This past weekend my daughter and I went to camp (she as a camper, me as a counselor). It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it. This camp is situated on a small river as well as a couple of man-made lakes.

At some point, they built a huge cross on the top of a pretty steep mountain. Now I say mountain because I live in Texas and it's bigger than a hill, but not as big as the mountains in say Colorado. But still high and steep. One of the really cool things they do is offer a hike up this "mountain" to the cross which has a phenominal view of the valley and river below. I really wanted the experience and my DD decided she wanted to go as well. She's only 8 and I wanted to share this experience with her. I was fairly confident I could make the hike as I've been jogging almost everyday for the past month on an incline, but you have to climb up this rock shelf (about 6 feet high) from the river which means it's slick and very smooth from past flooding. There were two big guys standing at the top pulling people up. Now my first thought was "OMG, what if I jerk them off that shelf?" But I figured they both weighed more than me or at least that was what I was praying. Turns out I didn't jerk them into the river and I climbed up just fine. The hike was very steep, muddy, and rocky. I'm only 5'4" and have very short legs. Some of the rock ledges along the trail were up to my chest which means pulling myself up on more than one occasion.

I made it to the top, winded, but I made it just the same!! I would not have even tried that a couple of months ago. It would have been something that my DD would have missed out on as well because she wouldn't have gone if I didn't. I said a prayer of thanks at the top for beng able to experience something that was so beautiful. I felt such a sense of accomplishment and I finally felt like I could live my life the way I wanted. I still have a long way to go, but at least I'm trying new things with less fear.

I also went down the infamous "Wet Willie". This is a huge slide that you have climb up several flights of stairs to get to and slide down into the lake. I'm terrified of heights, but again my DD wanted me to do it. Once you get to the top you can feel it swaying in the wind and it took all of my power not to panic. There was a very large group from my church and all the adults went up. No way I would have done that before. I had no problems getting into a life jacket and no problems swinging into the slide. Yes, you have to swing from a bar to get into it. I screamed like a girl all the way down!! :cool: I probably wouldn't do it again, but at least I can say I've done it once!! I didn't particularly care for the atomic wedgy that I received when I hit the water either.

I feel like I'm finally living my life again. I can be the fun person I am and hold my head high because I'm more confident and feel good about myself. That alone was worth having surgery! My journey may be long, but I'll finally get to where I want to be. I feel great and am looking better each day! What an amazing gift I've been given.

Congrats hun.. It must feel great. Keep up the good work.