My New Skills

My recovery is coming along very well.  When I have visitors over, they always seem to be surprised not to find me half-drugged into oblivion in my bedroom stretched out in some kind of traction machine.  NOPE!  These days I actually get dressed!  It's very exciting stuff.  So to give you a better idea of where I'm at, here's a list of my latest skills.

Things I CAN do:

• Manage all aspects of going to the bathroom.  (This was not the case in the beginning, so I'm VERY glad I have gained this independence before Jason had to go back to work.)  
• Get up and down from the bed or chair by myself.
• Walk ALL the way around my street, even without the walker.  Wooooo!  I'll pause for your applause.  It's definitely a snail's pace, but I can do it!
• I am thrilled to announce that this week I was allowed to SHOWER!!!  I use one of those seats for the elderly, a hand-held sprayer, and need a little help drying off, but oh wow does it feel good to be completely clean again.  Obviously I have trouble reaching my lower half since I'm not allowed to bend at all, so I have not shaved my legs since the night before surgery.  That is almost 3 weeks now, and they are really rather disgusting.  
• Yesterday I tried my hand at some crocheting!  It's a great way to entertain me while sitting perfectly still.  I've been searching out a few free patterns online and found a great one for a slouch hat.  I was surprised that even with my minimal experience I was able to figure out the instructions and got myself a pretty cute hat.  (Now I want to buy more yarn and make a whole slew of them!)  
• I can pretty much look/act quite normal these days (with the exception of my crazy bed head.  My arms still can't manage much for hairdo's, so there's another good reason for me to own all these hats.)  I'm up and around for the most part, just gentle and slow, and the pain management is going very well.

Things I CAN'T do:

• Last very long.  My energy seems to run out rather quickly.  I still take naps quite often.  Or, as we saw during a visit with my sister-in-law the other day, I fall asleep in the middle of conversations.
• Drive  (big bummer)  My mother-in-law has been my wonderful caretaker all this week.  Yesterday she was nice enough to drive me around to a few places, which marked my first time out of the house just for "fun."  The first 2 errands we ran were just drive-through, so it was easy for me to just sit in the car the whole time and enjoy some fresh air.
• I still cannot do any household chores or any of the cooking.  It simply requires too much movement.

Well there you have it.  SUPER exciting stuff.  If nothing else, I will continue my pathetic plea:  feel free to call me - it is NOT a bother.  Come over -  I would LOVE a visit.  I thank you more than I can express, so very, very much, for your love and support.  It really helps me, on an hourly basis!