Happy Halloween!

I love Halloween, but have decided to lay low this year. I'm even being a scrooge and not handing out candy. I know - I'm "one of those houses". :)

I have found some motivation/energy to start a few crafty projects. One of which I gave you a glimpse of in my last post, and the others I don't have pictures of yet.

One of them is a paper piecing project. As an early B-day gift to MammaBear (Nov. 2), I signed us both up to take a paper piecing class at our local quilt shop.

Neither of us has ever taken a quilting/sewing class nor were we very confident in our paper piecing skills (very new to me), so it was a great class for us. Plus, there were only 3 of us signed up, so we had plenty of one-on-one time with the teacher.

We learned a lot, have homework to do and then we'll finish it up at our 2nd class this next week. The only down side was the 3 hour class was a little too much sitting for my back, but I got up and took mini walks around the shop, so it worked.

Speaking of my back. It will be exactly 1 month since surgery on Mon.!! I was back to the Dr. on the 26th and had the blasted 9 inches of stitches removed - and yes, I WAS BLANKET STITCHED!! The nurse could not tell me the "exact" medical term, but that is what it looks like and it is the most common type of stitch used on long incisions.

According to the Dr. everything is looking as it should. I just need to behave myself (ha!) and I start physical therapy at 3 times a week for 4 weeks this Mon., and then we re-evaluate about going back to work.

The hardest part about where I'm at now in the healing process, is that you start to feel good, so you do things or too much of one thing and then you pay for it later. Boy-do you pay for it later!!

Thank heavens for my heating pad, ice pack, pain meds, and a MammaBear who is willing to do back rubs!!!

Again, I thank you for all your kind comments and kind thoughts - they are so appreciated!

Take Care-Elizabeth

I'm Still Here!

It will be 3 weeks from surgery tomorrow! And no, I am not going stir crazy-yet. The time has flown by! Pain meds, although not as strong nor as often, the ice pack, and the heating pad are definitely my main friends! Oh, and my grabber thingie - and yes that is the "technical term" for it :) It's one of those long handled things that allows you to pick up items up off the floor etc. without bending over (which I am not supposed to do). My first one broke and for 2 days, I was completely lost with out it! Not to fear, I got a new one today and have already used it several times!

I am getting stronger little by little, and am able to walk about 2-3 blocks at a time. I'll either go for a little walk outside or I'll walk up to my public library which is 1 1/2 blocks and sit and rest and then get up and do "laps" around the building.

I'll pick up a kids book or two during my meandering and then sit and rest and read them. Can't quite handle an "adult" book yet as I'm still suffering from "drug induced ADD" - no great attention span! Then, I walk home and either lay on the couch and snooze or crawl into bed and take a nap. I'm heading more towards the "healing tired" stage vs. the "drug induced tired" stage, which is nice because I can now type an e-mail or have a conversation with someone without falling asleep in the middle of it!

I've also got enough oomph that I've been able to start a little stitchery project. It isn't much, but at least I feel like I've accomplished something during the day - even if it's just a few stitches.

Here is a sneak peak:

And that, as exciting as it may sound, pretty much covers my day.

Overall, I feel pretty good. My foot is still pretty numb/fuzzy, it might yet turn around, or I may have to get used to it being a permanent thing. My next Dr.'s appointment isn't until the 26th and then I get these blasted stitches out!! Trust me it's time for them to GO, GO, GO!

For you sewers out there - mom says it looks like I was "blanket stitched" together. I'm going to ask the Dr. what his medical term for the stitch is - wouldn't it be funny if it really turned out to be a blanket stitch!

I also wanted to thank you for all of your prayers, good thoughts, and wishes for a speedy recovery! Whenever I need a pick me up, I read your comments and the spirit is instantly lifted - THANK YOU - Elizabeth

It's been a week?

Just over a week since I had my surgery - hard to believe.

Let me get you caught up.

Surgery was about 3 hrs, give or take, and the Dr. said everything went very well. There was quite a bit of scar tissue from the last surgery that he was able to remove which also helped in freeing up pinched nerves. The fusion went well also. Rather than using cadaver bones to join everything together, they were able to use my own "nice strong bones". So now, my 5th lumbar vertebrae is fused together with screws etc. and there is no more disc to ooze out and create problems.

Your probably thinking that "that has to hurt"! Yeah, it does, but it is a completely different type of pain than what I was experiencing before. This is an incision/healing pain that I know with time will go away. Plus, pain meds are life savers! I still have the numb/tingly foot which may never go away, but at least I no longer have the pain down the side of my leg!

The 2nd day in the hospital I was fitted with a back brace that I will wear once the stitches come out, and it was get up and walk, walk, walk! I even did some stairs! Overall the 3 1/2 day stay was not all bad. I discovered that instead of asking help from the nurses to roll over in bed (not a pleasant thing with an 8-9inch incision and 2 drain tubes) - that it is was just as easy to get up, walk around to the other side of the bed and lay down. I threw several nurses for a loop as every time they would come in, I would be laying on my other side, or sitting on the edge of the bed at 2am! Rolling over at home is still a challenge, but instead of getting up and walking to the other side, I sit up, move some pillows around and my head goes where my feet just were and vice versa. Works well!

Overall, I think things are healing pretty good. I'm still very tired and it soooo easy for me to nod off. I tried e-mailing a friend the other day and it took me about 2 hrs. because I kept nodding off! I'd wake up with some random letter filling up the page! Reading or doing anything crafty is pretty well out of the question too, as I just do not have the stamina - quite annoying. Ah well, this too shall pass.

Well, that pretty much covers it! Again, I so appreciate your positive thoughts and prayers.

Take care and stay healthy! - Elizabeth

I'm Home

Hi all!

Just a quick note to let you all know that as of 10:00 last night, I made it home safe and sound.

Thank you all so much for your prayers!

More to come later, as I keep trying to fall asleep while wirting this.!!

Take care - elizabeth