The End & The Beginning ...

Wow! It's December 1st already and I'm feeling better than I have in a while! This week Linda and I have been on a vegan cleanse with my sister Celeste, my brother John, and another friend Kara. We keep in touch via Facebook in a private group called "21-Day Cleanse" ... it's been wonderful so far! We are barreling towards the end of this year and what a year it's been! So much has happened!


I made a decision this week. After discussing some things with my sister-in-law Martha on Thanksgiving, I decided to make a commitment to my health. Not to wait until 2012 or New Year's Day or even for "Monday" to start, but to begin immediately and move forward one day at a time. My CABG (cabbage) surgery was on April 14th, so on December 14th it will have been exactly 8 months. My surgeon informed me that it would take approximately one year to feel up to par and back to normal again ~ whatever 'normal' means LOL ... one year will take us up to April 14th 2012!!! Unbelievable!!! 


I have decided to begin some hard core training for mini-triathalons in 2012. Naturally, I need to reduce some of this excess weight, but as I train I am confident that the weight will begin to fall off steadily. Currently, I'm on a vegan cleanse for the next 15 days. I did this same cleanse last August (2010) and did not feel as good as I do now, but that may be because I was already struggling with four blocked coronary arteries at that time. 


I do feel much better now than I did last year and I'm certain that as I continue to reduce and train, I will feel a little better each day! I hope that you are all in on supporting me in my endeavors this year. I would definitely be there for you all if the situation was reversed, that is for sure! 


Thank you all in advance! 
Peace, Love, Happiness!


Kathi 

Nurse as Caring Project

I completed this project for my class Nursing as a Discipline and Profession at FAU in Fall 2010. We were asked to use our creativity to express a caring aspect of nursing and since I was working on a med/surg and rehabilitation unit at the time, I chose this theme. I go flat a few times and the recording is quite RAW ... but please try to overlook that ... it's the message that counts :)

Peace all ~
Kathi R.

Grateful!!

I'm so grateful to be alive today! It's been two months since my surgery, and every day I am thankful for my powerful intuition, which told me there was something not quite right with my heart. I am not ashamed to say that I feigned chest pains initially to be seen by my physician. I am not ashamed to say that on the way to the hospital I began to light a cigarette in my nervousness, but stomped it out immediately and threw a whole pack out the window! (Yes, I littered, but my justification is that some homeless dude who couldn't afford cigarettes thought the gods sent him a gift that day!) 


Anyway, today as I gaze out the window thinking back on my Life and every step that brought me closer to this moment in Time, I am so grateful to be alive. When I walk along the ocean's edge, taking in the tingling scents of the sea and tasting the salty breeze on my lips, I am so grateful to be alive. As I watch the children running, swimming, and playing on the beach and in the surf, I am grateful to be alive. I hear the gulls overhead screaming their dismay at not being handed any tasty morsels from the multiple coolers on the sand,  and I am grateful to be alive. 


I guess what I'm trying to express today is that no matter what Life throws my way, I'm making an effort to remember how thankful I am to be alive! No matter what.


Peace & Blessings to All ~
Kathi