Karwoski Life

So, something wonderful happened this weekend…September 14th came and went…and we nearly forgot all about it!! As we were getting ready for bed last night, and I was making my plans for the week, I realized it was the 14th. THE FOURTEENTH of SEPTEMBER …I stepped into the bathroom and told Matt that we had forgotten all about it being the 14th. He even mentioned that it was the 14th earlier in the day when I was trying to figure out the date, but neither one of us paid any attention to what the 14th really was. We both just took a moment for that to sink in…and I think it speaks volumes about where we are at right now. I knew in the back of my mind that it was coming…but it wasn’t looming ahead of us, this big, black, cloud…like in years past. It just quietly came and went, its significance no longer consuming all our thoughts and emotions. How much of a blessing is that!?! I simply cannot say how happy that makes me. While we often reflect back on the experiences and changes t...

Happy Belated Birthday to Matt!!!! Yesterday was Matt’s 33rd birthday! We spent the evening in kind of an unusual way…but it was all good! Matt had his first acupuncture treatment with Jay (the acupuncturist…not his buddy…just to be clear!). We went at 5:30 and didn’t end up leaving there until 7:00! Things just move at their own pace at Jay’s office, and you can’t really rush this kind of treatment. I guess it’s just another way in which TCM is so completely different than our typical medical treatments here in the US. Matt seemed pretty relaxed in Jay's office and even commented on how happy he was to be having the treatment in IOWA! ('I hear cars outside and I'm so happy because I know there are IOWANS driving those cars') We talked a little more about changes Matt could make to his diet to help promote healing in the various areas he struggles with as Jay placed the needles in Matt’s scalp, face, arm, hand, legs, and feet. The needles Jay used were smaller than ...

Today it really feels like fall is in the air. A cold front swept through yesterday afternoon and dropped our temperatures down into the 50’s overnight. We opened up the windows in the evening, only to close them again before bed…because it was TOO cold! I do love the changing of the seasons, but it sure seemed to come quickly. This time of year always comes with mixed emotions, but this year we are ready to step into the next phase of our journey, and I feel like we are in a good place. We had been discussing the possibility of seeing an Acupuncturist locally, in hopes that coupling some of the TCM treatments with the exercises that Amy had given Matt would help continue to provide improvements. I had been emailing a couple TCM providers over the past week or so and last night we met with one. Right away he put us both at ease with his knowledge, experience, and personality in general. We talked briefly about the treatments Matt has had, the benefits he has seen, and the areas he’...

We were able to get in to see Dr. Struck today and discuss the Botox idea. She wanted to go through the pros and cons with us before moving forward. Her biggest concern was that the Botox could create muscle weakness in the injected areas of Matt’s arm/hand. She worried that his grip would be weakened and didn’t know how much of an impact this would have on his daily life. We explained that right now Matt hardly uses the right hand at all except to steady himself while standing, or transferring…and we both agreed the risks were minimal and wanted to go for it. She also broke down the different muscle groups that are impacted, in ways we never really looked at before. The tremor makes Matt’s fingers clench up like a fist and it also makes his wrist move back and forth. Matt agreed that the finger clenching was the most bothersome to him and we decided to try and treat that first. She was a little leery of injecting both areas at once, this first time, even though she really wanted ...

Phew…another busy week and weekend are winding down and we’ve finally got some time to sit back and enjoy the beautiful weather we’ve been having. 75 and sunny…it really doesn’t get much better than that! Friday we had Tim and Mary over for dinner. We hadn’t seen them since leaving China, so it was really nice to catch up with them and talk about our experiences together. They are settling back into a routine back home and are doing well. It was really good to see them, and I’m sure we’ll do so from time to time…they’ve definitely touched our lives! Saturday afternoon we headed down to our church picnic for a time to visit with the folks there and enjoy a cookout. We sat in the shade with the breeze blowing through chatting with various friends. They are always so happy to see us, and Matt always feels right at home amongst them…it’s a good feeling. We left there and went over to Blake and Amy’s for their annual ice cream party where we hung out on their patio sampling their lates...

It’s a beautiful day today and we’re just getting settled down to watch the race. We got up early this morning to go have breakfast with my college roommate Amy, her husband, and their 2 kids. I can’t remember for sure when the last time was we saw Amy and Andy, but we still lived in Boone…so obviously it was a LONG time ago. It was so nice just to see her smiling face and catch up a bit. They recently moved to Rochester, MN so I think I may have to plan a trip up to do some ‘holiday’ shopping later this fall. While we both grumbled to get up so early, it is nice to have accomplished all of my tasks earlier in the day and now we can just relax! We stopped at Menard’s after breakfast and picked up, what else, but more mulch. I think I should have stock in Menard’s cypress mulch…I must have 50 bags of it in the yard already! We inherited a few more soaker hoses from Blake and Amy and I wanted to put them in the flower beds and add more mulch to cover the bare spots. So, after we ...

A funny thing happened on our way to buy a new bed… So, about a year ago Matt and I decided to get a new mattress. We’d had our old one for a number of years and while we had liked having a firm mattress, after months of therapy and physical changes to Matt’s body, he started having back issues again. We went out and bought a softer pillow top mattress, but after a few nights we both agreed it was way too soft, as we were both having back issues. So (feeling a little like Goldilocks) we went back and got a firmer plush model. We both tried to convince ourselves that it would be fine…that we’d adjust to the softer mattress, but unfortunately we both seem to wake up stiff and sore now. Of course, the entire time Matt was in China he practically slept on a board, and his back felt great…NO issues. As soon as he got home, however, his back troubles flared back up again. I started researching Sleep Number beds, thinking that the ability to adjust the firmness of each side would benefici...