The weather is getting beautiful...

It is so nice to be back up in my chair again and have my puppy back. I got Robby back last Tuesday and it was a very happy reunion. The first time I brought him home I was supposed to let anybody pay attention to him for a month but of course that is very hard to do especially with lots of family and friends around but I quickly learned why they ask you to do that. This time I’m holding strong and not letting anybody but me pay attention to him and it seems to be working out really good. Before he would of course follow around whoever is moving and was starting to get more attached to a couple of my caregivers rather than me, this time he is paying more attention to me.

On Wednesday, St. Patrick’s Day, we had about 10 people over for corned beef and cabbage and cribbage, I really miss those get-togethers. The meal turned out absolutely wonderful, everybody raved about it. After Teresa brought Robby back Tuesday evening she put the corned beef in the crockpot, one in Guinness beer in the other in water in a room full really good. Besides cabbage, red potatoes and carrots she also did some root vegetables.

On Thursday and Friday Robby and I took a long stroll out past the lighthouse. The weather was really beautiful and it was great to see Robby prancing down the walkway with his head up and a big smile.

I’m done with the visiting nurses and is released sad to see them go because they were so much help. The rest of my chair fitting I will do at Dominican with the rehab OT said PT’s. It will be nice to get back up in the standing frame, I was almost done with my session and ready to order the standing frame when I had to quit for my surgery. We need to work on my back rest in my chair. I have to do some tests to find out if I really have scoliosis or just weak muscles around my spine. they now make a mold of your back and make it into the back rest instead of adding a bunch of mechanical things, I’m really excited about that.

I got REALLY sick this weekend, I don’t remember the last time I have felt this miserable. My head felt like it was about to explode, my ear and throat were hurting really bad and I kept sneezing. I missed Robby’s play date and he didn’t get to go out and get any exercise but we will make up for it tomorrow and all next week.

Getting back to the old routine...

Getting up in my chair is getting easier every day. I am up to two hours a day to times a day. Today was the first day I went farther than the lagoon, I went down to the end of the wharf and then down to the boardwalk. Before my surgery they had just started rebuilding a haunted house and when I went by there today it looks like they are almost done with the outside of it, it even looks like it might be accessible.

The physical therapist came by on Wednesday and Friday to show the girls a proper way to do range of motion, most of them were too aggressive and did it way too fast. He also showed them some resistance exercises to strengthen my neck and shoulder muscles, I can already tell the difference. By the time I made it to the lagoon and back the first week I could barely hold my head up. You can bet that I sure am remembering to do weight shifts every hour.

I cannot wait until Tuesday when Teresa and Cassie go to pick up Robby, I cannot believe how much I miss that little guy. I didn’t really realize how many people noticed me when I was just cruising around but several people asked me where my dog was.

On Wednesday a bunch of people are coming over for corned beef and cabbage and cribbage. We get together once in a while but not often enough as far as I’m concerned, we really have a lot of fun.

I got to see Susan, the massage therapists, a couple of times this week. She brought over a movie “the weather girl”, it was a really great movie and we had fun just hanging out. She came by to other days to give me a massage and that always makes me feel GREAT and I sleep really well.

Back in the Rojo again...

My first day up in my chair was kind of frustrating. I really wanted to get out and go but my body was not ready for it yet. I made it to the lagoon and then felt really dizzy so I came back and tilted back in my chair or while and tried it again. Today seem to be a lot easier and it’s just going to get easier the more I do it. Stanley, David and Corinne came down last night and spent the night so I got to go for a cruise with Corinne a couple of times. We went to the lagoon and fed the fish and the ducks. I get nervous going over the water but I did it and hopefully the more I do it the easier it will get. All in all I am SO glad to be home and got to finally be able to get up in my chair and cruise around once again. As always it was really great to see them. My neighbors across the street moved and I’m really going to miss them but they just moved up the street. They had our yard sale and I found a couple of really cool things.

Almost there...

I cannot even begin to say how great it is to be back home and to see everybody on a regular basis again. Tomorrow I’m supposed to start getting up in my chair for an hour twice a day, the next week two hours a day twice and so on... Teresa is going to go up to Santa Rosa and pick up Robby March 16th, I missed him so much and I cannot wait to see him again.

Last Friday marked my sixth week and I was supposed to start getting back in my chair a little at a time Sunday. Nobody has been able to get a hold of the surgeon to find out exactly what kind of range of motion I need to have done before I can get up. I have called and left a message as well as two nurses and the physical therapist, hopefully we will hear something this week. I did ask the surgeon before I left the hospital what I need to do and she said that after care will know...well they don’t. The weather is starting to look really beautiful and I cannot wait to get outside and cruise around.

Today it has been two weeks since I have been home from the hospital, tomorrow seven weeks since my surgery, and I finally got the okay to get up for an hour to an hour and a half twice a day, I cannot wait until tomorrow. I don’t know how hard it’s going to be trying to sit upright and drive my chair... everything slowly I guess. Today is supposed to be the only nice day this week but rain or shine I will be out there cruising around. It would be nice to just go down to the wharf and have a crab Louie salad.