easy to forget to take pictures of them, especially since I don't have set meal times so I can't just set a phone reminder or something lol. But it's definitely on my mind!

 

Project for week 1: 

Begin tracking hormone cycles and research "habits vs routines" based on monthly cycles of energy.

>>> After I make this post, I'm going to draw out a cycle tracker and then set reminders to check in with it daily.

 

I need to get back to my normal evening wind down routine this week when my apartment stops being so damn cold, this will be an excellent time to check in with my cycle tracker and do some "Daily Peace" activity

[tourennatrix]

Here is an update on  the Current State of Things (tm):

 

... I will be having surgery on March 15th. Yaaayyy.... =_= I am expected to have about a week in the hospital and around 6 weeks of recovery time before I get back to work hauling patients around. 

 

 

1. Daily Movement

>>> Work has granted me a non-zero amount of movement this first week, but I have not had as much as I would like. Tonight, after I write this, I will do some yoga before winding down for bed!

Also need to get my cardio on so I don't make a fool of myself when my nurses try to teach me how to use an incentive spirometer.*

 

2. Daily Peace

>>> Last night I finally re-initiated my bedtime routine which helps get my brain in the mindset of sleepytime. However I followed it up immediately by an hour of tiktok and 3 hours of tossing and turning. (Part of this might have been my midday nap too, but...) Time to enforce some bedtime phone rules and follow them. I also spent today setting up a peaceful space so I can sit and meditate somewhere other than my bed  

 

3. Eat with your Gut
Easing into mindful + intuitive eating. 
Step 1: actually log every meal for 1 week (forego harsh judgement on food choices)

>>> Oof. As much as I love the idea of a pretty photo log of all my meals, I'm just not likely to snap a photo of my meal replacement bar while I'm at work, or my snacks that I'm snacking out of nervous habit or something. 
Learn & Adapt
Step 2: actually write down every meal for 1 week. Check in with this log as part of the nighttime routine!

 

Project for week 1: 

Begin tracking hormone cycles and research "habits vs routines" based on monthly cycles of energy.

>>> I'm not quite sure what to do with this one, TBH. My cycle is going to get super thrown off towards the end of this challenge when I have my surgery, and really hard to  maintain any routine of checking my temperature in the morning since I probably won't have a regular sleep cycle for a while.  So maybe I'll table this until next challenge when I'm more on the recovery side of things.

 

Project for week 2:

Throughout the week, spend a total of 30-60 minutes looking for work, and submit applications for anywhere that looks reasonable. Do not spend excess time doing the searching. This will only compound stress

(My mentor gave me a little mentoring and said that for her first job, the employer held a position open for 3 months for her to graduate and pass her board exams, so I should be fine to apply for a job I won't be able to start for like 2 months 🙄 )

 

 

* As freaky as this situation is, I'm a little curious to be a patient, now that I know a little more about healthcare. I'll be at a different hospital than the one I work at (thank goodness, I don't need my coworkers helping me learn how to shower). I'll probably have physical therapy, but the kind I've only practiced in school. I haven't had to teach the respiratory side of things- how to breathe so you don't get pneumonia, how to cough so you don't bust your incision site. I'm probably going to feel a combination of "yeah I know how to do this" and "wow, this is harder than expected" and also probably make a fool of myself and need to remind myself that I will be on a lot of pain killers so making a fool of myself is half the fun. As long as I don't fall down 👍

[Mad Hatter]

9 hours ago, tourennatrix said:

... I will be having surgery on March 15th. Yaaayyy.... =_= I am expected to have about a week in the hospital and around 6 weeks of recovery time before I get back to work hauling patients around. 

Oof that's brutal. I'm sorry you have to go through this.

 

9 hours ago, tourennatrix said:

* As freaky as this situation is, I'm a little curious to be a patient, now that I know a little more about healthcare.

But I love this attitude and I'm sure it will make you a better and more understanding PTA. ☺️