Technology. I am a huge fan. It is because of this that our world goes round, with a few other things thrown in there too mind you. It is also because of this that the doctors found out that I didn’t have a stroke. They were able to narrow down my diagnosis using technology to treat my medical condition with MRI and CT scans, machines to test my blood, and Holter and Loop monitors to observe my heart. The advancements in technology have come so far and have been able to help millions of people in the process. Just look at Elizabeth Holmes and her state of the art development of blood tests that can scan for a multitude of diseases. All from one little prick of the finger. This is amazing and has the ability to change the world for the better.

I also love technology because it has allowed me to communicate with the world. Even when I could only chicken peck my way through a sentence often taking more time to spell my own name than anyone would have the patience for. See, my job is about communicating with others and helping others communicate for mass audiences. Increasing an online presence for a business via their brand marketing it to others. One problem was I was having trouble properly communicating verbally and orally. How was I suppose to help my clients, how was I going to work with only one hand and incomprehensible speech? Once this was taken away from me I wasn’t sure how or what I was going to do. One answer: Technology.

Sitting in my hospital room and my new home surrounded by beautiful flowers that my friends and family sent, all that I wanted to do was work. This word relax and rest was a foreign entity to me. Every morning the Nurse Practioner would pay me a visit to check in on my progress and instruct me of my job when I was there which was to work on getting better meaning physio and rest. Since I could not work I made sure that I put all of my time and energy into getting better. My goal was to walk down the aisle without a cane. At this point, I was still using a walker.

My computer still sat in the corner of room haunting me. Almost taunting me saying use me, do something. You can’t just lay there, you must use your time wisely. It had been drilled into me for so long that if you want something, you work for it, and you work hard for it. That means when I finally decided to pursue my dream of opening my own business I went all in. I was excited to work. My business was my baby. You can’t just not see your baby after nurturing it, caring for it and watching it grow for over a year. It was still in its infancy stage and this was crushing to me. I had to close down, or more-less I was instructed out of no choice to shut down. It was devastating and completely crushed. I feel like something inside of me died a little. Sidney brought my computer in for me, but I would just stare at it, for the most part, not able to open it to look at anything because what was the point.

All of my therapists knew that this was devastating for me. When they asked what I did on my free time I responded work. What did I read, business and entrepreneurial books? My life revolved around it. It was a part of me. The light had gone out inside of me when I had to send out emails to clients stating I was having a medical emergency and unable to work. I think it was more devastating because it wasn’t because I had failed to not bring in clients or keep it going closing was something that I couldn’t control and I controlled everything.

After a few weeks, I worked up the courage to ask when it was safe to go back to work. When it would be best to get re-introduced to my previous life. Everyone said that it would be up to me since I was self-employed I had the ability to make the decision. If it were someone who worked for a company they would be put on light duty and then work their way back to full-time status. The lines were a little grey and not really explained to me, but I decided that I would aim for September but incorporate the ‘light duty’ workload into my schedule. In September after our honeymoon was my goal. I liked goals it gave me something to strive for, something I could accomplish within the walls of my compound.

My Speech Language Pathologist suggested that since my hand was still ‘sleeping’, I should try voice to text applications on my computer. My speech and facial control were improving and this would help me even to look at things on the internet or send small emails. I was using an iPad to send emails and to keep an eye out on things even though I had an out of office set. It made me still feel involved. So I adjusted my computer settings to accomplish this and voila, my hope was brought back into my life.

This is an example of how I write my blogs below if my hand is ‘sleeping’ and how I can keep moving on with my life. It is a true blessing. I use the voice to text on my Mac.