In addition to CPTSD, I've lost 60% of my kidney function to another chronic illness, CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease) so I have permanent nerve damage in both legs.  I did  physical therapy for it at my local hospital for a month in March, and I've been doing the same therapy routine using the machines at a local gym I joined. 

I've done well keeping it up and have lost over 10 pounds and feel better, except for when I sprained my ankle on one of the machines and was on crutches for a week.  I really appreciated the support I got from here to get through that week.

I live in a poor small city in Appalachia and teach courses at the local community college for nursing students who mainly are training to leave town where there are jobs, since our city has lost half of its population since the factories here closed in the 1980s.

My town being so small, I'm bound to run into students at the grocery store, and I'm finding that's true of the gym, too.  Tonight I ran into 2 extremes of students:  one was a guy who was caught on a security camera cheating on an exam in my course, and the other was an awesome guy who is built like Arnold Schwarzenegger but is a hard worker and a gentle soul.

The cheater kept his distance, which was a good sign of healthy boundaries.  The other guy and I had a nice chat, though.  I teach as an instructor out of the closet about my PTSD diagnosis so my nursing students can learn about it and other chronic illnesses, and the latter guy really responded to that. 

I was really happy to learn, then, that not only did he finish our RN program at the college to be a nurse, but he's gotten a job as nurse at the local maximum security prison.  It's an excellent case of how his nursing qualifications and his muscle build match for a job.  

His fiancee was there working out, too, and I got to meet her.  They're getting married in July.  It was really a boost to see that teaching in a way that includes passing along what I learn here at DS PTSD was bearing fruit with a student after graduation.  Thanks for your support here in my doing that.  I met with stigma and resistance from administrators and colleagues when I came out of the PTSD closet in 2016 but your support helped me persevere and not quit.

I also learned to keep a gratitude journal from one of you here, and it helps me keep from just being triggered by the cheating student I saw at the gym tonight, and concentrate on having a good chat with the model student who was there.  I'm really happy I took the  advice I got here to keep a gratitude journal to balance out my hypervigilance for threats (like the cheating student's appearance at my gym tonight) and notice good students just as much, like the one I got to chat with tonight about his new nursing job and his upcoming wedding.

I didn't let seeing the cheater take the evening over, and I had a happy moment with the other guy.  Recovery in progress....   Thanks for the advice and support to learn how to live that way a little more.