Sunday was a good and bad day for me. I woke up feeling great, pain minimal, moving around nicely, more energy than usual! Jon mowed the lawn and did some laundry, I did my usual couch sitting and coloring. Sunday was the last day my brain was in a sort of haze (thank goodness that is gone). My heart was feeling sad that my dog wasn’t around, and since the weather was AMAZING, I suggested we go visit him at Jon’s parents house. This was my first trip out of the house! I got in and out of the car with no problems (I’m finding that I can use my right leg to support and guide my left to swing it around where it needs to go), down to the pool area and onto a lounge chair and got comfy. Schlafly was swimming away, happy as could be, and my mama heart was SO happy and relieved to see him. We stuck around the pool for maybe an hour and a half, I drank one beer (a Bud Select, nothing crazy, but maybe caused my later issues), the temperature was probably 78 degrees. I was fine until we got home, but after having to go down into the basement for a tornado siren, I got super nauseous and ended up throwing up a lot and had a slight fever! I felt better after I got sick and went to bed feeling fine.

Monday (day 7) I felt ZERO pain all day. It was amazing! My home PT, Ellen, paid me a visit. I told her about my Sunday issue and she told me that was my body telling me to STAY HOME for a while. She thinks it was a combo of exhaustion from healing, and the fact I lost so much blood during surgery. Apparently it takes 2 to 3 weeks for your  blood to replenish and feel better on that regard. My sweet mother-in-law hung out with me during the day while Jon returned to work. She tucked me in for my nap and returned to work. I’m so thankful for the way everyone has been taking care of me, my husband, and my goofy dog. I ALSO TOOK A SHOWER! My first since surgery. I was SO thankful I had decided to straighten my hair before surgery, otherwise my curls would’ve looked like a rats nest.

Tuesday was uneventful, except for my MOM finally came down to visit! What is it about having your mom there that makes everything better? She cooked, cleaned, stocked our fridge (she went grocery shopping 3 times in the 3.5 days she was here), and online shopped with me 🙂 I also thought that since my pain had been non-existent the day before, maybe I’d play with weaning off it slowly. I started taking it every 5-5.5 hours instead of 4. It didn’t work out the best. Once you fall behind on taking your pain pills on time, it’s hard to catch up. Dolores, my home nurse, paid me a visit on Wednesday and told me that taking a smaller amount with the same frequency was better, so that’s what I do now. I’m down to 1.5 pills every 4 hours, but 2 pills still during the nighttime. Dolores also told me that I was healing up great and don’t need to wear a bandage anymore! My incision is still covered with steri-strips, but they are slowly falling off. Wednesday night Jon’s parents brought over pizza and salad and then Schafly came home for good! It is so wonderful to have him back, it feels right with him here.

Thursday, Ellen came by again. She was pleased with how my physical therapy exercises were going and my overall strength and ease with which I can move about, so we added some standing exercises. We also took a walk down the street! We only walked to the second driveway down the street from my house, but my GOD it was exhausting. After I turned around to come home, I could feel my hip gradually getting weaker and my limp becoming more pronounced. It felt good to get out. Ellen said she would call Madalyn (Clohisy’s nurse) to see if I could possibly start outpatient PT before I return to see Clohisy on July 21. That would be AMAZING. She also gave me the go-ahead to leave the house again, which is great because all of a sudden I felt my energy return yesterday! Standing in the kitchen was no longer making me light-headed and I was able to move about the house more. Each day really does get easier.

Today (Friday) I was still tired and sore from PT yesterday, maybe a 3.5/10 (my pain norm seems to be a 2-3 unless I’m moving about or tweak my hip doing something). I have been taking hour-ish naps every day, but today I took almost a 3 hour coma and felt SO refreshed after. It seems the more I do, the more exhausted I get (duh Lydia) so I imagine these naps will continue for quite a while. I am worried about my energy level when I return to work. If I feel anything like I do now, I will need to do some half days. My mom also left tonight and I miss her comfort and humor and company already!

Overall, this week was great. I am still sleeping in my CPM machine every night, taking my Norco (either 1.5 or 2) every 4 hours, taking asprin and senna at 8am and 8pm, and not drinking alcohol (minus sips from Jon or my mom). I have pooped with some regularity, and I’m thankful for that because narcotics really cause issues in that department. My pain never breaks a 5, and that’s usually at night after I’ve had a long day and I get super cranky and usually end up crying a little bit from frustration and pain and tiredness. My sister arrives on Tuesday (!!!!!) and I am looking forward to going out on some adventures with her and using my handicap parking sticker 🙂 Onward!