Last Thursday I went back to work. Now, I wasn't inactive during my recovery time, but being off work because you have to be is much different than being on vacation! I wasn't home for a full day on any of my recovery days, so that means everything went fine and I was feeling pretty good. I got to take lots of photos, do some knitting, watch some movies, and even read a little. Even with all that, it was nice being back to work! I missed my coworkers (even though I was there Friday & Monday mornings) and my patients. Work went fine, with only a few twinges of pain here and there to let me know I was doing a little too much. I need reminders occasionally...
Before heading back to work, RJ and I went to MSU for his Freshman Orientation. He doesn't usually show a lot of excitement or nervousness, so I'm not sure how he felt on the way there. Tuesday morning we got there, he headed one way for his orientation, and I headed another for the parent orientation. I must say, they pack a LOT of information in during the day, and they manage to keep it interesting and still answer tons of questions. The parent end of it was wonderful! Tuesday evening I headed to Howell (to stay with my cousin) on my own, part of RJ's orientation was staying the night there. Wednesday morning I was back on campus, headed for the parents' residence hall tour. There are a lot of services and amenities available to the students, most included in their tuition. At about noon I met up with RJ again, and you couldn't wipe the smile off his face! In his words, orientation was "AWESOME!" and he's very excited for school in the fall. I'm very relieved, I wasn't sure he was looking forward to it before. He has a class schedule (with some 8am classes), his ID and he knows which hall he will be in. In August he will get his roommate assignment and then they can contact each other. Exciting!!
June 30, 2012
June 22, 2012
My Surgery
Yesterday (Thursday) I had surgery to have my gallbladder removed, as it was full of stones and making me rather miserable at times. The surgery started just a few minutes later than expected (10 minutes, maybe... just after Noon instead of 11:55 a.m.) and I'm told was actually done quite quickly (less time than expected). Laproscopic Cholesystectomy is the "official" name for the surgery performed, if you want to know :)
What I remember is going into the operating room, and the mask being put on my face as I was being told they'd start with just oxygen. The next thing I remember is waking up in recovery and asking for ice chips. The next thing I remember is rolling into the room in which my parents were awaiting my arrival from recovery.... From there it's just random moments of awakening, chatting a little, ice chips occasionally, and not much else until about 5, when I actually woke up and started moving. I know I ate a package of graham crackers sometime before that and drank some water with them since I had NO saliva production, but I have no idea when that was (around 4, maybe).
Getting up and moving wasn't too bad, no dizziness and not much pain or anesthesia fog at all. I was bright enough to take a pain med before attempting the car ride home, roads are bumpy and I didn't see any point in toughing it out when I didn't have to! Thanks to Mom & Aunt Mary's reminders, I wore scrub pants instead of the jeans I'd originally had on. Much better for the little incision on my belly button!
The ride home was fine, a little uncomfortable over all the bumpy roads that are Michigan roads. Mom & Dad asked if I needed anything and that was a definite yes, I was hungry! McDonald's for a burger and diet coke fixed that and got rid of the leftover chemical taste in my mouth from the anesthesia :) We then stopped at mom & dad's for a bit (mom had graham crackers and I didn't have any at home, she gave me hers), then they brought me home.
Last night I camped out in the recliner with my ice water, and ice pack, my phone (Words with Friends with mom) and my knitting (I have a baby sweater to finish, in case my cousin has a boy). When I went to bed I was comfortable enough to sleep on my stomach, which is good because I can't remember the last time I slept in a different position!
Today I eventually got up around 8, though I woke several times before that. I felt great, so I went to Harding's and picked up donuts and orange juice for my coworkers and headed in to town. I visited at work for a while, checked in with a couple patients, and then headed out for a couple errands before heading back towards home. Once back in Wayland, I decided to go to Daily Brews (my favorite coffee shop, White Milky Way is my fave!) for coffee and knitting time. While I was there mom called to see if I was hungry, so they joined me there for lunch. Since then I have been home watching movies and relaxing, recovering from a busy morning! I'm feeling good, but I probably did a little too much this morning in the way of sitting instead of being stretched out...
What I remember is going into the operating room, and the mask being put on my face as I was being told they'd start with just oxygen. The next thing I remember is waking up in recovery and asking for ice chips. The next thing I remember is rolling into the room in which my parents were awaiting my arrival from recovery.... From there it's just random moments of awakening, chatting a little, ice chips occasionally, and not much else until about 5, when I actually woke up and started moving. I know I ate a package of graham crackers sometime before that and drank some water with them since I had NO saliva production, but I have no idea when that was (around 4, maybe).
Getting up and moving wasn't too bad, no dizziness and not much pain or anesthesia fog at all. I was bright enough to take a pain med before attempting the car ride home, roads are bumpy and I didn't see any point in toughing it out when I didn't have to! Thanks to Mom & Aunt Mary's reminders, I wore scrub pants instead of the jeans I'd originally had on. Much better for the little incision on my belly button!
The ride home was fine, a little uncomfortable over all the bumpy roads that are Michigan roads. Mom & Dad asked if I needed anything and that was a definite yes, I was hungry! McDonald's for a burger and diet coke fixed that and got rid of the leftover chemical taste in my mouth from the anesthesia :) We then stopped at mom & dad's for a bit (mom had graham crackers and I didn't have any at home, she gave me hers), then they brought me home.
Last night I camped out in the recliner with my ice water, and ice pack, my phone (Words with Friends with mom) and my knitting (I have a baby sweater to finish, in case my cousin has a boy). When I went to bed I was comfortable enough to sleep on my stomach, which is good because I can't remember the last time I slept in a different position!
Today I eventually got up around 8, though I woke several times before that. I felt great, so I went to Harding's and picked up donuts and orange juice for my coworkers and headed in to town. I visited at work for a while, checked in with a couple patients, and then headed out for a couple errands before heading back towards home. Once back in Wayland, I decided to go to Daily Brews (my favorite coffee shop, White Milky Way is my fave!) for coffee and knitting time. While I was there mom called to see if I was hungry, so they joined me there for lunch. Since then I have been home watching movies and relaxing, recovering from a busy morning! I'm feeling good, but I probably did a little too much this morning in the way of sitting instead of being stretched out...
June 8, 2012
Stalled Improvement
I haven't been working on the deck much since the last post, except to start scraping the roof support timbers. Apparently when they decided to paint those (the previous owners), they only painting the sides and bottom, not the top. Because of this, the pain is peeling in sheets from the sides, as water was able to get between the paint and wood. This makes it easier to scrape as it's peeling in sheets, but it's still not an easy job. I'm 1/3rd of the way done, working on a ladder and having to go up and down every time I've scraped all I can reach has made it tedious work.
I've been getting my flower beds settled in with perennials, trying to kill off and invasive plant that was put in on purpose by the previous owner, one which I do not like and it grows amazingly fast! I dug up the root ball from the original planting, a secondary root ball thanks to spreading, and have been cutting and poisoning sprigs everywhere else. My pretty blue balloon flower has been moved to the back of the bed, and seems to be alive despite this. It grows about 3 feet tall, so the middle of the bed was not the right spot. There I put in a Foam Flower. The beautiful hybrid columbine was moved back, and is now between a bleeding heart and another hybrid columbine (and also still looking healthy despite the move). I also planted a peach melba coral bell in the shady corner of that bed, to add some color. This whole bed still needs some work, I think, but it's getting there!
Last weekend we had a garage sale (along with the rest of the neighborhood I live in) which went as most garage sales seem to. We (my parents and I) sold a little, packed up a lot, and made a little money. I did find an outdoor extension cord reel with cord on it and a garden hose reel at neighbors' sales, both items I needed for my house. We were also entertained watching my neighbor haul more and more stuff out of the house and shed for their sale. They pretty much had an estate sale, and the house is for sale too. If you're interested, it's a cozy 3 bedroom, 2 bath house with an entry hall, mudroom/laundry room, dining room, breakfast nook and a moderately sized kitchen. Cute house, with a nice covered deck on the front big enough for a table and chairs :) Comment or e-mail and I will see about getting more info!
Since then my surgery has been scheduled (gallbladder must come out), so I have been busy trying to get the house mostly cleaned and sorted, and getting some of the bigger/heavier projects done. This also means I have two weeks to finish scraping those timbers, and hopefully get them repainted in the railing color (Behr Porch & Floor, Shaded Hammock PPF-11, if you're interested)
I've been getting my flower beds settled in with perennials, trying to kill off and invasive plant that was put in on purpose by the previous owner, one which I do not like and it grows amazingly fast! I dug up the root ball from the original planting, a secondary root ball thanks to spreading, and have been cutting and poisoning sprigs everywhere else. My pretty blue balloon flower has been moved to the back of the bed, and seems to be alive despite this. It grows about 3 feet tall, so the middle of the bed was not the right spot. There I put in a Foam Flower. The beautiful hybrid columbine was moved back, and is now between a bleeding heart and another hybrid columbine (and also still looking healthy despite the move). I also planted a peach melba coral bell in the shady corner of that bed, to add some color. This whole bed still needs some work, I think, but it's getting there!
Last weekend we had a garage sale (along with the rest of the neighborhood I live in) which went as most garage sales seem to. We (my parents and I) sold a little, packed up a lot, and made a little money. I did find an outdoor extension cord reel with cord on it and a garden hose reel at neighbors' sales, both items I needed for my house. We were also entertained watching my neighbor haul more and more stuff out of the house and shed for their sale. They pretty much had an estate sale, and the house is for sale too. If you're interested, it's a cozy 3 bedroom, 2 bath house with an entry hall, mudroom/laundry room, dining room, breakfast nook and a moderately sized kitchen. Cute house, with a nice covered deck on the front big enough for a table and chairs :) Comment or e-mail and I will see about getting more info!
Since then my surgery has been scheduled (gallbladder must come out), so I have been busy trying to get the house mostly cleaned and sorted, and getting some of the bigger/heavier projects done. This also means I have two weeks to finish scraping those timbers, and hopefully get them repainted in the railing color (Behr Porch & Floor, Shaded Hammock PPF-11, if you're interested)
June 2, 2012
Renewing the Deck
The last few weeks have been spent scraping, painting, waiting for rainstorms to stop, planting, and more painting & scraping!
The back deck is really starting to look nice, the railings have all been painted with 2 coats of paint (covering pale grey with off-white), and I used up the last of the gallon of green paint on one end of the deck and the two sets of stairs. It's really going to look wonderful when it's done!
Unfortunately, Home Depot doesn't carry Behr Porch & Patio paint in a 5-gallon bucket, so I need to figure out how much more I will need to finish the deck. I think I will be buying a gallon at a time and seeing how far each goes. I'd really like to paint my shed to match the deck too, but we shall see about that!
Here's a few pictures of the progress!
The back deck is really starting to look nice, the railings have all been painted with 2 coats of paint (covering pale grey with off-white), and I used up the last of the gallon of green paint on one end of the deck and the two sets of stairs. It's really going to look wonderful when it's done!
Unfortunately, Home Depot doesn't carry Behr Porch & Patio paint in a 5-gallon bucket, so I need to figure out how much more I will need to finish the deck. I think I will be buying a gallon at a time and seeing how far each goes. I'd really like to paint my shed to match the deck too, but we shall see about that!
Here's a few pictures of the progress!
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