THR Recovery in Labrador

[labanan]

Morning day eleven
Feel very postpartum today. Not depressed but emotions are on the surface ready to break into wildfire, or more likely a metaphor - floods. Had a crappy night of not being able to get comfortable, but now I am so what was that! And I can get out of bed without the strap! Trying to lasso my foot at two in the morning because I desperately need to pee was less fun than it sounds.

Today my goals are to do three or four drawings, go on at least three short strolls around the small house, make my lunch and report online to EI for my benefits as they sent me my code.

My pal, Robin, is coming by with 'the bomb' to get things moving in me properly. Her husband was a paraplegic and this gentle remedy was crucial in maintaining bowel balance. It is all natural and was employed by the Grenfell nurses. I'll let you know.

Now I'm going to watch something sad as I want to experience congruity between my tear ducts and my experience.

 

[VThereandnow]

Love the descriptiveness of your post. The whole getting up to pee thing, whether I am sleeping good or not, seems like such a chore with a recovering body. Always reminds me of camping years ago and not wanting to get out of the dang sleeping bag lol. ...and much more challenging with a lasso haha.

Yesterday my monkey brain started to act up and i curiously observed my energy and mood go down as stories picked up or was it vice versa? Haha I actually said to Cheryl, oh oh, her comes the postpartum. My emotions are also on the surface and I was thinking some journaling might be in order. Sorry you need the bomb and I sure hope it works, but from the sounds of it, you are in good hands with your friends experience. Good for you to help the emotions through. I admire that. Make it a good day and enjoy your company.

 

[Nivea]

I had a bit of a hard time the first week or 2 with my emotions. It all sorted itself out and was doing pretty well until this past week. I have had a day or so within this past week that I just felt out of sorts. I never imagined that at nearly 9 weeks post op, I would be further along than I am. I just keep reminding myself of my Bonesmart family that we are all unique in our recovery and I will get there.

 

[labanan]

Thank you Cathy and Nivea, so helpful to get your perspectives on this whole adventure. I'm approaching a pain stuck feeling now. I guess it is just the healing but I dislike the antsy panicky feeling of this sort of pain. I remember it from having a bad back but it is nothing like the just plain awful crocodile gnawing on me bones one l had before surgery. I try and accomodate it - more ice, elevate, should I grt up and on snd on. I'm going yo wait another 15 minutes thrn take my pills a bit early. Shag this!

Today I made three drawings. Im practising my hatching. I did some walking round the house and I did not do my EI reporting. Maybe tonight. I despise adult paperwork!

The fella has been feeding me too good so tonight we're going to have leftovers! I'm not super hungry and don't want to get into a bored muncher...

 

[labanan]

Just checking in - feeling good - moving about a bit - very little pain and sleeping alright as long as I just have a wee nap between 8 and midnight, then take my meds, ice , and elevate. I usually sleep through until 6 which is wonderful. Having a few visitors and all helpful and don't stay long. I'm drawing quite a bit which lifts my spirits immeasurably.

Tomorrow I get my staples out. My sister-in-law and step-daughter arrive tomorrow. My partner's aunt has died so housing has gotten a little tight. We've told my step-daughter that she is more than welcome here, but will have to bunk down on the couch. I know she won't mind - rather than stay with strangers, relatives or not. I still expect push-back from my sister-in-law- she cannot imagine any reality but her own, but I'm resolute and so is my fella. I look and act chipper, but I'm carefully monitoring my resources. I won't be going to the funeral but will go up to Ron's cousin's for the wake after. Ron can pick me up and I can manage the few steps, bring my sturdy cushion and only stay for half an hour. It'll be nice to get out of the house for a wee break.
That's it for me!

 

[VThereandnow]

Yay on getting those staples out. My last two surgeries I had no staples but I remember really wanting them out after that first surgery. I felt so much more free after that. Good luck with having company. Sounds like you have figured out how to take care of yourself with all that is going on with the funeral. Talk soon

 

[labanan]

Hey Cathy, well today the fat will hit the fire as family descends! I'm trying really hard not to get Ron to do seversl hundred little chores before going off to work. Ha! Truth? I'm always like this before his sister comes. This house was their mother's and I call his sister 'the curator of the Ruby Budgell memorial museum '. She'll come in tskking and clucking and even though I'm known far and wide as a ballsy babe, I shrivel and shrink in her presence, trying vainly and most unattractivly to please - pulling my forelock and muttering 'yes marm' while looking at my feet. Nice picture wha! And it isn't nearly as bad as it was. I snapped a couple of years back when she attacked Ron unfairly. That made a big difference, surprisingly!

As the northern brits say "there's nowt so queer as folk."

Thanks for coming by - it is pure goodness knowing l have someone out there that gets me!
Jan

ps - do hope your family members are on the mend, or at least stable.

 

[Irish Joe]

Very Funny.
It reminds me of another one.
" You can pick your friends.......But not your family".
Good luck with Curator.
"Oh you changed this and why did you move that?"
Your doing great otherwise.
Joe......

 

[labanan]

Thanks Joe - she's okay - just lived too long on her own. Living with others knocks the barnacles off!
Hope you've gotten out on your bike some more. It is really snowing here! Jeez.

 

[VThereandnow]

You are killing me I just love how you use words, makes me totally understand the situation.

That's gotta be tough and I get, that it is ok too. The house being moms? Whew, that's a land mine right there haha. Even a balsy babe, (which I figured you were) can be brought down by family. Though it was in a different context, (me going home to visit) a therapist once told me that no matter how much work I do on myself, there is a giant piece of cardboard with a cutout waiting for me to step into when I get home. People expect me to ostep into it and if I don't, there will be friction. I like that analogy. I can only imagine there is one at "moms old house" for you.

By the way I finally looked at a map to see where Labrador is. YIKES! No wonder there is frikin snow there. You are way the heck up there. There was a woman on the forum who died last year. She was greatly loved. She had a "handle" of poppet, her real name was Sandy and you might see some of her nutritional stuff on the forum. She lived in Australia so it was always crazy, because as she was enjoying summer, we would have winter and vise versa. Though you are not quite that, you are definitely a bit behind in the warming up. Today it is raining and 50.

P.S. You can always smudge after she leaves hehe
Cathy

 

[labanan]

As expected she was here ten minutes, went upstairs to her room - where the fella sleeps these days - came down and said 'do you know where my slippers went?' On the plus side my darlingest step-dot is here and she is heaven to spend time with. She and the sister-in-law will be dtaying up the hill but l think Sarah will spend lots of time here, which will be super. She goes to university in St. John's (Island of Newfoundland) but will be going back to Halifax before grad school. She and her long distance girlftiend are tsking a train across Canada in July. Jealous!

 

[Josephine]

Trying to lasso my foot at two in the morning because I desperately need to pee was less fun than it sounds.

Been there, done that! Poor you!

I guess it is just the healing but I dislike the antsy panicky feeling of this sort of pain. I remember it from having a bad back but it is nothing like the just plain awful crocodile gnawing on me

Sounds like you could do with some advice. I'd really like to offer you some structured advice but in order to do that, I also need to ask you some questions. Are you willing for me to do that?

 

[labanan]

Hi Josephine - you asked me a few days ago and I agreed. Just to update you - I am not experiencing the discomfort that I was a few days ago. Still taking my meds but not feeling like if I don’t the pain will get ahead of me. I'm elevating and icing for long periods of time and my gait is improving. I'm religiously NOT doing any PT exercises. Got my staples out today and the wound is very nice with no visible swelling.

Love this site and find it very helpful.
Jan

 

[VThereandnow]

On the slippers. Thank goodness the joy of the step dot balances out the challenges of the sis in law. I can feel the joy of your visit with youth - enjoy

 

[momjfb]

Also, if I move more I can ditch these damn compression socks. I've spent a lot of time reading recovery threads. So fascinating! A common theme is comparing one's own recovery to other's and feeling bad in the comparison.



After having breast cancer, I learned my lesson about comparing myself with others. That being said, there is something gratifying about having a community to chat with, who can let you know if you are dealing with something that just happens or it's a big anomaly.

Lucky that you can even think about ditching the socks! My surgeon says to keep them on during daytime for at least 4 weeks if not 6. So much for stretching out my legs in the sun on my deck . . .

And holy cow I can't believe your journey home. My husband drove, it was 20 minutes of highway driving, and it just about did me in. I think I would have had to rent a place near the hospital if I'd had your situation!

Hang tough!




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[sammylou99]

Sounds like you are doing really well! Impressed you have visitors staying at this point!! I still found myself getting very tired in the first few weeks and hope they are all letting you get rest too! At 8 weeks that energy drain seems to have disappeared which is wonderful as I kept nodding off in front of the tv at night much to my hubbys amusement! I didn't do any proper pt until about 5 weeks when everything was more comfortable. It has been very helpful in the last few weeks to straighten up my gait as my foot had turned onwards with the damaged hip so that is what we work on. Other than that building up walking very slowly over the weeks has been the best for me. I overdid it at about 3/4 weeks and paid the price by slipping on the stairs and slowed down! Luckily no bad damage but set me back a couple of weeks.
Hope you have a fun weekend with your stepdot
Sam x


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[labanan]

Hi all - Day Fourteen

Thanks for your connecting - so healing, truly.

Cathy - making people laugh is my most favorite thing so thank you! Oh and making them cry too ( I am a therapist after all). And you are right - my darling girl is such an antidote, well, to anything or one negative.

Momjfb - oy! I am a rebel child (and I bet a dollar Josephine knows this term) so I didn't ask my surgeon . I researched here and other places and decided to take them off. Josephine was helpful with that as well. Waking up in the midfle of the night unable to get them off as my toes atrophied - uh, no. And yes, the joys of living in remote spots. On the other hand everything since the trip home is a vast improvement.

Sammy - my step-daughter and sister-in-law aren't staying in the house as it has transpired. But my step-dot will hangvout here much of the time. I'm pretty good at setting boundaries and it is so great for my fella to have her here. We are both smitten with the kid -she's a peach!
And yes, I'm listening to you all and taking it very slow. I see the PT this coming Friday and am wondering if I'll even disclose my complete indifference to doing exercises. We'll see.

Okay - the fella just brought me a fresh cuppa joe so I'll sign off.

One last thought - I feel like I've come out of a cave of pain into a sunny wilderness. I need to figure out my limitations, get accustomed to the brilliance, and not run amok with my new freedom, but if anyone is reading this and wondering if surgery is a good option, consider my words. Yes and yes and yes!

 

[joydiver]

Hello @labanan, just wanted to say thanks to you and other posters here for a very interesting set of posts [emoji122]. Had some time to read through yesterday while my husband was out for a few hoard - your trip home from the hospital was not for the faint-hearted ! Wondering if you've thought of writing as a career ?

I've only made it as far north as Montreal so checked the map to see where Labrador is. Yikes it's way up there ! I live in "rural NJ" and we get a surprising amount of wildlife in our backyard here - a large variety of birds but also black bear, muskrat, mink, raccoon and WAY too many deer. Once we had a UPS delivery delayed because "our driveway was blocked". The next day the driver explained a skunk was hanging out there [emoji15]!

Anyway thank you for sharing your recovery and providing some entertainment also - wishing you the best in your journey [emoji106]


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[Jaycey]

I need to figure out my limitations, get accustomed to the brilliance, and not run amok with my new freedom

You are spot on! Recovery is all about finding your limits, stepping back and trying it again another day. What seems impossible one day is easy on another day. Sounds like you are doing very well!

 

[labanan]

Hi Joydiver - yes, reading people's journeys is so fascinating, isn't it? I believe that is yhe brilliance of this forum - that we connect through our stories, and feel included and supported.

You had your surgery a week before me. I was supposed to have mine on the 31st but it was cancelled as they had massive snow storms in St. Anthony that week. When I got there the drifts were unbelievably high. They also have polar bears and icebergs but I only saw tracks of the former , and a bit early for the majestic parade of bergs! We don't have polar bears where I live, but plenty of black bears, wolves, and moose. We should have lots of caribou (reindeer) but the herds have been nearly wiped out. I did see three of them near the airport at St. Anthony as I was making my perilous trip home. First I've seen since we moved to Labrador four years ago.

We have no deer, which I miss horribly. Where we lived in Nova Scotia (and will again in 2018) they are always to be found. Your place soundd lovely -are you near the Pine Barrens (read John McPhee's book of that name)?

Thank you for your kind remarks about my writing. I am hoping to have a novel published this year. I've got another on the go but cannot write comfortably as of yet, so confining myself to posts on the Internet and letters!

Today I'm looking forward to a little venture - my fella is going to a funeral - his aunt's (not sad, longtime altzheimers) and will pick me up after the service and bring me to his cousin's. They have a good chair there for me and I'm hoping I can manage an hour, but he'll take me home whenever I give the word.

Again, thanks for visiting - it is ever so nice to connect with people here!
Jan