AZ Update

I’ve been out here in AZ for almost a month and I’m just starting to get a work flow going. I’m finally feeling settled but I’ve got some deeply ingrained habits to change relating to writing and work. I spent a year just trying to hold myself together and I built up a lot of dopamine seeking habits which only made me feel better in the short term. 

One thing that has been fairly easy to do is make sure that I get some outside time every day. I’m living with a dog now so making myself go take a short walk is a lot easier. Something I have noticed though is that every time I take a walk that is longer than five minutes I have the weird sensation/not sensation going on in my legs. I don’t know if that’s just going to be how it is now or if I keep taking walks that will happen less.

Making my daily drum videos for TikTok has been going pretty well. I’ve only skipped a day or two here and there. These past two months I’ve drummed the most consistently ever in my life and that feels really good. I even bought a new drum not too long ago. It’s a handpan and I didn’t think I’d be able to afford this kind of drum but a fella out here was selling one for just about half the price and I couldn’t pass on that opportunity.

My morning routine is definitely stronger than my shut down before bed routine right now. I’m really good at making sure I get food in me and take my meds within an hour of waking up. I also got some seeds planted in pots and I have to step outside on the patio to water them and I’ve easily been able to work that into my morning routine. My evening routine seems to be getting in bed and reading until I’m exhausted. I’d like to work stretching and journaling back into my evening routine but haven’t quite gotten there yet. 

I tried to make an appointment with the neurologist recommended to me by my care team at Johns Hopkins but I ran into something I had never experienced before. When I called I was told that if I made an appointment before I had insurance coverage I would have to pay out of pocket even if I had insurance coverage by the time of the appointment. So I told them that I would call back when I had that coverage. I finished the application for health insurance today and I hope that I will be able to make that appointment real soon.