Finally!

I am finally writing from our new home in Southwest Florida. It is beautiful here! Tonight after putting the kids to bed Jon and I watched the sunset from our front porch, pink and orange over a huge sky. We talked about how I have been feeling, and how amazing it is that we are actually here.

When we first rolled into town at the end of the longest drive of our journey, Cape Coral was deserted due to the Fourth of July holiday. No stores were open, and everything looked bleak and dreary, as a huge thunderstorm had just blown through (which added time to our trip, right at the end when we had all hit our limit of car-time!). Without saying a word, Jon & I knew what each other was thinking: "What on earth have we gotten ourselves into?". We had only visited this town once, for ONE day, during a three-day whirlwind tour of the area. We had never seen our home in person, but simply put our faith in the realtor I had found online, and trusted. We had some idea of the neighborhood in general, but not the specific street or area right around this home. We literally arrived here on faith.

Knowing what he was thinking, because it was the same as me, I told Jon, "Just don't think about it. Don't think about anything. Just get to the hotel, and we will see what happens tomorrow." I knew our emotions were not to be trusted. We had not slept in our own beds or our own home in 9 days. Even though it was fun to see friends and family, we were worn out from so many days of living out of suitcases and being in the car. That day in particular was the worst of all. We had woken at 5:45 AM in order to leave by 8, and didn't arrive in town until almost 6 PM. The hotel experience was less than ideal, only because it had two queen size beds and there were five of us, but we survived. The next morning we once again woke up before 6 so we could have breakfast and be at the rental office by 8 for the keys. By then, the sun was out and it was gorgeous. The town was alive again, and it was as beautiful as our favorite Caribbean island, Aruba.

Our entire family was filled with nervous excitement as we drove to our new home and finally unlocked the doors. It was better than we could have imagined! Beautiful, new, and clean, with rooms the perfect size for us, and giant closets for all the toys from our previously huge playroom (which we don't have here), this house has everything I could have ever wanted, and more. It is not a mansion by any stretch, nor is it total luxury, but it has a lot of high-quality features that seem to make life easier and more pleasant. There is something wonderful about a master bathroom with a giant soaking tub and a toilet with a door. Hello, relaxation! In choosing to live in Florida, one thing we considered a must was a swimming pool. For years in Pennsylvania we had been members of our community YMCA pool, and though we always had a blast there, for me, taking three children alone was more work than it was worth, and thus we didn't use it as much as we would have liked. Here, it is right out our back door, and we have the bonus feature of total privacy, since there are no neighbors next door and the canal behind us provides a generous buffer between us and the street behind. The view is truly incredible as well. There seems to always be a breeze: again, just like Aruba! When I am out there, I breathe as deeply as possible (which is still a little tricky on that pesky right side), and soak it all in.

Symptom-wise, yesterday was the first day I truly began to feel good again. It was also the final day of my SECOND round of antibiotics. 20 days in total, going back to mid-June. Finally, the signs of infection are all but gone, and I am breathing almost normally again. There is a slight sensation of swelling or congestion on the right side, but air is flowing, which feels fantastic. I am continuing with the strictest regiment of twice daily rinses with one pulmicort (steroid) rinse, two nasal sprays, twice a day (an antihistimine and a steroid), and Zyrtec. I am also continuing to take my supplements and vitamins, to which I recently added Calcium at the suggestion of the doctor friend we had stayed with in North Carolina. Apparently, prednisone gets in the way of calcium absorption, something which would have been helpful to know a long time ago, especially considering my age and gender. At least I know now, and am going to step up my calcium to try to make up for it.

Physically I am finally over the feeling of total exhaustion that has been with me for weeks. Unlike with past infections, when I would feel this way for no apparent reason, this time it was pretty clear that I was tired because of the physical labor involved in moving. Also, when I take prednisone I don't sleep as deeply, so probably this contributed as well. Yesterday I slept in until 8:30 for the first time in forever, and it felt great! Now I feel like I am almost back to my normal self, rested and just about over this infection (but not quite there yet).

Despite the boxes to unpack, things around the house have been mostly calm and quiet. The children are in heaven with the swimming pool out back, and they are highly motivated to get along, clean up, or eat all of their food if a chance to go swimming is the reward. Having a one-floor home seems to contribute to cooperation and happiness as well. While I am in the kitchen or laundry room, they are playing in one of their bedrooms just a few feet away. Somehow, it makes things easier and everyone has been super happy.

Now that we are getting settled, we have entered a small stage of having visitors, beginning with my mom's arrival from South Carolina. We are so happy to have her here! It is fun to finally have someone to share our joy with, as we can hardly contain it! In two weeks, Jon's parents will come as well! God has been so faithful to us so far, and we have no doubt that He will continue to provide for all of our needs, including my health and restoration as each day I feel better and better! We are incredibly thankful for all of the friends and family out there who have been praying for us. Keep it up-- it is working! I hope to continue to be able to post positive updates on this blog.

Tomorrow we are taking our first excursion over to Sanibel Island, which we visited back in April. It is one of the most gorgeous natural settings we've ever visited! Mom has never been there, so it will be fun to explore it some more with her, and to relax and let the kids play in the sun and sand for as long we we care to stay. After all, it will only be a thirty minute ride back home again!