I’m thankful for another relaxing day!

I’m thankful for another morning of sleeping in a little bit, a good Sunday church message, crafts, sunshine on the deck, and a silly movie.

So…I told Patrick I wanted to try to sleep in this morning. Since I got home from the hospital, I’ve pretty much been up between 5:30 and 6:00 am since that’s our normal routine. After he got up and the pups followed, I shut our bedroom door and went back to bed. And slept until 9:30. What?! I can’t remember the last time I stayed in bed that late. But it was glorious. I felt rested. I obviously needed it. I’m thankful for that.

I’m also thankful for getting out of the house again while we ran errands. And for lattes. And less swelling. And hot tubs.

It’s crazy that August is done. Summer has flown by. And so has my recovery. Three and a half weeks, and I’m feeling pretty good. My incisions are healing well, the scabs are starting to fall off, and my swelling is down. I’m still taking it easy, though. I can tell when I’ve done too much Everything starts to feel tight and my binder chafes my stomach even though I wear it over a tank top. And I don’t want to overdo it. I made the mistake of joining a DIEP flap FB group where people posted pictures of the issues they have—dying skin and gaping wounds. Some of it caused by failed surgeries but others by doing too much too quickly. It freaked me out and reminded me that I’m not out of the woods yet. So while I’m thankful I’m doing well, I DO NOT want to undo the good progress I’ve made.

I got out of the house today! My friend Gwen took me out to lunch and to Michael’s afterwards to look at Halloween stuff. We weren’t gone terribly long, but I’m grateful for getting out of the house for a little bit. She also brought me a box of snacks, so it will be easy to feed myself during the day. Haha. Since my belly is still so tight, I can’t eat a lot at once, so snacks are good. I’ve lost 7 pounds since my surgery, so obviously smaller portions is what I should have been doing all along.

The last couple of days the contractor was here finishing up our backyard which meant the dogs didn’t have access to it. Since I’m not cleared to leash walk them, I needed help, so my friend Ann came over. I’m thankful for her and for getting the backyard (almost) completed.

I had my first physical therapy appointment today. It was mostly assessing where I am with my range of motion. We are going to work on the (still) tight tendons in my left arm since my hand is still swollen. My PT started today with graston, which is using steel instruments to help break up scar tissue. It didn’t hurt at the time, but I felt sore later. If it works, I’ll endure. I’m thankful for the start.

I’m also thankful for the lingering sunflowers in the garden. It’s like they decided to do one final flourish…so pretty.

I’m grateful today, on my first day alone at home post surgery, that these guys were good. We did a lot of relaxing.

I’m thankful for a beautiful day. We opened up the sliding doors because the temperature had dropped so much. I was able to sit outside in the sunshine for a bit and read, we ran a couple errands after which I needed a nap, and I had ice cream for dinner. Yay!

My mom went home today, so starting next week, I’m on my own while Patrick is teaching. I’m sure I’ll be fine. My biggest concern is keeping track of Cooper. He still has his bursts of puppy energy and hasn’t mastered the art of listening yet, so I’ll have to be on my toes. Thankfully, Patrick only has a couple of days where he’ll be gone a full day.

I’m grateful for my mom’s help the last couple of weeks. She got me through the hardest part, and if things go as they have been, I’ll be back to normal soon.