Q4 2022

I've been writing a lot of posts the past few weeks and not publishing because I needed to get all my thoughts out.

C Update

Since my last public post, I have a confirmed surgery date, made some life changes for the last few months of the year, and realigning my priorities. I'm working with a great surgeon at Duke Cancer Center. He has been so thorough and thoughtful, especially with my anxieties at an all time high. This is definitely really a scary thing because it's an overnight stay at Dule Hospitaland going under general anesthesia. Shit got real when I got all my pre-op indo, which included a reminder to bring my Advance Care Directives (living will) and my HC POA with me. Thankfully I had my estate plan completed by estate attorney extraordinaire my friend Justin, back in 2017. I pulled the important docs and made sure the people I named had an electronic copy. I'm also super lucky my forever bff AW is planning to come down to NC the day before my surgery, will drive me to Duke, stay with me overnight, and then back with me at my house afterwards for a few days.

It looks like I will be out for all of December (the court schedule at least) on medical leave and plan to take the last 2 weeks of the year after courts close to tie up all the month/quarter/year end things for the firm. I'm so thankful for all the support I've received the past two weeks since opening up about what I've been going through.  It has been super unexpected but that's a demon I'll have to deal with in my head.

Fitness Goals

So with all the things going on, I've generally been keeping up with my Burn Boot Camp workouts each week. I am consistently hitting 4-5 at-home camps per work week and going on multiple 15min walks on the weekend days. This past week, my body was just exhausted so I took Friday as a rest day from Burn and let my body recover. 

This time last year I was hitting 7 workouts a week, 6 burn camps and one 5K run every weekend. My body was constantly achey, I wasn't feeling great, stress (mentally or physically on my body?) all put me in a horrible months long RA flare. I do miss 2021 Manisha size but life is an up and down and I'll get back there eventually& hopefully but with better overall health.

All the Rest

So, I decided about 1.5wks ago to stop drinking alcohol for the rest of the year. I felt like Q4 is a perfect time to get a full detox/cleanse of my system but cutting out alcohol for a while. I know I need to make changes to my diet/nutrition overall but lately I've just had the mindset that, "well, I could die tomorrow so I'm gonna eat that taco bell Mexican pizza today." This is not the healthiest mindset but this bout of depression, health problems, and physical exhaustion has just put my head in a crappy place. 

I did surprise myself on Sunday though and I finished putting my new bar stand together. I thought it would take me so much longer but I put a third of it together 2wkends ago and I finally finished it today. 

Even though I won't be partaking in any of this alcohol for a whole, at least it all looks great&organized!!!

We survived Hurricane/Tropical Storm Ian but it's been a wet few days. I spent some much needed time snuggling Rusty this weekend and hope the next couple weeks are nice and quiet.

The Big C

Sooooooooo. The big C. 

This was never something I imagined I would ever have to deal with in my life but here we are. And if you know me, you know I deal with awkward and uncomfortable situations with humor so here's Michael Scott thinking an ingrown hair was cancer/STD.

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My stress and anxieties have been on overdrive and out of control since I got the call from my doctor back in August. I limited who I shared this information since it was pretty early and still getting tests and waiting to meet with a good surgeon. I took a chance and talked to my fam (parents, sibs&their spouses) pretty early on, which I know I could not have done without my bff Carlie as my nonstop support. When I shared with my family about my Rheumatoid Arthritis back in 2016 and it did not go well, which made me close up and not share much at all with the family or publicly. All that changed when a law school classmate shared her battle and kicking breast cancer's ass a handful of years ago and truly inspired me to be more open abt my RA and all the hits/misses with my treatment&RA meds. All this feels like an alternative reality but I am taking it all day by day with my close circle around me to hold me up when I can't do it alone.

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After a month (or so) of stress not sleeping or eating, I finally got some concrete answers after a lonnnnng visit to Duke Cancer Center.

So thankful for this beautiful 🦋🦋 for coming with me and being a rock for me all that day.

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One thing I didn't mention in my life update post was that I also became a Burn Boot Camp addict. After joing the local Greensboro gym in January 2020, covid shut all the things down and I started working out with the BBC headquarters' 9AM Livestream workouts. The master fitness programmer at Burn HQ Matt Morris and all the ladies who workout on the lives have become and feel like my own gym fam. I was so excited to visit Burn Lake Norman in June when I was in Charlottw for a conference and it was amazing to finally meet everyone I had spent 2+ yrs working out with at home! 

Wish I lived closer to Burn LKN!!!!

The Burn Live crew sent me this beautiful arrangement of roses and berries as I deal with this diagnosis and try to figure out what the coming months hold for me.

I am literally at such a loss trying to wrap my brain around this and the C and for all I care it can go fuck itself but I'm going to trust my triple vetted surgeon at Duke Cancer Center and his team.

So now, I'm just going to lean on my besties, who a have been amazing humans. Asking for help, support, someone to lean on, etc. is so hard for me but if you can't when cancer is involved, when IS the time to ask for help?

One of the reasons I decided to start blogging again is because a wise friend of mine always suggests that I get back to blogging whenever a crazy/stressful time faces me (thanks AW!). I used to love this blog back in the day so I'm looking forward to sharing my workouts again, super fun and cute outfits, and this journey with the big C.

 

Where have I been??!

Over 4 yrs ago, I thought I was gonna revive this blog, and here I am finally doing it. I'm in a completely new law firm, still practicing family law and living the best life I can for myself and my sweet baby angel, Rusty M. Patel.

In all this time, I've had a TONS of life changes. 

On November 1, 2018, I opened my very own law firm. The past almost 4 years have been a roller coaster, but I wouldn't change it for anything. Check it out: www.lawofficeofmpp.com.

In February 2020, I started a new infusion medication to treat my rheumatoid arthritis. I was originally diagnosed at the end of 2015 and have been working with the same rheumatologist since the beginning of 2016. Through many ups and downs, trials and errors, oral meds, and at-home injections, we finally found a biologic that works for managing the RA pain, flares, etc., through an infusion I get every 4 weeks. It's hard most months and if I don't eat beforehand, the side effects are horrible yet not the total worst thing versus living with the horrible RA pain.  

Covid hit and all hell broke loose. I went to Puerto Rico in February 2020 and then went again in January 2022 and all the time in between was like living in an alternate reality that is somehow still ongoing.

Since my last real post, my sweet niece Zara has grown up so fast and I have a fun little nephew named Avi.
Last month, we had a fun family trip to Oak Island, NC with all seven adults and the tiny angels.

CLEARLY, it's been a minute since I composed a post because I cannot for my LIFE get these pictures aligned like I want but OH WELL. Life's short, I'm exhausted (what else is new) and it's time to leave the office and get home. I've got court in the AM and a big day.