APPROPRIATE DAY

If you had told me one week ago that I would be eating Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant with my husband with little to no pain...well, they used to call the places loony bins, and that would be where I would have said you belong. Yes, I have more than my fair share to be thankful for not only during this time, but throughout the year, throughout my life. So what possibly could I complain about on this day of thanks!?

All I can do is give you an update as to the goings-on today. I had a really tough time falling asleep last night. Not so much the pain twinges here and there, but more, I believe, the fact I've been resting too much. As I am unable to walk my normal 3-5 miles a day, or bike at the gym 10+ miles, or swim a half-mile or so, or generally have a good workout for an hour or so at the gym...well, I'm restless. For me my day is not complete without a great cardio workout. I crave it, yet know deep in my gullet it is impossible to luxuriate in at this stage of recovery. I did walk, slowly walk, two miles today; one in the morning and one just an hour ago. I feel like the foal who desperately wants to fling her new-found, spindly legs in the surrounding air of the paddock. She knows she has the ability, while ignoring the sensible fact that she could trip at the least imbalance and find herself flat in the dirt. My normal walking pace is three miles an hour...I'm barely doing one-and-a-half miles an hour now. But, I am thankful that I can walk with little to no pain to speak of. I am thankful there is no snow on the ground and I am able to enjoy 76 degree weather for the coming week.

My husband has noticed several small blisters right next to some of the incision areas. Kind of an odd thing, something we will be sure to point out to the surgeon next Friday during my two-week follow-up. They are a bit hard to see in a photograph. They do not hurt, though the whole area that was covered in bandages post surgery itches like crazy and still has a slight rash.  As you can also see, there is still some bruising and quite a bit of swelling, a lot more than last year. The two spots you see at the upper right and left of this photo are the remnants of huge blisters that formed when I very loosely covered the oozing incisions after we removed the bandages on Monday, November 21st. The adhesive tape I used was the normal type of white stuff you buy at your local pharmacy. Apparently I am either allergic the to adhesive part or the adhesive part reacted badly with something left on my skin from surgery...but, anyway I ended up with what I would call a 'chemical burn'. I'm more worried about these becoming infected than I am about the surgical incisions. I've never had this reaction before to this particular type of wound tape. It is now in the trash.

I got up the courage to take a look at the photos taken during surgery that my surgeon gave to my husband when he spoke to him post-operatively. I should have access to a scanner next week and I'll be sure to post them here. They aren't as graphic as I thought they would be. Wishing all a great night...as I didn't nap at all today and tried to keep busy, I do hope that sleep will come with ease.