About halfway through the night I felt like I would be more comfortable in my bed so I went and laid down. BIG MISTAKE! I almost couldn't get up. I went back out to my chair and was very frustrated. I was uncomfortable and there was nothing I, nor anyone else could do. I got back to sleep and slept OK the rest of the night. When morning came it was time for me to say bye to my lady bug. I would lying to say there were no tears. I was so grateful for her taking the time to come help me. I felt so blessed to be important enough to someone for them to come and be with me so I didn't have to be alone through this process.
A friend of mine from church was coming to help me later that morning and I had a project that I needed to get started on. I had agreed to do a birthday cake for a friends son that was due the Sunday after I was released from the hospital. Crazy, I know! Said cake was two tiers with a shark coming out of it. I baked all the cakes before I went in for surgery. Saturday after lady bug left and I woke up I started working on getting the cake done. I would stand up and work on it for about 30 mins at a time and then I would have to rest and nap for a while. By the end of the day, with some help of a friend, I had finished the cake. It probably wasn't the best cake I had ever done, but I did it!
I was EXHAUSTED after doing the cake. I had to really take it easy. Over the next couple days I still did a lot of sleeping. I didn't leave my chair much except to use the potty. I did, however get up and walk everyday for at least 5-10 mins. I was frustrated with myself because I thought that I should be able to do more but, My friends and the people around me were very supportive and encouraging. They were also good at reminding me that I just had major surgery and it would take a while to get pack to par. On Monday I went out and walked the small parking lot at my apartment. As I was doing this I noticed that across the way there was an old man out walking with his caregiver. I turned to my friend that was with me that day and laughed, I said, "guess it's walk the handicaps time." We got a good laugh at that. The rest of the week it seemed to not matter what time I went out for my short walk the old man and his caregiver were always out at the same time!
Tuesday night I was feeling pretty good and thought I would try sleeping in my own bed again. I was OK for an hour or two and then I started to hurt really bad. I went back out to my chair and dealt with the really sharp pain that had developed on my side. By morning, when the pain hadn't gone away I started to freak out. I thought I had done something really bad. I called Dr. Salameh's office and they asked that I come in. So we rushed up to his office and he felt around and checked me out and told me that I probably just moved funny and that I should be OK. I had a check up scheduled for Friday anyway and he would follow up then. I went home and took it easy and slept most of the day. By Friday I was feeling 90% better! I had virtually no pain! It was amazing the transformation. I was walking regularly and I was feeling great. I went to my appointment and my doctor was pleased with how I was doing!
Full liquids was the stage that I was on with my food. I could take in 2 oz. of food per meal and my meals were supposed to take 30 mins. 1oz every 15 mins. Trying to make 1 oz of food last for 15 mins was extremely difficult. My favorite thing to eat during this stage was Panera Bread's broccoli cheddar soup strained. It was thick and it had the most flavor. I also at this point was drinking protein shakes twice a day to make sure I was getting enough protein in me. I never felt hungry and I was becoming the person who would forget to eat. However, I was dying to be able to actually chew something.
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