Sunday, Week 29:

(Week 2 after surgery)
Daily Comments:
Last week was the worse.  I had to revert back to 2 pain pills every 4 hours all last week.  I literally took a pill, ate something, and went back to bed... for a week!  Man!!  It got even worse.  Steve, Pepaw (Steve's dad), and Marty caught a cold.  They were all coughing and sniffling, and sleeping a lot.  There was no caregiver.  We were all sick and had to take care of ourselves.

Sometime during that week, Pepaw went to the doctor and had a test and found out he had blockage to the heart and needed a stent.  He scheduled Surgery for Thursday.  Steve got up at 5:00 a.m. and took him to the hospital, stayed in the waiting room and got the good news from the doctor, saw that he got into his room for over night observation, and then came home and crashed (still sick and run down).  Steve headed back to the hospital around 5:00 p.m. and visited for a few hours then turned around and picked him up and brought him home on Friday.  We were all crashed on Friday.  I took my last pain pill on Friday and started taking 3 Ibuprofen instead.

I am... today... back among the living.  I got up and went to church this morning.  (Steve stayed home.  He was crouping and coughing... still sounding awful.)  Being at church was the best place to be.  The singing and the sermon was excellent.  I was so blessed to have been present.  Afterwards, Marty and I ate at Olive Garden.  I ate soup and salad.  It tasted great.  After lunch I took food to-go to Steve and Pepaw and went home to rest.  Marty went to the grocery store.  The family came over around 7:00 p.m.  We all ate steak and green beans and watched a movie together.  We all ate cobbler and ice cream for dessert.  Arianna is getting so big.  She is almost 6 months and 20 pounds.  I am not supposed to lift anything over 20 pounds for 6 weeks.  Uuuugggghhhhh!

I am going to attempt to go back to work tomorrow.  I have a doctor's appointment too... on my first day back.  We shall see if I can handle full time hours this week or if I will have to work up to full time.  I am glad I have my own office and sit in front of a computer with a printer on my desk.  I only have to get up to go to the bathroom.

Missed: 
I missed documenting my weigh-in day yesterday... I weighed-in at 167 pounds.  That is one pound down.  Yea!  I am still swollen from surgery so I hope some weight will still drop off as I continue to recover.  It still hurts but it is sooooooo much better.

I have a friend, Renee, that just had neck surgery for the second time after screws in her neck broke after the first surgery.  She is so positive and such a strong person.  She has overcome so many things in her life, one of which was cancer.  She had a major portion of her colon removed and wore a bag for many months.  To her, this is just one more thing.  Her neck surgery was this past Monday while I was out of it.  I spoke with her today on the phone.  She has two black eyes, bruises to the face, neck, and under arms.  Half of her hair is shaved off.  She says she looks like she has been beaten.  She has a 3 months recovery time and is on mega heavy pain medications.  She has physical therapy to look forward to also.  All that kind of puts things in prospective for me, especially when she called me concerned about how I was doing.  I was so humbled and in tears for her.

I could go on with family and friends that have life threatening illnesses.  They are handling each and every day amazingly well.  They are strong, positive, fighters.  I am thankful!  To God be all the glory!!

Food Diary:  
Breakfast:  Activia Light Peach yogurt, toast with country crock and honey.
Lunch:  Olive Garden soup and salad
Dinner:  Steak, green beans, and mashed potatoes
Snack:  Peach cobbler and ice cream

To God be Glory for Every and Ever Amen!!