Four days later

It's now been four days since I was wheeled into the operating room. The time I was by far in the most pain was when I first woke up in the recovery room. Shortly after that I was given a nerve block which eventually greatly decreased the amount of pain I was in. I also regularly took ibuprofen, Tylenol, and oxycodone. Although I did go to bed very early on Thursday night (about 7pm), I didn't feel the need to nap on Friday or Saturday. The side effect that was the most disturbing to me at first was my lack of balance. I fell once and almost fell multiple other times. Thankfully, I have regained my sense of balance and no longer worry about falling when I'm using my crutches. Yesterday morning I began feeling very sleepy. I can easily go more than a year without taking a nap, but I napped yesterday, and again today I'm struggling to stay awake. I tried taking less pain medication in the hopes I wouldn't be as sleepy, but I was very nauseous and light headed from the pain this morning. I guess sleepy is better than pain and nausea albeit I prefer feeling alert when I'm trying to homeschool my kids. Sometimes I've given the kids the day off for Columbus Day, and sometimes I haven't. Since we just had a 25 day vacation, I didn't give them today off. However, I hadn't planned to do every subject because I had signed the kids up for a homeschool roller skating party that took place this morning. I forgot that it was Columbus Day until a boy was at our front door asking to play with Oliver. The kids did get to do a small field trip on Saturday as Toby and Andrew took them to a fire prevention program which helped us fulfill the annual fire safety requirement for homeschoolers. Even Toby and Andrew enjoyed putting out a fire with a fire hose or hydrant. 

Prior to the surgery I definitely felt up to doing more activities. For example, I mopped the floors on Wednesday while rolling around in Paul's office chair. My pain level greatly increases whenever my leg isn't propped up which means I'm not really doing much around the house. I did start a load of laundry and loaded the dishwasher once yesterday, but that was about it. It's hard to see things that need to be done and be unable to do them, such as weed whacking. I haven't cooked for a little over a week. Nadia made tuna noodle casserole once last week, we ate at church last Wednesday night, our neighbor brought over a meal on Thursday, my sister picked up pizza on her way here on Friday, on Saturday one of Paul's employees and his wife brought over pizza, salad, chips, etc, and yesterday at church my small group leader gave us a to go family meal they had purchased at Country Cupboard.  We're very grateful for Yvonne's assistance and for everyone who has provided us with food over the last several days! We're planning to have leftovers tonight, and Nadia is going to cook dinner tomorrow night. At this time of year I usually look forward to taking nice long walks (planned to do so with Milo this fall). It's quite a change that even cooking dinner sounds like a daunting task. Walking for a few miles a day is definitely out of the realm of possibilities. 

Shutterfly had coupon codes this weekend so I worked on designing our photo calendar for 2022 as well as our Christmas cards. I was thankful to have something that I could accomplish in bed or while sitting in a reclining chair. My sister helped me out by installing chair glides on the legs of the dining room chairs to protect our new flooring that was installed last Monday. Jenna helped me out by giving me a haircut. When I got my hair cut in early June, it had been eight months since my last haircut. This time it had only been four months. Until my pain level decreases, I doubt I'll be leaving the house. I watched church online while Paul and the kids were there in person. The youth group didn't meet last night. All three kids should be able to go to church on Wednesday night, and Nadia and Ian have a youth group event on Friday night that hopefully Paul can take them to. Aside from homeschooling the kids, I plan to keep working on learning Spanish through Duolingo, read a book (Whose Waves These Are) and finish listening to an audiobook (The Downstairs Girl). I also have been working on getting other quotes for home insurance because our annual rate went from $674 in 2019 to $751 in 2020 and now $974 in 2021. I've been a homeowner since January 2001 and NEVER made one single claim on a home insurance policy. We're switching to a different company and hoping the rate won't continue to skyrocket. I have a hard time buying the theory that the rate of inflation is only 5% at the moment when the cost of something goes up almost 50% in two years. If I can do so without it being too painful emotionally, I also will work on creating a video about our big vacation.