10/16 The Meal Train Marita set up for us started today- thank goodness! Talk about a great idea! Thanks everyone! Just the thought of cooking has been exhausting to me, not to mention almost impossible. (I don’t think Ned’s very keen on it either.) For the next four-to-six weeks I’m not supposed to reach or raise my arms past 90 degrees, lift more than 5-10 lbs, lie on my side or stomach, or bend/arch/stretch in any direction. This makes certain things difficult- like cooking, unloading the dishwasher, opening windows, doing laundry, hanging clothes, shampooing, drying my hair, etc… Apparently all of those blood vessels they transplanted need some time to heal and become more pliable before I try to stretch them. But I’ll slowly get back into it all.
Speaking of slowly, I move pretty slowly and with limited range of motion right now– but I do move– and more than I expected, which is nice.
Unfortunately I have to kick the kitties off of me when they want to snuggle anywhere near my chest, or my groin. I found out the hard way in my sleep that it really hurts when Muki climbs up on me. She is, after all, over 10lbs. Ouch!
Oh, I have been down to just Tylenol and Advil for pain management since we got home, so that’s a good thing (unless you have a cat on your chest).
10/18 I tried to sleep in our bed propped up with wedge pillows, but that didn’t work so well, so I am now in the recliner in the living room. It seems to be working well, and hopefully Ned will be able to get a little more sleep this way! (I’m up four or five times a night it seems… mostly to pee, but also because of discomfort/pain and the need to move.)
Bad news is, I have cankles. Yikes! I have some swelling in my chest and arm pits, but especially in my feet and lower legs! I am constantly looking at them with my legs raised, and I think my legs look pretty blimpish oozing out from the edges of my awful granny girdle. And my new chest has been swelling since I first saw it. But we’ve been told to expect all of this, so I try not to worry. I have been using a special (Lymphoderm) lotion the New Orleans folks recommended, and I’ve been continuing to wear the leg compressors at night. Walking helps the most though, so we’ve been taking longer and longer walks every day. Yesterday we walked around the neighborhood for 30 min. Today we walked part of Boulder Valley Ranch for 45 min. Tomorrow we will shoot for an hour.
10/19 My oncologist had an emergency come up, so we rescheduled my appointment to one week from today. Hopefully then we’ll know the plan going forward.
By the way, many thanks to everyone who has been cooking wonderful homemade meals for us!! Wow! Your time and talents are so appreciated! We’ve had so many wonderful meals and treats this week- including wine, appetizers, desserts, gorgeous flowers, and gift certificates for restaurant home delivery!! We love takeout too! Many, many thanks for everything! We are so grateful for all of this great food (and no need to have to think about what to make for dinner)! It helps so much and means the world to us!
10/20 We walked the Sawhill ponds today– perfect warm weather, gorgeous fall colors and plentiful bird life everywhere. I was thankful we weren’t in the mid-summer heat walking around in my granny girdle.
10/21 Tomorrow is Ned’s birthday, so I thought I would give him a day or two off today and tomorrow. My diminished swelling has made me more relaxed (mentally), and I have been practicing doing my last two (hip) drains by myself. We’ve reached the two-week post surgery point- so no more leg compressors needed. Yay! So I set him free for the day and he enjoyed a nice day of mountain biking up in the foothills. All is good.
10/22 Well, after a shower (effort/time!), nice outdoor brunch, and a long lovely walk at the Sawmill Ponds, (and then dinner out w/ D), Ned didn’t get away from my services for a second day after all. But at least we do enjoy each other’s company, so I think he had a pretty good (birth)day anyway.
10/24 Today we walked along the new foothills trail north of Boulder. It was our longest walk yet– took a little over two hours! (See photos below.) I was tired in the end, but very happy my swelling is almost gone!
10/25 The big walk worked! Not only is my swelling gone, but today Ned was able to pull my left hip drain (which is allowed once there is less than 30ml of liquid/drainage a day for two consecutive days). It seemed easy for him, but I couldn’t dare look as he did it. (About 8+” of extra tubing is under the skin. Yuck!) Nice work, Ned! Now I can’t wait for the final (right) drain to come out… and then the final two weeks before the girdle can come off. Ugh.
