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.