Ocean Breeze

Hello friends. After yesterday's adventure I was BEAT. I did not sleep well last night... I tossed, turned, rolled, sashayed.... anything that involved not sleeping... I did it... and I was mad. My leg hurt...hurt to bend, hurt to straighten, hurt to do something in between.... just hurt. I took my pain meds before trying to go to bed...and after still being awake after about 4 or 5 hours, i took an extra one. After that I got a few minutes of sleep here and there... I woke up twice to the sound of a cat having a hairball and a couple of other times when the cats decided to play tag throughout my apartment. Needless to say when my alarm went off at 8 this morning I was less than pleased. It was one of those days I determined was going to be bad...was going to suck...was going to be spent in bed, trying to sleep... however... that is not what "the cards" had in store. My good friend Meg called yesterday and told me she was going to come down today instead of her usual Tuesday visit. This was a great plan because the nurse and PT were not scheduled for today...so when my alarm sounded this morning I knew that my snooze limit was 2, unless I wanted to be in bed when Meg arrived at 9. After the first snooze I cast away my plan of showering before she got here...and ended up snoozing three times...so got out of bed around 8:30 instead of 8 as planned. As I tried to get up... my body was displeased with me. My left knee hurt... along with my behind...my right thigh and my back. What have I done to myself? I was not looking forward to those first few steps... and they were hard...very hard. I find that when I feel like that I have a hard time trusting that my left knee will be able to support any of my weight...so my right leg works harder...again. Eventually I made it to the couch, deciding that maybe the CPM machine would help loosen things up and make me feel better. Meg arrived with a cheerful, "Mornin'!" and I warned her that I was in a foul mood. I proceeded to whine about my night of not sleeping, cat vomit, and other discomforts. She told me not to worry because she had not slept well either...though I was sure my night was worse than hers..because, after all...it must be, right? As she was trying to help me greet the day she asked how high my machine was set at...trying to be little miss Sunshine, and encouraging me...saying it looked pretty good.... It was at 73 degrees....nothing to be all cheery about Meg....We chatted and watched tv as I gradually made it up to 82 degrees and decided that was enough and that I needed to take a shower. Meg vowed to kick my butt at canasta after I was all clean.

So I showered and was thrilled, being in the mood I was in, that after my shower, my back incision was oozing...and since the skin was soft after showering, trying to wipe away some of the ooze involved some skin peeling.... not nice.... but I tried to clean it up a little, put some antibiotic cream on it and let Meg try to kick my ass at cards. With Meg around, it is HARD to stay in a foul mood...very hard... We started playing...and the laughter followed. Eventually our scores were close...within a couple hundred points, which in canasta is nothing. We both knew it was going to come down to the final hand.... and mark it on the calendar... Meg beat me....she was thrilled.... she called her friend Brenda who had joined her against mom and I a couple weeks ago...then she called my mom... she was thrilled. It was funny....we played another round and I beat her...not just beat her...but BEAT her.... I was out.... above 5000 points and she was at NEGATIVE 365! Who's the canasta queen now, Meg?

After canasta, during which I iced my knee to try to alleviate some of the continued discomfort, we decided to go get lunch and take it to the ocean. I know.... yesterday's outing and subsequent pain was not enough apparently...I had to drive, because Meg has a smaller truck than mine. I was less comfortable driving today compared to yesterday, but did ok. We went to a state park near here, and walked a ways before deciding on a bench that would be suitable for me.... needed to be close to the ocean and comfortable. I can be rather picky. Meg thought we should have chosen a picnic table closer to the entrance of the park, but I was determined...I figured what was the point of going to the ocean to not sit by the ocean? I made it to the bench ok... it was getting back to the truck that was tiring. I had not realized on the way to the bench that we had descended a bit of an incline...and after eating and enjoying the ocean breeze... it was hard to get up the incline, back to the parking lot. I had to stop a few times...which made me mad, but Meg was very supportive...and as a few rangers passed me, I rang the bell that I have on my crutches....which made us laugh. It was hard to get back in the truck after that. My leg was saying...damn fool... two days in a row you expect me to be flexible.... no way.... but I got in... and we drove... to an ice cream stand. I had a twist with chocolate jimmies, Meg had coffee ice cream with chocolate jimmies. We then got back to my place and I was tired.... Meg is planning to come back on Friday to help out again... which by the way she did laundry today... thanks Neg... there are few people I would entrust with washing my "draws." She threatened to come back Thursday night for an evening of pizza and cards... I am sure she would include beer in that scenario, but because of my pain meds... the captain and I have to admire each other from afar...for now.

After Meg left, I took a nap... a long nap with pockets of sleep... and woke up feeling pretty ok...had dinner... some baked ziti my friend Kelly had made for me that I had put in my freezer...Yummm.. thanks Kel... and then decided to use the CPM machine as I watched tv.... my goal was to reach 90 degrees by the time I saw my physical therapist again...and I had been only reaching 82 or 83.... tonight I banged it out people....90... for real this time... with the machine adjusted properly. So when she comes tomorrow... my knee better cooperate and show her that improvement. (Although I am worried because with the energy I have expended on the outings the last couple days, I have not done my pt exercises much... eek!)

Today I am thankful for my friend Meg... because she once again helped me get my head out of my hindparts... and it turned out to be a great day with a friend. Had Meg not come over today...I think...well... I would have kept the shades drawn and felt pretty sorry for myself. I know I am improving, but it feels slow...and I have to tell myself to be patient...constantly tell myself that. and I am trying....