I went to the doctor on Thursday and checked in on a bunch of questions I had about various things related to my recovery. I received advice about managing my constipation better. I found out that as soon as the H1N1 virus shot is available I need to get in to get it. I found out that I should be trying to stop taking my pain meds if I could tolerate it. Turns out I have been able to tolerate it pretty well and I haven't taken any since I went to bed on Saturday evening! Some minor discomfort in the area of the breast bone and incision and some back spasms, but essentially no pain to speak of. I wanted to check on my dosage of beta blockers for blood pressure because it seems my blood pressure is often pretty low. I found out that we really want to keep my blood pressure as low as I can stand, so I'm staying with the current dosage for now.
I've been working hard on walking and my breathing exercises. The weather has been pretty crappy for walking, but today I walked around the "block" that our house is on and it took my 20 minutes (in the snow and all :-). That is the longest continuous walk I've taken so far. I was moving right along and had no issues with balance or fatigue. I'm just about to give up the cane and get back on just my own two feet!
My appetite is still pretty weak and my stomach is pretty messed up with all the drugs I've been on as well as just recovering from surgery I imagine. My weight is down about 15 lbs now and seems to have stabilized. I haven't weighed this much in many, many years. I wouldn't recommend this as a diet plan, but I can tell you that the unintended consequence is that it is one.
The cats are very happy that I am home all day and they love coming by and "snuggling" with me as I watch TV or snooze during the day. Daytime TV is pretty bad and I'm not yet reading real strong, so the days can be pretty long some times. I've got one book I'm working through and others on tap, so I have no shortage of reading material to get through.
Deb has been working early days and taking an hour of vacation each day so she can get home in time to spend the afternoon with me and make me some lunch. It is nice to have her around when I'm feeling crappy and when I'm feeling good. She has been a real trooper -- doing all the household chores, hers and mine. She's pretty worn out most of the time! She even hosted a couple of get togethers this weekend of friends, relatives, and well wishers. I don't know how she does it all!
I'm not sure how much recovery I have left. By the current date that the FMLA folks have I have three weeks left, but I need to check in with the folks in California to see what they have to say and to figure out how we are going to make the determination of when I can go back. It seems like things are progressing extremely well, in spite of my minor setbacks, but what do I know -- I'm just the patient not the doctor! I'll check in with them this week.
I had great intentions of coming to the Medtronic Mounds View campus on Friday for a short visit to the last day of the S&T conference and to say hi to my colleagues, but I thought better of it. I decided it was best to forgo that visit and just stay away from all the people and potential sources of illness I might pick up. I need to keep my recovery on track so I can get back to work full time as soon as possible.
Thanks to everyone for everything. I'm running behind on my thank you cards, but I have started working on them. Hopefully I'll catch up this week.
Continuing to recover at home.
Jon
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