Sorry for the lack of posts lately, but I've had a miserable week. I'm working FT hours, part of those in the office, and it's been really rough. The musculoskeletal pain I had before my surgery is back and worse than ever, and I'm really suffering. I hate taking things like pain medication, but believe at this point I need something a lot stronger than what I have to get me through the next few weeks until I can get the IVC filter removed.
Based on my research, the filter is placed in an area where the blood goes from the heart to the legs, which I'm hoping explains why my leg pain is worse than it's ever been. I'm really just beside myself, as the pain is nothing short of torture and nothing provides any relief at this point. If I could just sleep away the days between now and Feb. 13 I would, but unfortunately I have to find the strength somewhere to get through this obstacle and not completely lose my mind. :-)
On a positive note, I did see a new primary care physician yesterday. I have to have pre-admission testing done before the filter removal, which means I could go through the same roadblock I did before my surgery - a low platelet count. I'm going to have the blood work done on Monday, so that will hopefully give me time to raise the count if needed without having to push the procedure back. I liked the PCP, though I'm sure I overwhelmed her with my history and situation. The nursing staff was unbelievably friendly, which made up for the fact that the office was older and smelled a bit like a nursing home. Of course the true test will be how I'm treated if there are problems with my pre-admission testing and how its handled. I'm hoping for the best.
Besides the horrible leg pain, my back is doing better. At first I was finding it really hard to spend more than a couple of hours in my chair at work without the back pain increasing, but yesterday I didn't have any problems. The biggest issue is my right hip. While I thought that issue had been cleared up, the driving and sitting at work has aggravated it again. At least with that I can put ice on it or sit in the recliner and after awhile it goes away. If only there was something I could do with the leg pain that would be that easy of a cure!
Before I go, on a side note Brad's mom was transferred from a Des Moines hospital to a nursing home in Anita this past Monday, which is only seven miles from Adair - her home town. She is continuing the dialysis treatments and responding well. Brad's sister and family were there for a visit this past week, and now his brother and family are there for two weeks. Brad's mom indicated that she wants to continue the dialysis next week; at this point things are just being determined week by week.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Day 36
Today I was to go into work for a part day but decided to stay at home and work instead. I was out of pain medication, and the pain was just too unbearable. I'm starting to get frustrated at this point, though I have to keep reminding myself that it's too early for that. I still need that filter removed, and until that happens I can't start coming to any conclusions.
I did finally get my medications yesterday afternoon, and it will take me a few doses to get back on track. My other big news is that I'm trying to get out of the of the Cleveland Clinic system, and think I found a local osteopathic/internal medicine physician who is with the other big giant around here - University Hospitals. I've heard wonderful things about them, and figured I would give them a try. I need pre-admission testing done before my filter removal, and could not bear to think about going back to my Cleveland Clinic primary care physician after what her and her team put me through in the past. I refuse to give them more money!
Tomorrow I'm planning on doing a part day at work, so I'm hopeful that will go well. I don't believe I should have snow to contend with this time, so hopefully my commute home won't mimic the one I had last Wednesday.
I did finally get my medications yesterday afternoon, and it will take me a few doses to get back on track. My other big news is that I'm trying to get out of the of the Cleveland Clinic system, and think I found a local osteopathic/internal medicine physician who is with the other big giant around here - University Hospitals. I've heard wonderful things about them, and figured I would give them a try. I need pre-admission testing done before my filter removal, and could not bear to think about going back to my Cleveland Clinic primary care physician after what her and her team put me through in the past. I refuse to give them more money!
Tomorrow I'm planning on doing a part day at work, so I'm hopeful that will go well. I don't believe I should have snow to contend with this time, so hopefully my commute home won't mimic the one I had last Wednesday.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Days 32 - 35
It's been a tough few days, hence my lack of writing. I've been having difficulties getting prescriptions refilled, one in particular that helps the most with the pain. While it was called in on Thursday, the pharmacy put a hold on it stating they needed additional information from the physician because they are out of state. The pharmacy of course says it called the surgeon's office and left a message, but unfortunately this seems to be a habit with them over the last several months - blaming someone else. So for the last several days I've been suffering as I have minimal pain medication left, and have been trying to stretch it out until Monday. The leg pain is the worst, and most of the time unbearable. I'll be glad when I have my medications in hand again. I hate taking the darn things, but the pain is too severe at this point to function without it.
This all comes at a bad time, as I'm trying to put in a full time-plus schedule with work from home, and it's draining. So I'm trying to muddle through as best I can, trying to accomplish as much as I can while ignoring the total discomfort I'm in...or at least attempting to ignore the pain, as I don't believe I've been too successful lately.
On the plus side, I'm now able to drive a car on my own, and have been getting out more. Last night we went to Lowes and Home Depot to walk around. I didn't feel like it, but it's good for my healing back to make sure I keep a certain level of activity. Regarding my back, the pain is very minimal and I'm still shocked at how much mobility I have considering I had a fusion. All of my issues surround my legs at this point, and my right arm as my carpal tunnel pain has also come back full force, likely due to all of the time I'm spending on my laptop.
This afternoon I'm working away on my laptop again while listening to movies play in the background. We have free HBO and Cinemax this weekend, and there's been some good stuff on I've been wanting to see. Currently watching "The Darjeeling Limited." I'm 15 minutes into it, and so far I'm not impressed; hopefully it gets better from here!
This all comes at a bad time, as I'm trying to put in a full time-plus schedule with work from home, and it's draining. So I'm trying to muddle through as best I can, trying to accomplish as much as I can while ignoring the total discomfort I'm in...or at least attempting to ignore the pain, as I don't believe I've been too successful lately.
On the plus side, I'm now able to drive a car on my own, and have been getting out more. Last night we went to Lowes and Home Depot to walk around. I didn't feel like it, but it's good for my healing back to make sure I keep a certain level of activity. Regarding my back, the pain is very minimal and I'm still shocked at how much mobility I have considering I had a fusion. All of my issues surround my legs at this point, and my right arm as my carpal tunnel pain has also come back full force, likely due to all of the time I'm spending on my laptop.
This afternoon I'm working away on my laptop again while listening to movies play in the background. We have free HBO and Cinemax this weekend, and there's been some good stuff on I've been wanting to see. Currently watching "The Darjeeling Limited." I'm 15 minutes into it, and so far I'm not impressed; hopefully it gets better from here!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Day 31 - First Day Back to Work
Today was a big step, as I physically went into to work for about six hours today. I woke up feeling great and was like a little kid at Christmas during my 40 minute drive in, as I was excited to be going back to work.
While the first few hours were fine, around "hour three" I started feeling soreness in my right hip and my low back. It hit me; I am not used to sitting in a normal chair for hours on end. Yes, I've sat in them for maybe an hour or so, but then after that I'm walking and then returning to my reclining chair or laying down. By "hour four" I knew that while my goal was to also come in Thursday, that I would be staying at home instead. I still have a bit more healing to do before I can handle the sitting component. I was still proud of myself for trying, and have no regrets. I really enjoyed being back, and know that it's only a matter of time before I'll be able to. In the meantime I was able to grab some paperwork to take home with me, and now I have a new workload in front of me to keep me busy.
The other downside about today was that we had snow. Another calculation I didn't factor in clearly. First, because I went to work late (1oam), I had to park on the roof of the parking garage, meaning my car was out in the elements. Oops. By the time I left around 4:15 I had to scrap snow off my car, but luckily the snow was light and there was no ice. If there had been, I might have had to call a co-worker for help. To add to my distress, I then spent 2-1/2 hours on the road getting home, putting my average speed at 18 mph (though it was really more like 1 mph for the majority of the trip).
So after spending over three hours in my car and over six hours at work, I'm sore but not broken. I'm guessing I'll be a little achy tomorrow. And while I probably should have picked Thursday to go in as there is no snow predicted, it is to be about zero degrees so at least I can stay inside. At this point I'm aiming for next Monday as my next part day at the office, so we'll see how it goes. In the meantime I have a lot of work I want to accomplish at home, and at least here I can usually find a comfortable spot even though I don't have the pleasant company of my co-workers surrounding me.
While the first few hours were fine, around "hour three" I started feeling soreness in my right hip and my low back. It hit me; I am not used to sitting in a normal chair for hours on end. Yes, I've sat in them for maybe an hour or so, but then after that I'm walking and then returning to my reclining chair or laying down. By "hour four" I knew that while my goal was to also come in Thursday, that I would be staying at home instead. I still have a bit more healing to do before I can handle the sitting component. I was still proud of myself for trying, and have no regrets. I really enjoyed being back, and know that it's only a matter of time before I'll be able to. In the meantime I was able to grab some paperwork to take home with me, and now I have a new workload in front of me to keep me busy.
The other downside about today was that we had snow. Another calculation I didn't factor in clearly. First, because I went to work late (1oam), I had to park on the roof of the parking garage, meaning my car was out in the elements. Oops. By the time I left around 4:15 I had to scrap snow off my car, but luckily the snow was light and there was no ice. If there had been, I might have had to call a co-worker for help. To add to my distress, I then spent 2-1/2 hours on the road getting home, putting my average speed at 18 mph (though it was really more like 1 mph for the majority of the trip).
So after spending over three hours in my car and over six hours at work, I'm sore but not broken. I'm guessing I'll be a little achy tomorrow. And while I probably should have picked Thursday to go in as there is no snow predicted, it is to be about zero degrees so at least I can stay inside. At this point I'm aiming for next Monday as my next part day at the office, so we'll see how it goes. In the meantime I have a lot of work I want to accomplish at home, and at least here I can usually find a comfortable spot even though I don't have the pleasant company of my co-workers surrounding me.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Days 28-30
Sorry, it's been getting harder to do daily posts. Brad was in Iowa over an extended weekend, during which time I wasn't feeling the greatest so I wasn't on the computer much. By Sunday I did feel decent enough to go out to an early birthday dinner for my dad, which I handled pretty easily. I hadn't ridden in a car for awhile, and found that the bumps that at one time really irritated my back produced no pain or discomfort so that was a positive.
This week I'm working FT from home, but tomorrow (Wednesday) and Thursday I am going to try to go in to work from 10am to 3pm to see how things go. I have permission to wear my comfy sweat pants and sweaters for a few weeks since I'm still swollen from the surgery and quite frankly, I've worn business clothes before too soon after a surgery and it can cause a great deal of pain. I'm excited to be back in the office, able to talk with people, and have some sort of normalcy back. I'm to the point where I'm really getting bummed being around the house all of the time by myself.
While the surgical pain has really gone away these last few days, the musculoskeletal pain in my legs and arms is back. Yes, the same kind of pain I had before the surgery, which I was hoping the surgery would cure. I'm not panicking, and I don't want anyone else to either. I still have that nickel IVC filter in me, which I'll have for another month. I'm working with my surgeon's office to come up with a plan of attack medication-wise (as that's all they can do for now) that will help me deal with the pain better. Last night I had a three-hour attack that was just horrible, and so bad that I contemplated going to the ER until I realized there was nothing they could do for me. After all, what exactly would I be diagnosed with or "cured" by? I'm guessing the blood transfusion I had during the surgery, combined with the drugs and anesthesia helped make that pain go away short term, but now my body has adjusted - it's been four weeks - and I'm back to where I was before. Well, almost. I would say that my spine is the best it's been in years, and that's going back long before I had any of the other surgeries. My spine health is currently in the "success" category.
So that's what's going on with me. Daily updates are getting harder, but I'll definitely continue to post updates. I continue to thank you all for your supportive messages and prayers. I've been slowly writing everyone back...I'll get caught up one of these days!
This week I'm working FT from home, but tomorrow (Wednesday) and Thursday I am going to try to go in to work from 10am to 3pm to see how things go. I have permission to wear my comfy sweat pants and sweaters for a few weeks since I'm still swollen from the surgery and quite frankly, I've worn business clothes before too soon after a surgery and it can cause a great deal of pain. I'm excited to be back in the office, able to talk with people, and have some sort of normalcy back. I'm to the point where I'm really getting bummed being around the house all of the time by myself.
While the surgical pain has really gone away these last few days, the musculoskeletal pain in my legs and arms is back. Yes, the same kind of pain I had before the surgery, which I was hoping the surgery would cure. I'm not panicking, and I don't want anyone else to either. I still have that nickel IVC filter in me, which I'll have for another month. I'm working with my surgeon's office to come up with a plan of attack medication-wise (as that's all they can do for now) that will help me deal with the pain better. Last night I had a three-hour attack that was just horrible, and so bad that I contemplated going to the ER until I realized there was nothing they could do for me. After all, what exactly would I be diagnosed with or "cured" by? I'm guessing the blood transfusion I had during the surgery, combined with the drugs and anesthesia helped make that pain go away short term, but now my body has adjusted - it's been four weeks - and I'm back to where I was before. Well, almost. I would say that my spine is the best it's been in years, and that's going back long before I had any of the other surgeries. My spine health is currently in the "success" category.
So that's what's going on with me. Daily updates are getting harder, but I'll definitely continue to post updates. I continue to thank you all for your supportive messages and prayers. I've been slowly writing everyone back...I'll get caught up one of these days!
Friday, January 9, 2009
Days 25, 26 & 27
Sorry for the multi-day post. I've been putting in a lot of work hours on the computer at home, so that's really limited my free time. I'm basically now working full time...actually a lot more given all of the technical glitches I had to deal with this week. Brad left for Iowa on Thursday, which also adds just a little more responsibility on me regarding household stuff, so I just haven't had a chance to blog.
Nothing really new. My mom took me grocery shopping yesterday for about an hour. It felt great at first, and I found that initially I was able to walk at my old, normal pace. However, at the end we had to stand in a huge line and it about killed me, the leg pain was excruciating. I've been trying to cut back on pain medications a bit. The musculoskeletal pain I had before the surgery is also coming back, but not nearly as bad yet. I still have the IVC filter in me that's made of nickel, so I'm hoping that's what is still causing the pain. That has now been scheduled to be removed on Friday, February 13.
I have moments where I'm really good, and moments where I'm horrible. The last two nights I've actually had a normal night of sleep with no interruptions, so I'm happy about that. It's almost been four weeks since my surgery, and while with my other surgeries I was physically back at work by now, it's not ready to happen yet. I have to remind myself not to beat myself up about it. This was basically a two-surgery procedure, so of course it's going to take longer to heal. Besides, with the hours I'm putting in remotely at least I'm able (or at least trying) to stay on top of it all. I'm doing the best I can, while making sure at the same time I don't push it.
Brad should hopefully be coming home tomorrow, which I'm looking forward to. After spending almost four solid weeks with him, it's really lonely to all of a sudden not have him here at all. The weather should also be good for driving, which gives me great relief. This winter has been nothing but storm after storm!
Tomorrow should also be a nice day in Ohio (meaning no snow), so I'm planning on getting out again. My parents are picking me up for lunch, and then we're heading to Lowes to pick up a few things for our house. I'm looking forward to getting out, as the house is beginning to feel a bit like a prison! I hope everyone out there is doing well and staying warm.
Nothing really new. My mom took me grocery shopping yesterday for about an hour. It felt great at first, and I found that initially I was able to walk at my old, normal pace. However, at the end we had to stand in a huge line and it about killed me, the leg pain was excruciating. I've been trying to cut back on pain medications a bit. The musculoskeletal pain I had before the surgery is also coming back, but not nearly as bad yet. I still have the IVC filter in me that's made of nickel, so I'm hoping that's what is still causing the pain. That has now been scheduled to be removed on Friday, February 13.
I have moments where I'm really good, and moments where I'm horrible. The last two nights I've actually had a normal night of sleep with no interruptions, so I'm happy about that. It's almost been four weeks since my surgery, and while with my other surgeries I was physically back at work by now, it's not ready to happen yet. I have to remind myself not to beat myself up about it. This was basically a two-surgery procedure, so of course it's going to take longer to heal. Besides, with the hours I'm putting in remotely at least I'm able (or at least trying) to stay on top of it all. I'm doing the best I can, while making sure at the same time I don't push it.
Brad should hopefully be coming home tomorrow, which I'm looking forward to. After spending almost four solid weeks with him, it's really lonely to all of a sudden not have him here at all. The weather should also be good for driving, which gives me great relief. This winter has been nothing but storm after storm!
Tomorrow should also be a nice day in Ohio (meaning no snow), so I'm planning on getting out again. My parents are picking me up for lunch, and then we're heading to Lowes to pick up a few things for our house. I'm looking forward to getting out, as the house is beginning to feel a bit like a prison! I hope everyone out there is doing well and staying warm.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Day Twenty-Four
New development today - incision pain is finally starting to kick in. I've been lucky; for the most part that pain had been pretty minimal until today. But, for whatever reason, the numbness I had been feeling around both the front and back incisions is quickly going away and boy, am I sore. Oh who am I kidding - it really, really hurts.
It of course didn't help that I spent a huge part of my day in a chair with a laptop on my lap (pressing on the front incision) working. I had a huge software issue that was hindering me from doing some very important quarter-end financial work, so that tripled my work day. In fact, it's officially 12:45am on Thursday and I am just now calling it a day for my own sanity. If you recall from my previous blog entry, I started my work day around 7:15 am this morning. As much as I'd love to stay up and finish a particular set of reports I'm working on, it will just have to wait until tomorrow. I'm going to go lie down and see if I can actually get some sleep. I doubt it, but I'm going to try.
It of course didn't help that I spent a huge part of my day in a chair with a laptop on my lap (pressing on the front incision) working. I had a huge software issue that was hindering me from doing some very important quarter-end financial work, so that tripled my work day. In fact, it's officially 12:45am on Thursday and I am just now calling it a day for my own sanity. If you recall from my previous blog entry, I started my work day around 7:15 am this morning. As much as I'd love to stay up and finish a particular set of reports I'm working on, it will just have to wait until tomorrow. I'm going to go lie down and see if I can actually get some sleep. I doubt it, but I'm going to try.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Day Twenty-Three
I'm writing this a day late, but yesterday was just an odd day. I spent almost all of it on my computer working, with the exception of getting ready, making meals and making sure I got my exercises and walking in. By the time Brad got home and I had dinner in front of me I was so exhausted I could barely eat. I finally ended up on the couch and fell asleep in an instant, only to wake up around 11pm to take medications. While I struggled for about 20 minutes to get comfortable, I was then able to fall asleep again. 6:30am came and off went my alarm notifying me to get up, get ready and be on my computer working by 7:30. It's not that I have specific working hours, but that's usually when I start and it's more out of habit than anything.
I'm still feeling pretty tired, but as Brad correctly notified me, it's probably normal that I'm still exhausted considering I've hardly slept this past week. But as much as I would love to fall back asleep right now, I have work to get done. At least I'm lucky and can stay indoors, as the weather here is dark, cold, icy, and likely going to snow later.
I'm still feeling pretty tired, but as Brad correctly notified me, it's probably normal that I'm still exhausted considering I've hardly slept this past week. But as much as I would love to fall back asleep right now, I have work to get done. At least I'm lucky and can stay indoors, as the weather here is dark, cold, icy, and likely going to snow later.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Day Twenty-Two
Made it through my first six-hour work day at home, and also my first day at home without Brad. Last night I slept a total of about two hours, and surprisingly only felt the need to sleep about 90 minutes in the afternoon. I don't know why I couldn't sleep; it wasn't pain related, I just wasn't tired enough to fall asleep. Instead I ended up emailing some people, doing some work and watching DVD #1 of "The Office", Season 5, which I got for Christmas. At least I was semi-productive.
The best part of my day was that my mom brought over an old recliner they had in the basement, which everyone forgot existed. While I love my couch for lying down, it was not a good "working" place to sit for any length of time, as it would really bother my hip. So my mom brought over the recliner, and with two strategically placed pillows it is now my new work chair. It is very comfortable, and really relieves my hip pain. I think I now have everything I need to get through the next couple of weeks at home.
The best part of my day was that my mom brought over an old recliner they had in the basement, which everyone forgot existed. While I love my couch for lying down, it was not a good "working" place to sit for any length of time, as it would really bother my hip. So my mom brought over the recliner, and with two strategically placed pillows it is now my new work chair. It is very comfortable, and really relieves my hip pain. I think I now have everything I need to get through the next couple of weeks at home.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Day Twenty-One
Short post tonight. Had a rough night with lots of back/hip pain. Because my night sleep was so lousy, I slept in today until about 1pm. I then spent the entire afternoon and evening doing work related stuff, and now it's almost time to go to bed again!
Brad returns to work tomorrow, and it really hit me tonight. It was great spending almost four weeks with him, even under these circumstances. Who knows when we'll have that kind of time together again in our lifetime! He is my best friend and supporter, and I will miss having him here. And like I told him, it's not because I'm now 100% on my own taking care of myself during the day, because I can do that just fine!
This week I increase my work hours to about 6-7 hours a day - still at home - so I'm hoping I can handle it. My health still varies a lot from hour to hour, day to day. I guess we'll see!
Brad returns to work tomorrow, and it really hit me tonight. It was great spending almost four weeks with him, even under these circumstances. Who knows when we'll have that kind of time together again in our lifetime! He is my best friend and supporter, and I will miss having him here. And like I told him, it's not because I'm now 100% on my own taking care of myself during the day, because I can do that just fine!
This week I increase my work hours to about 6-7 hours a day - still at home - so I'm hoping I can handle it. My health still varies a lot from hour to hour, day to day. I guess we'll see!
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Day Twenty
Wow, it's amazing that 20 days have passed since my surgery. In some ways it seems longer, and in other ways shorter. Very hard to believe.
Today was our Suntken Christmas at the parents. I was fine initially when I woke up, but in the middle of getting ready I went through this spell where I felt lighted-headed and sick to my stomach. I've been getting this about every other day since I left the hospital, and it comes out of nowhere. I thought it might be related to my meds, but today there did not appear to be a correlation. Usually laying down or eating something like a piece of toast remedies the situation, and today was the same. It turns out my brother, who was driving up from Athens, Ohio this morning, also was ill so between the two of us we delayed the start of our Christmas from 10:30 to noon.
Despite my poor brother struggling with a bad sore throat, it was a wonderful day. Lots of stories, laughter, and it was just a great time; so great that we got home just a little before 11pm! My back muscles are sore - the La-Z-Boy chairs were not as comfortable as I predicted - but I managed. It has been so long since we've all been together for more than just a few hours, and with the stress of the surgery behind us I think everyone just felt like a huge weight had been lifted. Today was our day to celebrate and give thanks as a family, I think we accomplished that.
Today was our Suntken Christmas at the parents. I was fine initially when I woke up, but in the middle of getting ready I went through this spell where I felt lighted-headed and sick to my stomach. I've been getting this about every other day since I left the hospital, and it comes out of nowhere. I thought it might be related to my meds, but today there did not appear to be a correlation. Usually laying down or eating something like a piece of toast remedies the situation, and today was the same. It turns out my brother, who was driving up from Athens, Ohio this morning, also was ill so between the two of us we delayed the start of our Christmas from 10:30 to noon.
Despite my poor brother struggling with a bad sore throat, it was a wonderful day. Lots of stories, laughter, and it was just a great time; so great that we got home just a little before 11pm! My back muscles are sore - the La-Z-Boy chairs were not as comfortable as I predicted - but I managed. It has been so long since we've all been together for more than just a few hours, and with the stress of the surgery behind us I think everyone just felt like a huge weight had been lifted. Today was our day to celebrate and give thanks as a family, I think we accomplished that.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Day Nineteen
Last night I had difficulty sleeping. I'm not sure why, I just found myself awake a lot; I couldn't get comfortable. I reduced my pain meds on Wednesday evening and I'm definitely noticing a difference -I'm not as tired/foggy all the time, but the pain is also more difficult to deal with. Around 6:30am this morinng I finally was able to close my eyes and sleep for about three uninterrupted hours.
I've spent this afternoon on the couch, struggling to rebuild my work computer remotely. Before I left our IT guy set it up so I could access my work computer through a program called LogMeIn. It worked great until I left the hospital...and found out that my work computer had a massive hard drive failure. I initially was in a panic that I had lost everything, especially my thousands of emails that I have archived, but I was smart. I had backed up my company computer files on my own the weekend before I left, including my email, so in reality I only lost a week of emails and a few documents.
While the IT guy got me a new hard drive and the software installed, today I have been remotely transferring over my files and reorganizing everything. This has taken longer than I thought it would. In between I've been working on work-related projects, so today is truly a work day for me. I've been making sure to get in my exercises and walking, but everything else is just work. It's a bit hard to focus as the pain is nagging, but I'm managing. Today I'm making an effort to ice my right hip as much as possible - 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off. Maybe that will make a difference.
Tomorrow we are having our "Christmas" with my parents, brother, grandma and her husband in the late morning/early afternoon. My parents are hosting, which is only ten minutes from our house. They have several comfy La-Z-Boy chairs that recline, so I'm thinking that will be pretty nice. I don't think it will be too draining on me, as I think everyone there will be trying to do whatever they can to make me comfortable. I'm just looking forward to being with family.
I've spent this afternoon on the couch, struggling to rebuild my work computer remotely. Before I left our IT guy set it up so I could access my work computer through a program called LogMeIn. It worked great until I left the hospital...and found out that my work computer had a massive hard drive failure. I initially was in a panic that I had lost everything, especially my thousands of emails that I have archived, but I was smart. I had backed up my company computer files on my own the weekend before I left, including my email, so in reality I only lost a week of emails and a few documents.
While the IT guy got me a new hard drive and the software installed, today I have been remotely transferring over my files and reorganizing everything. This has taken longer than I thought it would. In between I've been working on work-related projects, so today is truly a work day for me. I've been making sure to get in my exercises and walking, but everything else is just work. It's a bit hard to focus as the pain is nagging, but I'm managing. Today I'm making an effort to ice my right hip as much as possible - 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off. Maybe that will make a difference.
Tomorrow we are having our "Christmas" with my parents, brother, grandma and her husband in the late morning/early afternoon. My parents are hosting, which is only ten minutes from our house. They have several comfy La-Z-Boy chairs that recline, so I'm thinking that will be pretty nice. I don't think it will be too draining on me, as I think everyone there will be trying to do whatever they can to make me comfortable. I'm just looking forward to being with family.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Day Eighteen
Given that today is a national holiday, like most people we just took it easy. I had another night of good sleep, and managed to stay awake all day today except for a brief 10 minute nap in the afternoon. I was much more active today, helping with cooking, cleaning, unpacking, etc. Yes, I did this all without violating my six week "No BLT" restrictions - no Bending, Lifting or Twisting.
Though the pain levels continue to remain the same, I really felt the urge to get out of the house and to also see my parents, since I hadn't seen them since they were in Maryland. So for dinner we met them in Fairlawn at a restaurant called Pad Thai and had a nice dinner; it was really good to see them again.
I managed the car trip and the time at the restaurant just fine, absolutely no issues. However, Brad and I made a quick trip to Wal-Mart down the street afterwards, and that proved to be a bit much. I wanted to pick up a small "tv tray table" and to see if I could find something to rig up a foot stool for when I sit on the couch. There are always a few odd things you end up purchasing for surgical recouperation and comfort, and these are the items I wanted this time around. While we succeeded in finding what we needed, 30 minutes of walking around the store and being on my feet, after a day where I had already been quite active around the house, was pretty exhausting. I was glad when we were finally back home.
In regards to Brad's mom, she is continuing blood transfusions and dialysis. There is still no known date for when she'll be released from the hospital. Today Brad got to speak with her, for the first time in a few days; it's been hard to connect with her in between treatments, tests and her trying to get sleep. His mom sounds tired but better than she has in previous days, and while she has suffered from some confusion recently, her mind was clear enough where she was able to recite Brad's cell number from memory. She is one smart lady with a sharp mind.
Though the pain levels continue to remain the same, I really felt the urge to get out of the house and to also see my parents, since I hadn't seen them since they were in Maryland. So for dinner we met them in Fairlawn at a restaurant called Pad Thai and had a nice dinner; it was really good to see them again.
I managed the car trip and the time at the restaurant just fine, absolutely no issues. However, Brad and I made a quick trip to Wal-Mart down the street afterwards, and that proved to be a bit much. I wanted to pick up a small "tv tray table" and to see if I could find something to rig up a foot stool for when I sit on the couch. There are always a few odd things you end up purchasing for surgical recouperation and comfort, and these are the items I wanted this time around. While we succeeded in finding what we needed, 30 minutes of walking around the store and being on my feet, after a day where I had already been quite active around the house, was pretty exhausting. I was glad when we were finally back home.
In regards to Brad's mom, she is continuing blood transfusions and dialysis. There is still no known date for when she'll be released from the hospital. Today Brad got to speak with her, for the first time in a few days; it's been hard to connect with her in between treatments, tests and her trying to get sleep. His mom sounds tired but better than she has in previous days, and while she has suffered from some confusion recently, her mind was clear enough where she was able to recite Brad's cell number from memory. She is one smart lady with a sharp mind.
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