I Made A Time Lapse Movie

I have a lot of time on my hands (or "hand" in my case) and was looking for something fun to do. It's hard to be very creative with only one working arm, but I came up with something:

Thought Points for This Day

Things I am thinking:

• When things take two to three times longer to do, time passes quickly.
  



• I do not think it is possible to put a pillowcase on a pillow with one arm.
  



• The site coordinator where I pick up my food on Fridays sent me a get well card. How can someone with whom I chat 10 to 15 minutes once a week, pick out a card so perfect for me that you would have thought it came from my Mom, daughter, or best friend?
  



• I was given 5 more exercises to do by the physical therapists and I like one of them so much I will probably do it for the rest of my life.
  



• I can drive just fine with one arm.
  



• Although My Sweetie can barely crack an egg or make a ponytail, he has been extraordinarily helpful.
  



• I no longer sleep wearing my sling and I can't begin to say how much I enjoy sleeping without that strap on my neck.
  



• I feel I am progressing very well and for that I am grateful.

first physical therapy today

my thumb has been achy so i'm not going to stretch my hand out doing shifting for caps. I just realized I can hit "caps lock" each time. Anyway, I discovered that i do not care for typing with one hand. my first physical therapy will be at 3:00 this afternoon. i have stopped taking all the pain meds excepy for my regular anti-inflammatory i was already taking for my thumb.
~
i wanted my hair up on sunday so my sweetie did it for me and it was hilarious. i can't wait to show a picture. we laughed so hard our ribs hurt. also he has been doing most the of cooking with my instructions/supervision and that has been fun.
~
i'm looking forward to finding out what the PT has to say. i hope i'm in good shape. i should be out of this sling on March 2nd. yay! more later.

A Fantastic Day!

Tuesday was a really great day and I can tell you: I certainly needed one. I got up and got as ready as I could and then My Sweetie came home and helped me finished getting dressed. There are a lot of things you can't do with one hand such as: hook your bra, tie your shoes, button your jeans. Also he brought me beautiful flowers because it also happened to be Valentine's Day. It felt good just to have on real clothes.

After we got in to see the doctor, a nurse pulled off the remaining bandages from my shoulder and snipped out the stitches. The doctor was pleased with my arm and told me I could remove the cushion part of my sling. That was great! The cushion part is the big bulky thing that also has the horrid waist strap. Taking that part off made me feel like a crazy FreeBird. I was so happy.

~

We left the doctor's office and went for lunch at one of our favorite TexMex places. We had a terrific lunch and of course I had a Dos Equis. As we walked out, the gloom had broken and the sun was shining and it was mild and pleasant and I was so overjoyed, I looked up at the sky and beamed a "Thank you God for lifting my spirit!"

~

I should back up a bit here and tell you that the weather has been HORRIBLE since my surgery. My mother has the weather data of everyone she knows on her home page and she told me that one of the last few days it was colder here than in Alaska (my niece lives there.) And cold is way worse when it's always dark and gloomy.

~

Speaking of Mom, when My Sweetie brought me home, he went back to work, and after talking to my neighbor for a while, I called Mom. We had a long pleasant chat and I helped her with her crossword puzzle. I really enjoy things like that. It's tough seeing Mom only once or twice a year.

~

My Sweetie came home and we had a nice simple dinner and watched our Detroit Red Wings make NHL history. After My Sweetie had gone to bed, and just before midnight, I had one last great thing: The Cranberries performed a new song from their first album in 10 years. I will have to get that CD when it comes out.

~

So anyway, after 11 days of pain, gloom, irritation and sometimes exasperation, I had a really great day. And I will savor it for quite some time.

another post surgery update

I love that illustration that came on the sheet regarding my exercises. It looks like a Leaning Demon from "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" or something. I mean, I'm not bald and do my exercises topless while wearing white jazz shoes. Nor is my left arm as long as my legs. I don't know why, but I'm sort of fascinated by that picture.

~

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned before how I do not like being "bound" in any way: How I remove my bra and shoes once I enter my house. And my jeans. I wear T-shirts and loose cotton house pants or shorts at home. So try to imagine my extreme discomfort of having this sling on for 223 and 1/2 hours. Not only is the thing on my neck and back, there is also a waist belt. And I still have 2 weeks and 2 and 1/2 days to go.

~

And I'm tired of sleeping propped up. So, basically, I'm going through a phase of just trying to be cool about the little things that are starting to drive me insane. Other than that and the creepy black bruises, everything is good. I have my post-op appointment Tuesday morning. Yes, that is Valentine's Day. We are going to go out for lunch afterwards and that will be my first day out since the surgery. I'll let you know how all of that works out. Meanwhile, I will work on trying to ignore all these straps.

Post Surgery

I was in a pain/drug fog until Tuesday. That was the first day I felt like myself again. The surgery went well. They did three things: reattaching the one muscle that's the main rotator cuff thing, the distal clavicle excision and moving and reattaching my bicep.
~
I have adapted pretty well. I have these little exercises that I have to do three times a day. I appreciate those because I understand the importance of them. I am able to take a careful shower. My Sweetie, as well as my daughter, has been very very helpful.
~
For the last two days the shoulder blade behind the surgery has been very sore. I get
My Sweetie to massage it and I moan so much it is making our cat uncomfortable. I don't know why, but that amuses me a lot. And sleeping has not been an issue. So that's good.
~
Anyway, I'm chugging along. Everything's okay.

Today They Cut Me

I guess we'll be leaving in about 30 minutes to go to the hospital.
How odd, but I can't think of anything at all to say.