As I was attempting to find my routine amidst classes starting, I struggled a lot with trying to get ahead.

 

I typically try to get at least a week ahead in homework so if I flare-up, I don’t have to stress about making up the work since it would just snowball (and there’s just too much work to make up on top of the work you have assigned currently).

 

My weekly calendar looks deceivingly empty with classes only on Mondays and Wednesdays leaving so many days “empty”.

 

I fumbled a lot with measuring my energy because after my first day of classes, I tried to do homework and ended up crashing because it was too much for my body and I should’ve used it as a rest day.

 

I also had an hour break in between my first and second class on Monday’s and Wednesdays and it took me a long time to accept that it had to be a rest time and not a time I worked ahead.

 

This semester I am taking two classes I missed when I left for medical leave in the fall of my sophomore year, along with one class I have to take now-the fall of my junior year.

 

Since this is rather atypical (taking them at the same time-which would only happen in a transfer student situation or a missing the semester situation), the courses are known for a heavy workload and homework load.

 

Through trying to navigate this all and my heavy course load, I frustratingly learned that I could only get a class ahead and not a week ahead since there was simply just too much work and not enough time.

 

I had many days of frustration where I’d come home and cry because I hadn’t figured out the routine yet and/or that my body wasn’t enabling me to be able to do more.

 

My schedule was:

Monday – Classes

Tuesday- Rest Day

Wednesday- Classes

Thursday- Rest Day

Friday- Homework

Saturday- Homework

Sunday- Homework

 

And that was my routine. It became frustrating also because I didn’t have any time in my schedule to do anything that “I” wanted to do.

 

Intermixed within all of this of course, was…. *drumroll* …. Doctor’s appointments!!!

 

The week of September 19th I had two doctor’s appointments on Monday and Wednesday both regarding the foot injury from two years ago.

 

The first appointment was on September 19th with a dermatologist to check the condition of the skin since the damage that was done with the cortisone injections back in 2020.

 

They were very kind and I felt so much déjà vu having to re-recite my whole medical history to a new person on the case.

 

It was a relatively short visit and they stated that the skin looks significantly improved since last year and that they just want to see me in three months to make sure no malignancies form under the skin.

 

They also recommended that I not do the tissue biopsy since they said they couldn’t see how that would benefit me in any way (within trying to find out what the injury is).

 

On September 21st, I had my appointment with my orthopedic surgeon-who it was so great to see after a year!

 

They said they were very sorry to hear about all of the GI issues, but they said the foot looked a lot better. They said they wanted me to see if it still hurts to walk without my special padding because if it still does, they wanted to consider pursuing the tissue biopsy.

 

They want to see me in 6 months, so the foot stuff is good to continue being on hold!!

 

In other news, my schedule has loosened up a little and I’ve been fitting in a couple creative activities such as drawing again (digitally and with paper), writing these blog posts, and doing a puzzle!!

 

My breathing has also been getting better since the humidity is dropping (since it’s getting colder outside) so I’ve been practicing walking up and down a flight of stairs for one of my classes.

 

I encountered a new scenario with my backpack last week that had not happened yet and I’m still working on what could’ve been a better solution to the issue.

 

I was on my way to class when I heard a beeping sound and eventually realized the sound was coming from me (which I was MORTIFIED).

 

It was my pump -of course- and I was walking really quickly in order to get to the building my class was in, to be able to shut it off. I unzipped the bag (which to reach the ‘silence’ button, I have to fully expose the whole TPN bag) and by the time I hit ‘silence’ whatever the error was, fixed itself!!- AGHHH!!!

 

For the rest of my two classes, I just remained in fear that it might go off again….

 

I figured it was likely a line occlusion or something that resolved itself when I opened the bag.

 

In better news, last weekend I also had callbacks for the show I’m working on in the spring which I helped run and it went great!!

 

It was so great to be back in a stage management position (I’m the first assistant stage manager for this show) and I got to chat a little with everyone that was called back.

 

And you better believe it- the following day I didn’t get out of bed until 4pm from the energy it took the previous day to do that ;-) .

 

So, continuing to work on getting my body used to using more energy (slowly) and also getting used to this new school routine that is starting to sink in now (plus now I have more time to do some things I want to do in the week).

 

See what happens next in Emma’s story, “Boo! Vaccine Side Effects!”