strength

Posted on July 12, 2023July 13, 2023 by RealEmbassyKid

Wellness Wednesday: Running Where I Learned to Walk

Omg you ran 5k next to the hospital where you learned how to walk again, what a special moment that must have been! Gemma, my Amsterdam physiotherapist, July 2023 https://videopress.com/v/7nRrgJBn?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&posterUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fraisedintheforeignservice.blog%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2023%2F05%2F8235c702-5f00-437a-948c-00f4406f833c_mov_avc_240p.original.jpg&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true Four years ago, when six weeks in an Amsterdam ICU had fully depleted my fitness-instructor muscles, I would have been thrilled simply to be able…

Posted on June 22, 2023June 22, 2023 by RealEmbassyKid

Wellness Wednesday: How Being Proactive Might Just Save Your Life

On Sunday, my Apple Watch buzzed me with the unhappy news that it had detected an irregular heart rhythm. If you have not been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, see your doctor. Apple Watch I had been sitting completely still, legs elevated, and had no palpitations or any other symptoms to indicate my heart was in…

Posted on November 9, 2022 by RealEmbassyKid

Wellness Wednesday: We Show Up Because It’s Fun!

The morning WECOACH Workouts class in my community pool

This amazing group of neighbors keeps me showing up in the pool. They are kind, supportive, and funny. You’d never know we were exercising!

Posted on October 13, 2021October 5, 2021 by RealEmbassyKid · 5 Comments

Wellness Wednesday: We Are in Training for Life

As I got older, I stopped thinking of exercise as training, until a near-death illness changed everything.

Posted on September 8, 2021 by RealEmbassyKid · 4 Comments

Wellness Wednesday: How I Built Back Better

In learning how to walk again, I found a way back to running.

Posted on August 11, 2021August 11, 2021 by RealEmbassyKid

Wellness Wednesday: Why I Celebrated My Two-Year “All Clear” With New Shoes

There was no question about trying to get my unresponsive feet into even the bigger Skechers — if you’ve ever tried to put a shoe on a baby, you get the idea.

Posted on July 7, 2021July 9, 2021 by RealEmbassyKid

Wellness Wednesday: How Am I a One-in-a -Million Outcome?

My nurses at OLVG Hospital are STILL in my corner!

In her opinion column in the Sunday New York Times, Dr. Daniela J. Lamas writes about unexpected ICU turn-arounds, when the grim repetition of bad news is trumped by unanticipated good news: … the one in a million outcomes, the patients who surprise and humble us.Daniela J. Lamas, pulmonary and critical care physician at Brigham…

Posted on May 5, 2021May 6, 2021 by RealEmbassyKid · 4 Comments

Wellness Wednesday: How I celebrated my second anniversary of being alive

As I sipped my first cup of coffee this morning, I checked for the Amsterdam time. It was about two in the afternoon, two years ago to the hour from when my heart stopped on May 5, 2019. My second anniversary We’d just crossed the Atlantic on a Holland America cruise ship and should have…

Posted on April 13, 2021April 13, 2021 by RealEmbassyKid

Travel Tuesday: Looking At The Dutch Tulips

Silk tulips at Amsterdam’s floating market

Visitors tiptoe through the tulips in Dutch virus test, wrote Mike Corder recently for the AP, documenting the opening of the famed Keukenhof Gardens for a lucky 5,000 people. It is one of hundreds of public venues that the Dutch government has allowed to reopen under strict conditions to evaluate whether rapid testing can safely…