One month ago today. August 10, 2014 will be a date that I will never forget.

Over the past four weeks I have felt more pain than I ever thought imaginable. 

I have felt helpless. 

I have laid in bed several nights slowly breathing through my nose and out through my mouth in an effort to fall back asleep while it feels like someone is drilling into my shoulder(s).

I have also read story after story about struggles that many of you have faced or are facing now.

It has been a hard four weeks for myself, Laura and my mother-in-law. We have had to deal with frustrations, face fears and we have celebrated wins.

While my shoulders have been healing a little more each day, there is still a lot of pain and discomfort. As we try to make progress every day in some area, it pushes my shoulders a bit more. Sometimes it is seemingly simple as taking a shower. Other times it is a hard physical therapy session. No matter what, we continue to push forward.

There are still things that we’re adjusting on a daily basis. Two nights ago we found a more comfortable way for me to sleep at night. I have also realized that I wake up between 2:45-4:45a every night in discomfort. That is half way into my 12:15a dose of pain meds and 30 mins after my 4:15a dose.

This gives me parameters to discuss tomorrow with my ortho surgeon since before it felt like it was the entire night. Maybe it was or maybe it took me some honing to figure it out.

Tomorrow we will be one week out from brain surgery. It is scary that we won’t know how it will affect me until I wake up from the surgery. But, we’re staying positive and focused continuing to take it one step, one day and one challenge at a time.

Tomorrow will also hopefully be the day I can remove the bumpers from my slings. Fingers crossed for that!

Today was the start of the football season. That alone brought a huge smile to my face.

Well, actually, the season started on Thursday night. So, it was the start football on Sundays again. Eh, you know what I mean. 

Just as the first games were getting underway I had the pleasure of spending time on video with Jay Baer. Jay is one of the people that I seek out to spend time with at conferences. He is kind, intelligent and an all around great friend.

A couple hours after jumping off of video with Jay came one of the craziest stories of this entire journey. 

Yesterday I received a Facebook message from Melissa Leon saying that AJ Leon wanted to video with me yesterday and needed to know my schedule. It wasn’t unusual that AJ wanted to video but it was unusual that there seemed to be a sense of urgency to it. Melissa and I bounced back and forth a couple of times.

A few hours later I receive a text from AJ that says:

Do you remember that time you were stuck at home and I flew to SF to drop off champagne and  beignets?

After confirming that he really had flown out to SF from NYC, we made plans for him to come over today. 

AJ stopped by while Laura and my mother-in-law were running errands. He brought beignets from our favorite spot for such deliciousness, Bourbon Steak, and Prosecco. While hanging out he tells me that he only had 1.5 hours or so before having to head back to the airport. 

AJ had flown across the country only to spend that 1.5 hours with me before heading back to NYC tonight to hop another flight to England tomorrow.

AJ and Melissa are two incredible friends. I can’t ever express how much that gesture meant to me. 

Tonight we’re planning on grilling a London broil, corn on the cob and a couple other sides. We have several options for dessert thanks to AJ bringing three orders of beignets; Lisa Horner sending a whole s’mores pie from a local restaurant and a number of other chocolates that have been sent to the house. 

Off to watch the Denver vs Indy game and enjoy this beautiful Sunday evening. Have a great Sunday night as you wind down the weekend.