Today’s activity list: I napped a couple of times. And walked up and down the stairs a couple of times. Watched a couple movies. Ate lunch outside. Checked the mail and sewed pockets on the inside of a linen jacket for my drains, so I don’t have to go to my next doctor’s appointment in a robe.

Although I’m getting pretty bored, I’m thankful for this time to recover and am glad I can move around better.

Good lord it has been a day. This morning Cooper, during a fit of puppy energy, took off towards the hallway and hit the wall on his way. He yelped loudly and then held up his paw, which dangled at a weird angle. I yelled, “oh my gosh, I think he broke his leg!” as he continued yelping in the hallway. Patrick scooped him up and he and my mom rushed him to the emergency vet. It was awful. The sound of him hitting the wall. His dangly paw. Ugh. I was a bit frantic waiting to hear, worrying about how we would take care of a puppy in a cast while I’m recuperating myself.

Then Patrick sent me this photo.

He probably sprained his shoulder but thankfully, his leg was not broken. The vet said it happens a lot with puppies. They get hurt, then limp for a while, but then are ok. What a relief. The vet suggested leash walking and pain meds.

Then, later after we got ourselves regrouped and relaxed, Cooper knocked over my mug of hot chocolate onto the living room carpet and all over my end table. He really tested us today, the little shit. So much for the anti-stress environment my doctor prescribed.

But I am thankful all is well at the end of the day. Hopefully the excitement tomorrow is outside of the house when our contractor comes back to finish our concrete work.

I’m thankful for walking a little better today, for a bit of rain and more on the way, for random movies, good dinner, and pain control.

I have a love/hate relationship with Patrick’s recliner. I’m grateful I’m able to sleep in it well enough, but I’m already tired of being in it. Our sofa is too low and difficult to get out of, so it’s off limits for a while. I tried my office chair just so I could sit in the living room from a different location, but I wasn’t able to sit comfortably. The kitchen chairs are only comfortable long enough to eat a meal…so I end up back in the recliner. Unfortunately, I can’t bend enough to pull the lever to actually recline, which isn’t an issue during the day since I can sit comfortably using a footstool. But at night, I need to recline in order to sleep, so Patrick or Mom has to help me get settled. And then when I inevitably wake in the middle of the night to use the restroom, I have to wake one of them to help me out of it. Good thing for me, my mom’s a light sleeper.

I’m hoping after these initial first days I’ll be moving well enough that I can get comfortable in bed instead. I’ll need to sleep upright for a while, so I’ll have to prop myself up with a bunch of pillows. However, it’s my stomach that’s causing most of the concern since the incision is from hip to hip. It’s not going to be helping me sit up anytime soon, and I don’t want to do anything to stall the healing. So, I’m thankful for the recliner. My bed and main perch for now.

I’m thankful for another day of healing and walking a little better, for the help of my mom and Patrick, and for some sweet pick-me-up surprises from a good friend and flowers from my in-laws.

I thought my posts were uploading but I guess not. Whoops.

Today was better. I walked a bit. I showered which I was very grateful for. I am able to get in and out of a chair and the bed. And my nurses don’t need to check me every hour anymore so I’m hoping I get to sleep better. The doctors are talking about possibly discharging me tomorrow.

I’m grateful for all the friends and family who have checked in on me today. For Patrick who’s been driving back-and-forth. And that I’m feeling a little bit better each day.

I’m thankful I made it made it to today. And the surgery went well.

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.