In the days before my surgery and as I thought about my recovery, I daydreamed of arriving on Kim's doorstep, bright-eyed, and bushy-tailed, further proving that I am a woman made of steel. I pictured my triumphant entrance as everyone gasped and said things like: "Ohmygod! You only had surgery 3 days ago? You look wonderful!" and "Wow! I can't believe you recovered so fast." In return I would smile smugly, basking in the fact that I can indeed 'pop-up' out of any illness, hip-surgery included. Just call me invincible! (This is a family trait by the way - blame both my mother and maternal grandmother for this.)
Of course, deep down, I had only the faintest glimmer of hope that any of this would actually come to pass. Realistically, I saw myself, at most showing up for 10-15 minutes through a haze of pain-killers and pain, just to prove a point and retreating home for a long nap feeling a little defeated.
Rarely do your daydreams come true quite so literally. How wonderful it was to show up to little Hudson's birthday party feeling great and looking practically normal. How fantastic to feel so good that I stood for almost 3 hours (without pushing myself) chatting with friends and co-workers. Of course, I can attribute much of my euphoria and lack of pain to my pain meds (which I continue to use) but still, even with that taken into account, I didn't expect to feel so good.
The above pic is me with my co-worker, Wuri, and her daughter, Veronica. Pretty normal, huh?
NONE of this, however, happened without some considerable work on Hubby's behalf. From 9am this morning through to 11:45am when we left, Hubby was 100% devoted to the pre-part prep of yours truly.
Everything I do right now requires his help, since I am unable to both move myself and needed supplies - it's one or the other, since both hands are on the crutches. First there came the washing of the TV bod, then the washing of the TV hair, then the make-up, then the hair styling, then the dressing. I'm tellin' ya, it was a full-time, all-hands-on-deck task. Thank goodness I work from home and need this kind of sprucing up quite rarely.
The process was made more difficult due to the fact that I never really thought I would be well enough to go. So while I had prepped for and basketed all my needs downstairs in the living room pre-surgery, I had not accounted for things like make-up, blow-dryer, jewelry, shoes, etc... My expectations re: my recovery were clear by the piles of sweatpants, sweaters, fluffy socks, and zit cream. So, in order for all of these other things to materialize at my side, I had to list my needs specifically to Hubby (inc.. such details as bottle shape, size, color, brand), tell him where the things I needed were upstairs (when I could remember), and plan for things like where and how to sit, where to balance mirrors and brushes, where to plug in lights and blow-dryers etc... Again, everything required a "honey do". Stepping up to the challenge yet again for a 4th day, Hubby did a stellar job. While it took us a couple of hours and resulted in the house looking like a bomb had gone off in it when we left, I managed to leave the house looking relatively coiffed.
And no, he's not available for rent. ;o)
This afternoon we watched a movie together: the 'uplifting' 28 Weeks Later. If you haven't seen it or it's sister film, 28 Days Later, it's a bit gorey but I enjoy it mostly for the fact that it's one of the few disaster movies that actually considers England/London important enough to be the first place to get destroyed, in this case, by a killer virus. Usually, when the world is about to end, global warming is going to drown us, or aliens are going to blow us up, the process starts in New York or L.A. Sadly, in this film, the U.S. military came to save poor ole London from itself. Sigh.
Tomorrow's planned adventure is a trip to the grocery store, including a ride on the motorized shopping cart. Tee hee! Hopefully we'll get pics of that!
Still backing slowly off the meds. Today I managed to go just over 5 hours between doses. The main thing I'm noticing at the tail-end right now is a growing tightness especially on the inside of my hip/groin area. If the meds manage to keep this down and allow me to be comfortable, building strength and stability slowly, I'm happy to keep taking them for now. I am beginning to notice the light-headedness they induce, since I'm more clear headed as they wear-off, so I'm still motivated to get off them as soon as it makes sense.
4 comments:
It's so cool that you can be on the meds and do stuff. For me, they just made me so sleepy I was off them in 18 hours. The pain probably slowed down my recovery, but I was told that within two or three days I'd get nauseous from the meds, and I hate that more than any pain.
You are doing wonderful! Keep it up.
Well, they gave you Vicadin, if I remember rightly. I'm on Norco, which is supposedly a tad less narcotic (whatever that means). Maybe that has something to do with it. I definitely don't have any nausea and, while I do feel a little lightheaded, I'm clear-headed and don't lack energy. I've felt worse on cold meds quite frankly. I already eeked out 5.5 hours this afternoon, although I started to get pain from the wounds and the bruising around them, as well as stiffness in my groin. The stiffness I don't dig since I've been excited but my surprising range and fluidity of motion since the moment I came out of surgery - even when I was in pain, it didn't seem linked to movement. Again, surprising.
If I didn't read this, I would've no idea that most of the wonderful make-up/hair dos were done w/Joss' help. My goodness you looked good!
I can't tell you how SPECIAL it was to have you there for Hudson's big day!! Would it have been the same without Auntie Shell? I THINK NOT!!! From the bottom of our 3 hearts (me, Pete and Huddy) that you for getting to us!! We loved having you and can't wait to see you soon. Hudson needs a proper full body hug!!
See you soon!!
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