Thursday, October 11, 2007

Used to be....

Today is exactly 8 weeks since i had my surgery, and after tomorrow i will have 8 more weeks of Physical Therapy. Since i'm feeling a little like i'm in Recovery-Purgatory and therapy seems to be moving at a snail's pace, I figured i'd take a look back to see how far i've come...i already feel better.

Here's what Used To Be:
These were my goals in the days immediately following surgery (see "Pain Control" and "Ambulate" on the board*). While the morphine really took care of the pain effectively (see pic below) , the ambulating proved to be more challenging. Now I am abulating all over the place and my goals are set much higher; such as "Get Rid of this Dang Brace". ( * notice also the lovely decorations on the formerly stark hospital board...these were graciously applied by my friend and summer hostess.)

Used to be, it was a huge endeavor to go to the bathroom. I recall really missing my catheter when they first took it out, which would've seemed absurd to me before surgery. Once they took that out, i had to get up with a walker and laborously move merely feet to the bathroom, dragging all this stuff along.

USED TO BE that i was on so much MORPHINE that taking these pictures seemed like a good idea--haha.
Used to be that i could only take a sponge bath, beginning with the aid of a Nurse's Aide. I didn't get to take a real shower until a week after my surgery (note armpit). Man, that first shower felt like HEAVEN!

It used to be that my bedside table looked like the geriatric section of the pharmacy, modeled here by my lovely sister/nurse/counselor/coach.
Used to be that it was extremely uncomfortable to remove my bandages. In fact,during the first several weeks, i could not do it myself. I had to have the assistance of some mighty special peops in my family!


Note: my lucky mom was the first nurse on the scene: she isn't pictured here because she was the photographer! It used to be that we had to do this bandage change twice a day. I seriously couldn't look at my knee for several weeks post-surgery. It Used to be that i could only catch a glimpse of the surgery site by looking at pictures. Now i am cleaning it myself...and closely inspecting, touching and examining everyday.

It used to be that i wondered if i'd be around to see my little guy grow up.
Well....I AM HERE! That tumor is not.














7 comments:

Chrissy said...

nothing like starting my friday morning with a good cry!
you've come a long way, baby! it was great seeing you last night. renegade crafters unite!

Anonymous said...

I'm a little vaklempt. You are awesome . . .that t-UMA is OUTTA THERE man! Way to go on the progress . . I mean sheez, you so HAVE come a long long way all the while with grace and dignity . . and let's don't forget humor!

Tready is adorable btw and very lucky to have you as a role model. Take care you! NC Amy ;)

Zay said...

aaw..you got me all choked up.
*hugs*

Mary T-Allen said...

You kick so much ass. That's one thing that was true when things were the way they used to be and still is. I am so proud of you!

Doctor David said...

Wow! You've come a long, long way. You should be proud! Keep up the good work.

Martha said...

That was very interesting. You have certainly come a long way. I wish you weren't such a long way away. Darlene talked about Tready this weekend. She called him my friend Tready.

Anonymous said...

Well, I'm a little late in reading this (and thus, posting a comment), but I'm so glad to know I'm not the only one who got all teary eyed and choked up after reading this. *sniff sniff*
You are an inspiration, Krissy!
Love you!