More baby steps

I was mistaken about one thing: I didn’t return home week after surgery, but two days earlier, on Saturday. You know my thoughts on that: a danger sign missed. Even the Maz isn’t perfect.

They had started me walking in hospital. I restarted at home, without the benefit of painkillers. Whole new experience. Coming up the stairs from the lower floor, one painful step at a time left we gasping for breath at the top. My touchstone re: “how’my doing?”

I mapped out a circular track in the house: down the hall, through the bedroom (or office for a change, then back down the hall and through the living room and kitcen – much like a donkey grinding grain! I decided I needed one walk a day outside, even at 3o below with wind chill of -40. So I don’t balaclava, Canada goose parka, mitts, and out I went. At first, just six minutes. If felt too good to be out there in prairie weather, on the snow, walking in the world.

Every few days, I upped distance by a minute. I’m up to at the moment – I can get to the mailbox now! As the weeks go by, my tolerances will improve; I’ll be walking a half hoar in no time.

The weather has turned milder, and so I did all my walking outside yesterday. It’s very slaw, but I feel progressesbeing made.

When you leave the surgical hospital, you are given a package of material to help through rehab. I read it, and then again, very carefully. Thy mention a long list of “normal” symptoms you may experience once home. I couldn’t find anything about excruciating back pain, in the ribs, not unlike a running stitch…that goes on for 10 hours. I phoned the Ma for guidance. They were puzzled at the length of the pain, and urged me to an ER to have it checked out Off I went to the Wetaskiwin hospital for night. They did every conceivable test n me, including for a blood clot. By morning, it was clear that this was a “normal’, if uncomfortable symptom. Home I went with T-3’s and a laxative.

In ER they had given me IV Deluded…oh, what a relief that was. At home the best I could et was one or two grams lf the stuff. Moderately effective,…But, constipating with a Capital C. We’ll pass over this part lf the story, leaving to your vivid imaginations to figure it out.

It’s now 3:30 in the morning, and I can’t sleep – another ongoing problem with we, so you get the story. Up until now. Perhaps I’ll sleep now