Yesterday was Fryday. No, Spell-check. That’s not a typo. It was the day we fry turkeys for Thanksgiving and to freeze for eating on the rest of the year. But first …
Yesterday
was also my first follow-up appointment with the neurosurgeon. The primary purpose was to remove the staples
in my back. I did have a few questions
as well, though. The staple removal went
well. It did sting a bit; I won’t lie. But they all came out without incident, and the
site looks like it is supposed to. I
guess. I couldn’t see it. On to the question phase. I filled the resident in on what I have been
experiencing over the last few weeks, including my Day Three traumatics. She just listened patiently. (By the way, I’m not scheduled to see the
actual neurosurgeon until January – eight weeks post-op. But I did pass him in the hall. He recognized me and asked, “Is it better?” A man of few words, you know). I then launched into my questions. Here they are with her responses:
Can
I do back stretches and exercises for my lower back, which is also messed up?
Not until four weeks post-op (That’s
next Friday).
Can
I Bend, like to tie my shoes and the like?
Yes, within reason (whatever that
means)
Can
I Lift?
No.
After four weeks post-op you can start adding maybe a pound or two to
your gallon of milk limit, but … no (Chris translated this to mean, “Wait
and ask the neurosurgeon at your eight-weeks follow-up).
Can
I Twist?
Yes, within reason (whatever that
means)
Can
I Drive?
Yes (Pretty unequivocable. I drove us home to celebrate)
Her
bottom line was actually pretty sound advice to combat recuperation
depression. “You need to measure progress
week by week or even month by month rather than day by day.” So the idea is, I need to ask myself, “Is it
better today than it was last Friday? Or
Monday of last week?” To that I suppose I
have to answer, “yes.” So … progress. Thank you very much.
And
back to Turkey FryDay. We had an
absolute houseful for the big event (not what we expected. In years past Nathan has come over to help me
with the lifting). This time Kel and
his entire family were here, and Nathan brought his whole family as well. It was almost Thanksgiving before
Thanksgiving. Little kids were running
around everywhere. Even Brennan came
over from across the street to join the fray.
And in the middle of it all Dirk arrived with a pizza and some salad for
a meal for me and Chris. Thanks so much
Dirk and Paige (and it is so good to have you guys back on the Island. We missed you).
Nathan
organized the kids, both to do our yard work and to help him cut down a palm
tree that was threatening both our house and the health and growth of a nearby
sycamore tree. The kids hauled the
branches (and there were a substantial amount of them) to the street for
pickup. Nathan, Micah, Jachin, and even Kel
with his foot still in a boot all helped with the turkey lifting. We ended up frying ten turkeys this
year. They will be apportioned and/or
frozen to better make use of the delectable delights of meat they provide. Oh, what did I do? I stood in the kitchen most of the time. Washing pans and carving turkeys. And yes, I am pretty sore this morning. Maybe I’ll skip my scheduled walk around the block
today and just take it easy …
3
John 1:2 says, “Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that
all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.”
Father,
thank you for all the help we had around here yesterday. We were, in a word, overwhelmed. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment