This Brutiful Life

Physical Health:
I had a bunch of blood tests completed last week to update my medical data. I had 4 blood draw orders from 2 different doctors, so I went to an independent lab in order to get all of them done with one blood draw. There was a total of 12 vials of blood taken from my body.

The next day, I received notification that a small portion of my results were completed. I knew ahead of time that I might need to take action based on some of the results, so I checked the results to determine if any action was needed on my part. I immediately noticed that the lab technician entered the lab orders incorrectly at the lab, so one of the tests ordered by my PCP wasn’t listed in the results. I called the lab right away, and fortunately, after a few different departments were contacted, the lab was able to correct my order with the blood that they still possessed. It was a messy and annoying situation, though.

We are in the process of waiting for the rest of the results. We have quite a few medical appointments in the next month, so we are going to be super busy. There is not a month that we really get a break from medical appointments, but April and May are especially busy. As usual, we will be taking it one day at a time.

Emotional Health:
As I was dealing with the lab error, I was able to see my resilience that so many people in my inner circle speak to me about. I was annoyed in the moment, but I quickly went into solution mode. I had a plan B, C, and D for what I would do next based on the lab’s error. I am used to little bumps in the road, so I am able to feel my feelings and then move forward with relative ease.

Luckily, it was just the right time to have a slow weekend, and my husband and I were able to catch up on chores and TV shows/documentaries. We love the Apple TV show Shrinking, and I wrote about our love for this show in my Holiday PTO (2024) blog post. The last episode from Season 3 was just released, so it was time to re-subscribe to Apple TV to binge watch Season 3. We started watching Saturday morning, and since the episodes are short and the weather was not great on Sunday, we were able to watch the entire season this weekend between our chores. We thought it was another great season of the show!

We also watched Come See Me In The Good Light, an award-winning documentary on Apple TV. At first glance, this documentary seems like it would be sad. In fact, I wasn’t sure if I should watch it given the topic. However, it is a story about finding happiness during the most challenging times in life, and my husband and I could relate to many of the experiences described in the documentary even though the circumstances are different. My husband and I both felt less alone after watching it. [Side Note: If you are in the middle of a serious health situation, please pause before watching. My husband and I waited to watch it until it was the right time for us.] The overall message of the documentary was similar to this message from Yung Pueblo: