Issue 009: Health Update and Instagram Check-In

In this Letter: Health update, Wealthy Struggles, Study Insanity and Instagram Check-in

Assalam o Alaikum friend,

This past weekend, we made a trip to El Paso, TX again. There was a recall for our Subaru that needed attention and seeing that our tiny town does not have the car’s dealership (or any dealership), an overnight trip to the bustling mountainous city was in order. My weekend-trip bags are becoming more and more efficient with one carrying the change of clothes for the next day nestled under the pajamas and a prayer hijab, and the other, a tote bag, carrying the toiletry essentials. As always, we made pit stops at health food stores (namely Sprouts and Whole Foods), another at the halal meat store, packing everything in an ice-filled cooler before heading home the following day (psst, I found a good matcha place this time!). There was a new friend in our now-safe and freshly cleaned car on our way back. I saw the beauty on the grocery floor with a price of only $25, which is a pretty good deal with a Fiddle Leaf Fig! So she spent a night in our car and came home with us the following day. I hope she likes it here 💕

01 // Health Update

I have great news to share with you! I cherish sharing such health updates with you because so many sisters from the Sunnah Family have expressed support during my chronic illness woes and remember me in their duas. It is humbling and it connects me deeper within the Family. So I am beyond grateful to share with you that I had great numbers after the recent blood test, alhumdulillah! Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, an autoimmune disease of the thyroid, has been a forced-friend for almost four years now and we have had our ups and down in the relationship. One thing to note with this disease is the antibody count in the blood work. That is the only way to know how the disease is progressing and the antibodies directly impact the T3 and T4 hormones. Well, {$name}, my numbers have never been better. Ever since my Naturopathic Doctor tried a different approach, my energy levels have been steadily stabilizing and even before getting on call with her, I knew that my health was dramatically better because I had been feeling great for months. In fact, the last time I felt this good was two years ago during which I made an autonomous decision to fast Ramadan which plummeted me into the most drastic dip in health yet. My antibody count was around 300 then. Needless to say, I will not be fasting this Ramadan again but I am grateful to be able to begin living with steady energy and continue to avoid triggering foods that hamper the progress. An allergy-specialist’s appointment is on my to-do list. After two years of constant attention, My antibody count was down to only 40 and my T3 and T4 hormones almost down their normal range, alhumdulillah! My check-ins have been extended to every 6-months, in contrast to the 3-months, for the first time and I am hopeful that the treatment protocol will continue to bring good news, insha’Allah

02 // Wealthy Struggles

A random BuzzFeed article came into my attention last week and it gave me a moment of pause. The article shared salaries of several people, from those who are financially strained and to those who are fairly well-off. One person, a partner at a law-firm, shared how he has a few weeks of paid vacation with a 800K salary. That is a very high salary here in the US! He added a caveat that he works long hours, rarely gets weekends off, and is expected to bill 60 hours per week. We tend to think that those who are financially well off are enjoying life most days but really, there is some sort of a struggle and a corresponding test for all of us. It reminded me to be grateful for our condition, just as it is.

03 // SnapTravel discount!

Before purchasing something, I always like to see if there is anyone offering a discount code to help mitigate the cost. This is one such discount code that I’m excited to share to help you, if needed, to reduce the cost of hotel stays by 10%. We have been staying in more hotels than we’d like due to having to travel for necessities (like the one last weekend) and SnapTravel has been a pretty frequent destination for good deals. For your next trip, use this link to get 10% off or use the code “2MWOj9” at checkout. (You can get additional discounts here)

04 // Study Updates

Remember in a Wednesday Musings letter a few weeks ago I shared my surprise at having a very easy first week of grad school? Well, that has changed! Two weeks ago, I saw a reading homework of 30 pages. Psshht, not a problem at all, right?! I planned to read it in a day and do the remaining article readings the following day. Who was I kidding? 5 pages took me one hour. Just five pages. I had to quickly readjust my schedule, add on additional day of studying, and remind myself that I am only taking one class. I was going to send you this letter last week but the readings caught me off guard! This week, the assignment consists of reading 40 pages and I think I am going to melt into my office chair.

Why so long? I don’t know if reading 5 pages an hour is an acceptable time frame but my process currently is like this: Read the text on the computer (online school have e-books, generally), take notes on an open word document alongside it, and when done, review the notes and summarize in a notebook. I spent a lot of time comprehending everything so that I can understand it as learning is primarily happening online. In addition to textbook readings, we have article/journal readings, discussion posts, responses and assignments with almost all due religiously every week. It is a process and, as challenging as it is so far, I am enjoying it!

05 // Back to Instagram?

I am missing everyone on Instagram! It has been calling my name more and more but I know that I need to wait just a little longer to finalize my study schedule. I thought I was at that point, but clearly not! Insha’Allah these next two weeks will give me a better understanding and I can’t wait to catch up with everyone in the stories when I return.

06 // Interesting Tidbits

This video by Sh. Abdal Hakim Murad was heart soothing.
Check out the Live streams from different cities around the world

I think bi-weekly letters might be the new schedule, my friend. As much as I want to meet you here every week, I would like to give you more than just complain about course load 🙂

It is my dua that you are doing well at this beautiful March beginning and that your heart is slowly being prepped for Sha’ban and the subsequent Ramadan.

With Love,