Absenteeism

Yes, I have been taking a sabbatical. No, I have not dropped off the face of the earth. Yes, I am still participating in rehab and working as much as I can on my Vocational Rehabilitation plan.

I am taking a few classes to help move me back toward being employable- math and English. I spent much of the summer going over basic arithmetic and was able to test into a high school algebra class- so much harder than you might imagine. I am holding my own. With a lot of review and practice I am holding on to a C- This is not easy considering that after surgery I had to relearn the names of three dimensional shapes and how to recognize the symbols of numbers.

My English class I love, but I have found that I have strong opinions and have no fear in sharing them. If someone is wrong, they are wrong. Another classmate was spouting off online about gaming, girls, and sexual biases. I kind of tore him up. I called out each of his arguments and explained in detail how they were not based on fact but only on a narrow perspective that he was in no way interested in expanding. I then offered to help him learn how and when he could broaden his perspective instead of sitting, entrenched, in his biases. My offer has not yet been taken up.

Yes, all my work is online, I can't handle the stress of physical classes. I do have an elaborate IEP and I have to have proctored exams. On my math midterm I got an 83%. That has never happened in my entire life. My left brain seems to be able to learn information better than it has in years, it just takes me an incredibly long period of time.

During all of this I also got to cope with the special problem of developing a tolerance for a medication- meaning that my dosage was creating side effects. Withdrawing from this med is compared to weaning off of drugs- not the funnest thing I have ever done. I will be glad when this part is over. This means that my brain and system are learning to cope with additional stress and strain without pharmacological help. I am treading water and making baby steps forward. The plan is to still be able to function as fully as possible. I will get there, why, because I am too stubborn to do anything else. A half life is not enough. Until then I do my best, I love my boys, and I count my blessings everyday.