One day post surgery! I had started this post yesterday pre-surgery but was too tired and unable to see in order to post it. So I’ll leave it here:

I really feared something would interfere and it would have to be rescheduled, but I’m so thankful things worked out. They usually do, even though I still have to run through worst-case scenarios in my head beforehand. In some weird way, it helps me mentally prepare.

We had to get to the hospital, which is over an hour away, at 5:30 in the morning, so it was a very early day. Cooper wasn’t happy at being directed outside at 3:30. He immediately curled back up on our bed once he got back inside. Barley didn’t even bother getting off the bed. Lucky for them, my mom was awake when we left, so they probably all snuggled up together.

We made it to the hospital a little early and had to wait to check in. Probably the hardest part of pre-surgery stuff is the waiting. And not being able to drink any water. Once we were able to check in, we went to our pre-op room where I had to go through the normal questions, change, and get an IV put in. This time, my hospital gown had a hose attached and warm air put in. Apparently warm air aids in healing.

I’m still using a warm air device today. I’ve gotten out of bed a couple of times. The first time I got too lightheaded, so I had to try again later. The goal was to stand for 3 minutes. When I was successful, it was a long and uncomfortable 3 minutes. Then my blood pressure dropped so I again technically failed in what the nurses were looking for. But I ended up sitting in a chair for over an hour and then going to the bathroom by myself, so I think I made up for it.

Yesterday was a long surgery. About 9 hours. The doctor said my damaged skin was very difficult to work with. And it’s been a long day. Last night the nurse was checking my “skin flaps” every hour, listening for blood flow. Then take my vitals. Hospitals are a terrible place to rest. But I’m super thankful everything is going well so far.

I’m grateful today for getting everything done I needed to before tomorrow and having a relaxing evening at home.

Today my mom came and is going to stay for a while to help out after my surgery. Well, next week she’ll help out with the pups. I’m thankful for that and for my sisters who drove her here. I’m also grateful for the stuff I was able to send back with my sisters. One of them has a new lake home and she is able to use some things I was setting aside for a garage sale I never had. Yay!

I’m thankful for wrapping up my work week and tying up some loose ends in anticipation of my weeks off for recovery. I ended up working a longer day than normal since I was worried I would forget something. Hopefully I didn’t. And I’m also thankful that our contractor finished the back patio today. They still need to fix the yard that got messed up in the process and do a final seal coat, but so far it looks good!

I’m thankful today for a little quieter construction crew, for a couple of walks down the block with the pups, for Biofreeze that helped my headache, and for sunflowers from our garden.

I can’t believe tomorrow is August. Where has the summer gone?! I’m glad we’ve had some nice days to enjoy it since our weather has cooled off. Today was not a good one for hanging outside at our house, though. The contractor who is putting in our patio under our deck started work this morning. The dust was crazy! I felt like it was inside as well as outside. It’s nuts that the guys worked in this dust cloud without anything over their faces.

They got a lot done, so I’m thankful for that. The old patio is out and a new foundation is set. It’s going to be huge!

I’m also thankful that my CT scan results also came back today—finally! And there was nothing abnormal that showed up. Yay!! Even though I’d assumed as much by now, it’s still a relief to have it confirmed.

Patrick left the house for a few hours today and these two kept a close eye on things for me as I finished sewing some curtains. I’m grateful for a quiet day, with sunshine and cool breezes outside.

I’m thankful today for getting a lot of cleaning done this morning. There were things on my list for too long, so it was nice to get them checked off. I’m also thankful for dinner with friends whom we haven’t seen in a while. Since the weather cooled off, we were able to eat and hang out on our deck most of the late afternoon and evening. Yay!