Countdown, Back to Work.....One Week

Things are going fine in the healing department.  I'm a little slow, but we all knew that already :)  My main problem hasn't been recovering from surgery, which by the way is going to take way more than 6 weeks.  I will just have to start back to work then.  Incidentally, 6 weeks puts me back to work next Monday, the 7th.  October 7th seemed like such a far off time, 5 weeks ago.  Now it may as well be tomorrow.  Anyhow, back to my main problem.  I can't stay well!  I keep getting sinus crap!  I don't usually use words like that when I write, but let's just tell it like it is, shall we?  It's crap!  Utter crap.  I was sick the second week after surgery for a week.  I had a bit of a break and then, wham!  Upper respiratory infection of some ungodly sort.

And it was strange.  I don't know if any of you has had a cold come on and you could pinpoint the EXACT moment that the germ won the antibody battle.  For me, it was 7 p.m. on Saturday, the 21st.  We had just come home from having dinner with friends, and I felt it.  My swallow didn't feel quite 'right' you know?  Like someone tele-ported a shooter marble to the back of my sinus cavity. It was just there all of a sudden.  No gradual onset here.  And it persisted!  I fought and fought and heaped all manner of home remedy upon the ugly thing for a whole week!  With no victory in sight, and the monster making its way from my sinuses to  my throat, I surrendered. Friday morning I went to the doctor.  He made me breathe while he listened.  Not in my lungs yet.  Just in time.  He pulled out his magic pad and sent a prescription of amoxicillin to my pharmacy.  I went in, picked it up, along with some mucinex and headed home.  On the way out, I shook my finger at the pharmacists and said, "Now, you don't want to see me in here again."  Laughter erupted from behind the counter and I knew my humor was not lost on them.  Now with that knowledge and drugs, I could get some rest. ....So, Monday, I was back at the pharmacy for more drugs.  More cream for my incision that is still healing, and medicine for my darling son, but that's next week's post. :)

The antibiotics made me feel just awful.  Everything tastes like a sixteen-penny nail.  Something, I guess the antibiotics, makes me crazy tired.  I slept most of last week.  The only things I remember are trips to the bathroom and an occasional meal, the origins of which remain fuzzy.  Did I cook?  Did someone bring me this?  Hard to say, but the house didn't burn down and I still have all my fingers, so I'm calling it a win.

Have a great week everyone, and whatever you do, be awake while cooking!

God Bless you All :)

~Kimberly

How it is.

It will be 4 weeks tomorrow since my operation.  I feel better, but not best.  I don't feel better than I did before my surgery, but the stomach pain is completely gone.  Two more weeks and I head back into the world of the working.  I try to do some little thing productive each day, but I know my body, and I can do ONLY one substantial thing per day yet.  Yesterday, my husband and my son helped me clean house.  I laid down for a nap at 1:30.  At 2:00 pm, our good friends stopped by to surprise us! I was so relieved we took the time to clean up a little! It made the visit so much more enjoyable since I didn't have to fret over doggy hair, dust, dishes, or dirt. Last night, I got really sick.  Around 7 p.m. I started feeling really bad. My temp started creeping up, and I felt like someone had shoved a marble into my sinuses.  My head was throbbing.  I took lots of medicine to help, and I slept all night and most of today.  I missed church.  I have only been once since I had surgery, which was last week.  I wasn't ready then either.  I started feeling better around 5 or 6 p.m. tonight.  It is 2 a.m. now, so apparently I slept enough that I am not sleepy.  I will be working the next two weeks to get myself back into the correct day/night routine.  Maybe it will be easy.  Probably, it won't be.  I hope tomorrow to get at least one productive thing done.  Wish me luck!

So in my last post, I mentioned that our renters gave notice that they would be leaving for a bigger home.  They came today and finished cleaning up, and they did a great job.  There is some little work left to do; wash walls, shampoo carpet in one bedroom, clean air conditioner.  Just little things.  As we inspected, we decided that we don't want to re-rent the place.  At least not for a while.  We want our house to be just our house for a while.  We looked at the finances, and the pros and cons of both options.  Michael convinced me easily.  With my increase in pay at work and with the money we will save on the energy and water costs of running two households, we will be able to pay the house payment ourselves.  I will get to have my music room again!  We will continue mainly living upstairs, but again be able to have a guest bedroom and a living area where we can entertain our friends who have allergies to our pets.  I may go back to using the bigger kitchen as well.  We will get to go back to having plenty of storage for all our stuff.  I just have to remember not to get too much more stuff!

My few dreams for the place will have to come about slowly, due to my healing.  But I like to go over the dreams and see the end result in my head.  There's no weight limit on lifting when you dream!  One of the dreams is a bit pragmatic, but it is going to be super cool if we can get it done.  I want a spiral staircase.  We removed the old staircase when we divided the house to rent the lower level.  Now there is no way to get up and down from inside the house.  I priced them.  They aren't cheap.  It costs around $2,000 for a kit.  I am hoping that maybe building our own will be possible.  If not, I did find one very small, that is to say narrow kit for $610.  Whether or not this is possible remains to be seen, but it is at the upper tier of my dream list!!

I was supposed to take Riley to Children's hospital for three appointments tomorrow.  ENT, Audiology, and Vision.  I'm not physically ready to make that trip.  My car is not physically ready either.  I think I may reschedule for some time after the first of the year so that I can spend the rest of this one doing a really good job of healing.

I have started writing some on my other blog.  I hope you like this one, and if you like exposition, poetry, and humor, that is what I am shooting for there.  http://itsjustusinhere.blogspot.com/ is the link.  This blog will continue as well, at least for now.  It may be that I change its focus over time to my music.  What do you think?  Let me know!

God bless you in all that you endeavor to do!

Follow Up

Yesterday was super hard. The trouble with having two surgeons is having two follow-up appointments in one day.  Today was the maiden voyage to Mountain Home driving myself.  I was reassured that the tumor that was found was benign, and I do not have to worry about cancer!  Praise the Lord!  I am healing well, and though I do have a couple of open areas in my incision, the doctor says he's not worried, there is no infection, and I am on the mend.  I just have to take my time and rest.  I can finally stand up straight this morning, which feels nice.  Yesterday I felt miserable.  I ran out of pain medicine over the weekend, and ibuprofen wasn't quite doing the trick.  I got those refilled yesterday, and I slept like a rock last night.  I woke this morning feeling refreshed, and better than I have felt in several days!  My sinus infection has abated, my antibiotics are all done (hopefully for good), and I'm looking forward to a nice, quiet day at home.

Thankfully, yesterday was fairly temperate, and I didn't have to run my air conditioning.  My car has a problem.  One of my seals is leaking oil all over the belt and one side of the motor.  It seems worse when it's really hot and the air is running, so it was actually good that I haven't driven it much since the first of August.  We've been getting by with just my husband's car.  It's fine, but it's not my car, to be sure.  I love my car.  I miss my car.  My husband has been so busy taking care of Riley and taking up the slack at work since his mother is gone to North Dakota taking care of her mother who is ill and has had to go to a nursing home, that he hasn't had any spare time to fix it.  Hopefully now that I'm on the mend and can help a little with Riley--that is to say I can try entertaining him--and it's a little cooler out, he will have time to fix it, again.  He had to replace the same seal earlier in the summer, and evidently we got a bad part.  Lucky us.

A few days ago, our renters gave notice that they would be moving out to a bigger home.  Their rent pays our house payment.  So, readers, please say a quick prayer that we are able to get someone else in there pretty quickly.  The rental is the bottom half of our home.  It is two bedroom, one bath with a large kitchen and utility room and a comfortable living area.  Rent is $450 and another $50 per month for propane.  Water, Trash and Electricity are included in the $450.  Excessive use of propane or electricity could result in an increase in the amount due over $450, but if one is reasonably conservative it will work out perfectly at $50.  It is a nice space, and the kitchen has a dishwasher, fridge, gas cook stove and microwave included.  Heating and cooling is electric/propane.  Cooking, water heater and dryer are gas, and the dryer is provided.  Deposit is $200.  The rental is Non-smoking and No pets.  Share this information with anyone who might be looking for a place to live.  We could use the income, and would love to have someone in there that was a good fit.

So far, renting has been mostly a positive experience.  And certainly it has been a blessing to have enough room to be able to do this and stay in our home, even with limited income.  We live upstairs, where we have two bedrooms, one bath, laundry facilities, a small kitchen and a comfortable living area.  It is decent sized, even if it is only half our house.  We were very lucky to find this place nine years ago.  Nine Years Ago!?!?!  My how the time slips past.  I am amazed.  Well, I believe with that notion swimming around in my head, I will sign off for today.  God Bless you all, and may your day be filled with all things peaceful and positive!

Perchance to....

A few more days have passed, and I have felt better after each one.  I have more strength each day, and I am able to get around and conservatively do whatever I need for myself.  I even sat on a stool and cooked some taco meat last night to go with the chips and taco dip that my supervisor from work brought us.  Thank you, Julie!

I am fighting the beginning stages of a sinus infection.  Fantastic, right?  I am already on antibiotics to help in my healing process and to prevent any infection from setting in there.  It should help to make this bout of sinus trouble relatively short.  At least that's what I am praying for.

....After a day's break...

I was sidelined by a good night's sleep which started directly in the middle of my composition of this post, and not on purpose.  My goodness, healing from major surgery + pain medication makes for strange sleeping patterns.  On that note, today I had a bit of trouble with a section of my incision.  I will not disgust anyone with those details, but it was worrisome enough that I called my Doctor.  He said that it was nothing to worry about.  Well, okay.  I'll try.  But it is so very, very hard.  I had a really hard time healing when I had my reduction last November on one side, and I don't want a repeat of that, though it looks as if I'm going to have it.  I guess I shouldn't complain.  At least it is just a small area, instead of the entire length of the incision.  That is, 18 inches or so.

So, I learned today that I must slow down even more than I already have. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm game.  Sleeping and laying around all day gives me a headache.  I can't sleep on my back right now because of the sinus stuff. I can only sleep on my sides for short bursts before it becomes too painful.  Perhaps someone could teach me how to levitate all bundled up and cozy?  Anyone?  No?  Well,  I didn't expect there to be, but a girl can dream....if she could ever stay asleep.

Actually, it's funny.  I am dreaming, a lot actually.  Weird dreams.  They are so weird in fact, that I can't finish a good description of one.  Some of them are just goofy.  Some are really freaky.  Some are continuations of previous subjects my sub-conscious mind has chosen to dwell upon during my restless slumber.  they all share one thread, that all of the dreams defy explanation, and are vivid in the moment, but too fuzzy to recollect upon waking.

I'm tired.  I am tired of sleeping.  I'm tired of being sleepy, but not being able to sleep.  Perhaps  I should just be happy.  At least I am still waking up. :)

One Week Post Op

It has been a very interesting week.  I was out of surgery by evening Monday, one week ago.  I do not like epidurals. I hardly even used my pain button.  By Tuesday, I was begging to have it removed. One of my legs felt completely paralyzed.  Upside, I couldn't feel the pain in my abdomen.  Downside, the pain in my back and arms and shoulder and neck were miserable, because I was trying to use my upper body to move to a more comfortable position; one which I was never able to find.  They finally discovered that they weren't going to talk me out of getting the epidural out.  Once it was removed and the medicine wore off, I was in significantly more pain than before.  But at least I could move.  They were able to manage my pain fairly effectively with Hydrocodone (by mouth) and Tordol (by IV).  They talked about sending me home on Wednesday.  I told the doctors I was nowhere near ready to go.  Wednesday morning I saw the nurse practitioner, who agreed with my assessment of my condition.  One more day.  I had a great nurse for the day shift that day.  Not so great thru the night.  I was really glad when 7 a.m. Thursday morning rolled around.  By Thursday noon, I was headed to Mom's house, which is where I still am until this Thursday.  I get better and better every day.  I have lost over 10 pounds of water weight in 4 days, and still going down.  The swelling is better each day, as is the level of my pain.  One thing though, my back is killing me, and my rear-end keeps falling asleep.  I guess it doesn't like to be constantly sat upon.

I try to get up and walk, stretch and keep my muscles moving.  I cannot stand up straight.  I have figured out how to sleep on my side, very carefully, and that has been a great relief to my back. I have been trying to write this post since last Thursday.  Please take note:  it is very difficult to concentrate and organize your thoughts when pain medicine courses through your veins.  My eyelids are terribly heavy....

...In case you were wondering, a thirty minute nap just occurred between this sentence and the last.  I feel a bit refreshed.  Perhaps I will be able to bring this post to a close with some sense as to what thought I was trying to convey.  Perhaps.

It is a funny thing, recovering from surgery.  You have a lot of time to think.  In many cases, that is good.  In others, it poses a challenge: Coping with what you have contemplated during that time you had to think.  I think about the healing process itself.  I pray that I don't have any complications in my 18" incision, my two drains, or my new belly button.  I pray that there is no problem with my internal incision.  I try to wrap my head around the fact that a large portion of my body has been removed.  Not my skin or my bellly.  My uterus.  Gone. Forever. The possibility of having more children, gone with it. What I am as a woman has been drastically altered.  It really shouldn't matter.  But it does.  Even if you are just meant to mourn the loss a little while and move on, it matters.  It is necessary, I think, to process those thoughts and not dismiss them, or hold them in.  Shed a tear for your body and its change.  Then, embrace the change and be the best woman you can possibly be.