Recovery

Been a while, hasn't it? At least I have a good excuse this time! My recovery is going very well. My friends really stepped up--Danielle and Pele in particular came by way more times than we'd originally planned, because my need was greater in the first few days than I anticipated. My dad came to stay for nearly a week, which was really generous. My mom was actually relieved because she felt guilty for not offering.

Dad gets all the credit in the world for showing up. That said, he's kind of messy and not a good housekeeper. He needed a lot of guidance to figure out what to do. Danielle actually came by on his second day to help out with the dishes and such. He did start to figure out how the kitchen worked a couple of days in and it was much easier to have him around. I wish I hadn't been grumpy with him at all, but we managed to get through it. He also had a terrible cough--the remnant of a cold--so he was almost as tired as I was. Neither of us had much appetite, but Dad made breakfast (when I was hungry enough) and dinner a couple of nights, when we didn't order in. We also had some good talks. It's been quite a while since we spent this much time alone, just the two of us. In fact, I don't know that we've ever spent more than a weekend completely on our own. Interesting. In the end, we had a good little routine and Dad was very helpful. I had my doubts in the beginning, but he stepped up. A couple of days in, Dad said, "you're pretty hard to take care of." I had to agree. I think it has something to do with being cared for in my own home. I really like things to be a certain way in my house. So, if you're taking care of me at my house, and you're doing things "wrong," I start to get a little antsy. My time of immobility has been a good lesson in letting go of the need to have things just so and to recognize that other people's ways of doing things aren't wrong, just different. (Unless you're my supervisor, of course, in which case, you're just wrong.) I never care how other people manage their own homes, so I was halfway there. Not saying I'm all the way there...just a bit farther down the road.

On Monday and Wednesday I got myself to physical therapy by the bus. I ended up deciding against going to grand jury. I have a hard time sitting comfortably and given the set up of that room, I didn't think I could get in a good position. Also, I'm still having trouble getting a good night's rest, so it was much nicer to just stay home and take it easy. I did do a little bit of work, but nothing like a full day.

Thursday, I made it to the office, but left early because it was really hard to sit comfortably. On Friday, after my 8:30 doctor's appointment, I went to work and lasted the entire day.

The doctor was happy with my progress. I can sit and sleep with the brace off. He wants me to walk in it, but he unlocked it and now my knee can bend. At home, I'm actually walking without it, which I assume is ok. I have to say, I still have a fair amount of pain. It's new pain from the new brace-free motions. I didn't realize that the brace was actually providing some pain relief, but it makes sense that it was.

I've been sitting on this post too long! I'm going to hit publish and get started on the next one.

Grateful for: progress.