Back to Work in the Ninth Week of Recovery

I started back to work on Monday of this week for the first time since Sep 14. I'm working six hour days until Thanksgiving, and then I'll start full time work again on Nov 30. I worked Mon-Thu this week, took Friday as a vacation day, and felt pretty good all week. However, as the week wore on, I wore down a bit and by Thursday afternoon I was feeling the burn. Guess I'm not quite back to full speed yet, but nobody (except maybe me :-) expected me to be.

It was sure good to see old friends I haven't seen in so long and to reconnect with colleagues again. I'm slowly catching up with where my work team has gone since I left. Several changes and many new plans to absorb. I feel like I'm starting to get the hang of things again, but a lot has happened in the two months I've been on the sidelines.

I've fallen off the wagon a bit with my walking, but I got back on track with a 45 minute walk this morning. It felt good to be walking again with some of my aches and pains healed up.

Yesterday was a rough day for me. For some reason I woke up with a nasty pain in my back and my left arm. Don't know if I slept on my side wrong or what, but I was feeling pretty crappy. Spent some time on the heating pad and by mid-afternoon the pain was pretty much gone. Since I can't take aspirin or ibuprofen any more, I've had to find new and creative ways to deal with aches and pains. Tylenol has never been an effective pain reliever for me, so I can't really count on that for much. After the pain was gone, I was feeling pretty tired so I spent the rest of the day horizontal on the couch watching college football.

Deb made up a dinner for a friend of ours from the lake who had surgery this week. We delivered it to Charlie and his wife at around dinner time. Charlie looks like he is doing pretty well, though he and I both recognize that feel of being "lost" during our recovery. We were his third group of visitors for the day, so we didn't stay long, but we are glad to see him doing well.

I wanted to do some Christmas decorating and maybe even get the monster Christmas tree up in the great room this weekend because the weather was so nice. However, didn't turn out to be a good idea, so I'll have to do it later when I'm feeling up to it a bit more.

I did get out for one event this weekend. Deb and I and Matt and Theresa P. had planned to attend a meat raffle at the Stacy Bar the week I started back to work, so we lived up to our plan this week. We were joined by our friend John E. and we all had a good time. Matt and Theresa won three times, and Deb and I won twice. Before we left, Gene H. from work stopped by and we found out he lives near Stacy, so we consider him one of our neighbors as well. We plan to all get together and do this again soon. On the way home, we stopped at Dave's and Barb's house to say hi and visit for a short time. After that it was home, some supper, and then to bed.

Looking forward to the short work week ahead and then Thanksgiving. We are having our Thanksgiving with our daughters and their families on Saturday. Looking forward to the full house, playing with grandsons, and the good food everyone is bringing!

Working to return to full speed.

Jon

Eighth Week of Recovery

This eighth week since surgery marks my last one away from work! On Monday, Nov. 16 I am returning to work. My doctor cleared me to return with no restrictions or limitations. I will be easing back into the swing of things with shortened work days until the Thanksgiving holiday. This will be my next big transition in returning to 100%. My new 100% should be well above my old pre-surgery 100%. So far, I feel like I've past that old high water mark, but we'll see how it goes once workdays are back in the mix.

I finally finished writing all my thank you cards. Now I just have to distribute them. Many will be coming to work with me next week, some go to our neighbors, and some need stamps. It feels good to have this job behind me!

I've continued my walking and my doctor has let me know that just because I'm back at work is no excuse to give up on the walking and healthy diet habits. Looks like I'll have to dust off the old elliptical machine for those bone chilling winter days ahead!

My blood clotting ratio (INR) is holding steady at 2.3, which is within my acceptable range, so they've moved my next check out a full month and my warfarin dosage remains the same at 8 mg per day.

Deb and I made an unplanned trip to my old home town in Iowa this past Tuesday and Wednesday to attend a funeral. My dear friends from high school (and two of Deb's new dear friends), Brian and Claudia, lost Claudia's mom to brain cancer last week. We went down to lend whatever support we could and to help them mourn and celebrate Norma's wonderful life. We were glad we were able to be there for them! As a nice side benefit, Deb and I were able to catch up a bit with another of my dear friends from high school, Kurt. He had some great stories for us about his sons and their journeys through life -- it was great to connect again even if for just a short time. The trip involved 8 hrs of driving in just over one full day and while we were tired last night when we got back, we both survived the trip. I feel like I passed another hurdle toward full health. I drove both ways and experienced no ill effects from it.

Next update should be with some work experience under my belt. We shall see how that transition goes!

Jon

Seventh Week of Recovery

This seventh week of recovery since my surgery has been pretty uneventful. I've stepped up my daily walks to 45 minutes for the first walk of the day and then 25 minutes for a second walk when I can get it in. I've continued to walk at a pretty brisk pace and I've started tracking my heart rate during the walk. I've been maintaining about a 110-120 beats per minute rate during my walks. According to what I've read, for cardiac rehabilitation I should be keeping my heart rate between 100 and 117, so I'm operating in the right range. I've had no real issues with this level of effort (except for the usual aches and pains of a 53 year old couch potato :-).

We did get some bad news this week. We just found out that my best friend from high school lost his mother-in-law to cancer. I went to high school and junior high with my best friend and his wife and we've stayed in contact throughout our lives after high school. We will be traveling back to my old hometown in Iowa for the funeral this week. Deb and I will be leaving Tuesday afternoon and returning Wednesday evening. We are extremely sad for Brian and Claudia and we really hope that we can help them some little bit just by being there for them.

This trip to Iowa should be a pretty good test of my endurance! I'm going to share the driving duties on this trip, but don't expect any complications. I'll be rescheduling my doctor appointment to sometime just after we get back from Iowa so that my doctor and I can factor my level of fatigue from this trip into our decision about my coming back to work on Nov. 16. I still feel like I'm on track and ready to start with somewhat shortened days to get back in the swing of things. We will have to see what my doctor thinks about that idea.

I also have another checkup on my coumadin and anti-coagulation levels this week. I will be moving my anti-coag appointment to sometime before we leave for Iowa so that I can adjust my prescription before we travel if necessary.

Saturday this weekend was another busy day. I accomplished several tasks around the house that need to get done before winter. Our youngest daughter, Nikki, and our oldest grandson, Jacob, came to visit on Saturday. Jacob helped me with some of my tasks and he also helped grandma pick apples at the neighbors house. He even chowed down on a couple of the apples he picked! We watched the Alvin and the Chipmunks DVD and we played some. Then grandma and grandpa needed to have some downtime so we could rest up for an evening of fun with friends. We met at our house and then went to dinner in Forest Lake and then back to our house. We had good conversation with good company. I was pretty tired at the end of Saturday, but it was a very good day in every regard!

I've failed in my efforts to catch up on my thank yous, so this next week will require me to focus on this task. I know I can get this done - wish me luck :-)

This next week will see me preparing myself mentally to get back to work. I'm looking forward to getting back in the swing of things, but this is the longest I've been out of work since I was about 16 years old. I'm just not sure how rusty I'm going to feel when I start back. I have a feeling next weekend will be a pretty quiet weekend for me as I pre-charge by batteries.

Last week away from work (probably) coming up!

Jon

Deb's Halloween Costume

Here are some photos of Deb's Halloween costume. She put this together this year for a contest at Grand Casino in Hinkley. She didn't win a prize, but I think she should have!

Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!

Jon

Sixth Week of Recovery

Wow, six weeks since surgery already! I can't believe how fast the time has passed and I'm very happy for how uneventfully it has passed -- I couldn't have asked for a less stressful recovery.

This week I resolved my issues with disability leave and salary continuation. I am now cleared to be out of work until Nov. 29. Based on the way I feel and how well I'm recovering, my current plan is to return to work on Nov. 16 if I am cleared by my doctor next week. I don't expect any issues with getting clearance, but I won't know until I meet with him. I plan to see him on Wednesday, Nov 11 if he is available. I expect to start back for some short days (6 hours) and for only Mon-Thu the first week. The next week is Thanksgiving week, so only a 3 day week there. Then back to full time, full week the week of Nov 30. That is the plan at this point.

I have maintained at least one 30 minute walk a day for most days this past week. The weather was pretty nasty one day, so I only managed one 20 minute walk between downpours that day, and I believe I missed walking completely one day. My walks are pretty brisk and it is nice to get out for some fresh air every day. My endurance seems to be coming back pretty well, but I still need some "breaks" during the day to gather my steam back up.

I made very little progress on my thank you notes this past week, but I did get a couple done. I'll have to put some focus on this soon as I run out of time to get it done.

Deb and I had a very "full" weekend. Friday, Deb attended a Halloween costume contest at Grand Casino in Hinkley. She spent a lot of time on her costume and it was great. She went as a flapper from the 1920s. She was all decked out in purple from her head to her toes. She didn't win, but she had a fun time and she was happy with her costume. On Saturday, we had our friends Dave and Barb over during trick-or-treat time. After that, we all went out for dinner -- my first time out for dinner in quite a while. On Sunday we had a visit from my oldest daughter, Jessica, and our newest grandson, "little" Henry. Henry is only four months old, but he is the size of a sixth month old (or older). He is one cute kid and even though he seems to be working on his first tooth, he was in pretty good spirits and he sure helped my spirits as well! Then we were invited to our neighbor, Mary Joe's, house for the Vikings-Packers game. We had a pot luck there and enjoyed the company of our neighbors and the success of the Vikings. Deb and I stayed until just after half-time and then it was time for me to calm down and take it easy for the rest of the game. We left at just about the time the Pack started to get the momentum back, but once we arrived back at home I was eerily calm about the Vikings chances to get everything back under control and it played out that way. There is just something calming about having Brett Favre on your side of the ball!

That's about it for this week. The upcoming week will be more of the same -- walking, thank yous, stretching myself to gain more endurance, and starting to catch up on work in preparation for getting back in the flow of things.

Counting down the days until I get back to work,

Jon

Fifth Week of Recovery

Last week I said I had some goals for this week. They were "catch up on my thank you notes, call Stanford to discuss my return to work plan, work up to three walks per day, and to continue to recover as best I can. I'm also trying very hard to avoid the H1N1 flu bug and hopefully I can get a shot from my clinic as soon as they have the virus injections on hand."

I made some progress on my thank you notes. Still have a long list to work through, which I will continue this week.

I did call Stanford and the Hartford to discuss my return to work plan and to try to confirm Hartford's understanding of my leave time and disability salary continuation. I understand that Stanford submits everyone who has the sort of surgery I had for twelve weeks of time to recover, but the Hartford somehow had me shown for only six. Looks like we have some work to do and Stanford is working with the Hartford to get me an extension. I will not be ready to return to work one week from tomorrow (Monday, Nov 2). I have been recovering well and there are no major obstacles in the way other than building my endurance back up, which is coming along well. I will be getting this resolved this coming week and make sure all the "paperwork" is in order so I can continue to get better.

I did work up to three 20-minute walks this week and then I shifted to one 30-minute walk for a couple of days when the weather cooperated and then today I made it to two 30-minute walks. As long as the weather cooperates, I expect to stay at this level for a while.

I am continuing to recover pretty well. No real setback days this week. Sleeping is getting a bit better, but is still not as sound as I'd like. Hopefully increased activity this week will help that. My anti-coagulation check went well this week. At 8 mg Warfarin per day, I reached an INR level of 2.1 (my goal is 1.5 - 2.5). One more weekly checkup at 8 mg and if we are in the right range we will stay there and they will bump me out to a check every two weeks instead of every week. I'm starting to spend more time reading again and other diversions that aren't on the television. Daytime TV is just bad, and watching news channels all day is really depressing me :-) My appetite continues to improve and my digestive system seems to be returning to normal. I still have a ways to go, but I'm snacking more during the day, so it looks like things are definitely getting better.

So far I've managed to avoid the H1N1 virus and I am trying very hard to continue avoiding it. No virus shot for me, so I'll just stay away from people as much as I can.

My youngest daughter and her son, my oldest grandson, came to visit us yesterday. Jacob simply wore me out, though we all had a lot of fun playing pirates and swords and reading books and decorating a halloween gingerbread house and just generally doing "papa", Grandma, and Jacob stuff. Even though it wore me out, I wouldn't have had the day go any other way -- what great therapy it was!

So for this week, I need to continue to work on thank you notes, my return to work plan with Stanford and the Hartford, my walking, my reading, and my continued recovery by raising my activity level and endurance. Surprisingly the days are passing by quickly and my daily to do lists are getting longer and more difficult.

Looking forward to another week of good progress,

Jon

Fourth Week of Recovery

Not much new to report this week, except more good progress and no significant setbacks.

I'm up to two 20 minute walks per day now, weather permitting (and sometimes this week NOT!). Saturday and Sunday allowed me to get two good walks in each day. My goal this week is to reach three 20 minute walks per day at least once or twice.

I continue to work with my local anti-coagulation clinic to titrate my warfarin levels. My INR (the ratio of my clotting time to an average person's) is supposed to be in the range of 1.5 - 2.5. Last week I dropped to 1.8 and this week it dropped further to 1.6 in spite of an uplift in dosage. The pharmacist says this is normal as activity levels go up and as I've stopped taking pain medicine. This week we up it to 8 mg per day and we will check it again on Wednesday. Based on the pharmacist's calculation, moving up to 8 mg per day should boost my INR by about 1 point, but my activity level continues to climb so I expect to be somewhere over 2.0 at my next check. Diet is also a potential contributor.

Speaking of diet, my appetite does seem to be coming back. I've also started taking Activia and other yogurts with bifidus regularus to see if I can re-prime my digestive system to start working better and to reduce constipation. So far I think it is working and that part of my recovery seems to be improving well. My food intake is up a bit, but my weight is still down a bit more. I'm now registering below 195 pounds some days.

I'm still not sleeping extremely soundly, but I am getting adequate sleep for my activity level it seems. I've got several books to get through, and some puzzle books, and some DVDs to watch, so I've got plenty to distract me. This week I should start putting a dent in the pile. I've also got a raft of thank yous to write and I've been very poor about getting this done.

Today, our good friends on the lake, Dave Karsky and his son Kevin, came by to pull our dock out of the lake. We managed to get enough pulling power with my SUV and once we got everything arranged and tow straps in place, we had it out of the water in about 10 minutes. It took 30-45 minutes of preparation, but it is very nice to have this fall chore out of the way. I think we can handle any kind of weather mother nature throws at us now!

We had several visits from friends and coworkers this week and another of our neighbors delivered lasagna dinner to us on Thursday evening. On a down note, we had our last dinner out at the Log Cabin restaurant with Mom and Dad. They leave on Tuesday morning to drive back to their winter home on Marco Island in Florida. We will miss having them so close by -- they have been a great source of comfort and help to both Deb and I during this journey. We wish them a safe and uneventful trip home. We plan to visit them in January or February and we look forward to their return in the spring! I passed my cane on to my Mom who is having some knee problems that she will have looked at in Florida. I'm doing well enough that I no longer need a cane to get around.

My goals this week are to catch up on my thank you notes, call Stanford to discuss my return to work plan, work up to three walks per day, and to continue to recover as best I can. I'm also trying very hard to avoid the H1N1 flu bug and hopefully I can get a shot from my clinic as soon as they have the virus injections on hand.

The cats are getting very used to having me around all the time and I think I'm becoming one of their favorite napping spots during the afternoons :-)

The recovery continues,

Jon