Checking In

Well, I'm ten days out of surgery and recovering, but very slowly. On Friday, with my surgeon's blessing, I decided to stop taking the narcotics that got me through the first week. It turns out they were helping me more than I'd thought; I had a rough weekend, pain and sleep-wise. Tramadol and extra-strength acetaminophen aren't cutting it; I'm going to have to take a couple of steps back, meds-wise, I'm afraid. As my friend said, "No need to be a hero."

I'm doing my thrice-daily physical therapy exercises religiously and seeing progress, but it's surprising how stiff my shoulder becomes in between sessions. I have a lot of respect for the healing process and the importance of therapy

Keeping one's arm in a sling for days and weeks on end is not easy! I take comfort from the encouragement from others who have survived it; you have my deepest admiration.

I've already gained five pounds since becoming sedentary. I went to YouTube to see if I could find some exercises that would be safe to do that did not involve using a shoulder so that I could maybe stay in shape a little bit, but all I found were tons of people's post-surgery videos. I watched one, and it made me nauseous just thinking about the days after surgery; guess I'll just focus on my shoulder, for now.

I'm sure that being back at work next week (three days of teacher stuff, plus Open House) will be exercise enough! Kendall is home now and will help me get my classroom ready before heading back to school on the 30th.

Speaking of school, I'm going to take advantage of this loose connection to share again that my son Kyle has yet to graduate college but is already making his mark, as evidenced in today's Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's Ten Milwaukee Startups to Watch. Way to go, Kyle!

On another positive note, especially since I started suffering on Saturday, Milo has been stuck to me like glue. It's sweet, and it helps. Here's a shot of Milo overseeing one of my therapy exercises:

Speaking of dogs, Steve has progressed to not seeing our kitten, Ted, as prey, but that doesn't keep him from taking a nibble now and then.

I'm surprised Ted tolerates such rough play, but he does, and we all appreciate the entertainment.

I'm happy to report that neither Kendall nor Grandma 4444 (both allergic to some cats) appear to allergic to Ted. I'm very happy that we added him to our family; he's affectionate, adorable, and charming, except for one not-so-charming habit--He passes the most noxious gas! Yes; I'm serious. We've tried two different foods and just started switching him to a third (grain-free) kitten food. Fingers crossed on that!

That about covers what's going on over here. How about you? What's new?