BACK A STEP

Made it to work today for what I was hoping would be my first regular workday since surgery. We have some cold weather here right now. For those up north, please don't laugh at this...it was 42 degrees this morning and set to be colder tomorrow  morning. I'm certainly hoping the weather has nothing to do with my pain today. I was able to work for six hours (8-2). It was hard to keep reminding myself to get up every fifteen minutes and walk around to relieve  'pressure'  in my low back. And I paid for it! I was able to go to my in-laws house and nap for a couple of hours, then I got up and walked around their neighborhood for a little over a mile. The ride home was extremely painful. It's a mental challenge when you do so well for a couple of days and then....boom....you feel like you are back to square one...well, maybe square two. The incision on the left side is causing me a lot of pain, feeling like it is pulling constantly and very tender to the touch. Something new to deal with right now. These are not necessarily complaints just things that are going on nearly seven weeks post surgery that might also be happening to you (or will happen to you) and I want you to know about them. Maybe it's normal, but I certainly don't remember the incision pain after my first surgery. Yes, the incisions were very small, but all the same it's not fun.

The Tylenol PM seems to be working to help me sleep. I've had what I consider 'normal' sleep the past three nights. I'm going to try to do without taking one this weekend when sleep (or lack thereof) won't matter as much. I'm guessing that I am now getting back into a regular work routine I will naturally fall into my regular sleep pattern.

I'm still doing stairs, foot over foot (the regular way), all the marching exercises and we are on our way to the gym right now. The stationary bike is my workout friend right now. I'm able to do about 30-40 minutes at a fairly decent resistance and get a pretty darn good cardio workout. It does feel good!! Thankfully there is no pain when I am riding...and I'm doing something good for myself and helping the healing process along.