12/27/22

The dogs are staying close. Phineas is out of sorts. He follows me around the house and walks with me. He isn’t relaxing all the way because he is keeping track of what I am doing. If I move a little, he is up checking on me. He lays right next to me. Dogs are such good friends. Little Jiminy is enjoying the radiant heat from the heating pad. 

 I worked all day laying down. I have this down pretty good. I am worried about my trip to florida and will likely have to cancel. I am so bummed. I even had a counter on my phone 16 days, 14 hours, 6 minutes and 8 seconds. I know I won’t go realistically, but I am going to do everything in my power to better my chances. I am determined though. Let me be determined until I accept the truth of not going. It is my motivation to get me through the day and do all my stretching and exercise.

I was able to get an appointment for February 28 th.  I know this is not an acceptable amount of time to wait. With the help of a friend, she is going to try to get this appointment expedited. She actually talked to the neurosurgeon and he agreed to see me. Now it is a calculated game of chess to pull off an expedited appointment. His secretary is out of the office until Tuesday and we will need her help to coordinate an appointment. I have to be patient and wait! 

I was so caught off guard that my friend reached out. I hadn’t realized that was the area she worked in. I am so thankful for her help and guidance as well as her inside knowledge on which person does what for treatments. It was quite helpful.

I went to physical therapy today. My first question was “can you massage my butt cheek with your elbow?” The reason I asked him that was because when I was in the hospital, the physical therapist did that to show how tight my muscles were. He was able to loosen them with his elbow to my butt cheek. I learned more central ways to stretch and soften my ligaments and joints while I am healing. I have minimal pain laying down. I am still using the walker for short walks to the bathroom. I don’t want to fall. My leg goes completely pins and needles with shooting pain. It is such a weird sensation. I want to make sure I am still able to feel and place my foot on the ground. I don’t need a fall to complicate things.

Ethan finally opened his Christmas presents this morning. He did it quietly on the couch with Avery and I in the room. He said he liked everything. Such a weird kid but I still love him. He also was interactive with all the dogs today which is unusual. He usually avoids them because he thinks they are annoying. He smiled. I haven’t seen him smile in a while. He even sat on the couch for a while with Avery and I this morning. We had the old game show Chanel on. We love it. We had to turn it down when I had to make a call though.

He also washed his sheets today. That is a big deal. I am so glad. They must have been gamey. 

Both kids were a huge help with the fire place, the dogs and feeding me. Avery brought me a beautiful bowl of cereal with cut up strawberries and I totally enjoyed it.

I am thankful everyone has been so supportive. It is truly uplifting to get all the texts of people checking on us. Thank you all!