14 years ago today I graduated from high school. I know that's not a lot of time for some readers, but it makes me feel a little old. And like I have not accomplished very much, because most people I know that graduated with me have families and/or careers by now.
But I know I'm doing well to be relatively healthy and living on my own the best I can.
I went back to the doctor today, and was told that it looks like the infection is gone. I still have a few more days of antibiotics, though.
And now I'm dealing with something else new. Physical addiction to the pain medicine oxycodone, which they were inadvertently giving me every time I told them I was in pain, rather than asking me if I wanted a lesser kind of pain medicine instead. I was unaware of this until I noticed that I had been full of manic and shaky energy for three days, unable to sleep. But now that I have figured it out and almost totally stopped the medication, withdrawals are just as bad. Yesterday, I lost my lunch and went to bed soon afterwards for the entire rest of the day, curled up into a ball and shaking violently like the portrayals of addicts in rehab one sees on TV.
Today, because of the doctors visit, I stayed out of bed, but I'm still shaking a little and feeling pretty puny. Hopefully tomorrow will be better, because I'm going to see Max.
I guess it's true what they say about taking things one day at a time. For now, it's all I can do.
But I still hope my high school teachers, staff and friends, the few I had, remember me fondly and would be proud of me now.
For the record, I did not enjoy high school in the least. I was the only one in a wheelchair who was not mentally disabled for a long while, I was never invited on a date of any kind, not even the proms. So when I see those nostalgic 80s movies about high school and how wonderful it was, I get sad and angry. And now these people from my class are trying to add me on facebook, trying to pretend like we were best friends back then and that they still care now. In the lingo of the time: whatEVER! I was going through serious crap at home, and my only friends were some of the teachers. But looking back on it today, I understand why a lot of people get nostalgic for those days. They were, or at least should have been an easier time in our lives, the end of our childhood, etc. etc.. For me it was not either one, but I'm proud of what I have become, mostly, and I'm curious to see what the next 14 years will bring.
In the words of an old song I am hearing on TV, que sera sera, or however you spell it.