Weekend Wrap-Up

 As you might notice from my little nike+ gal, I've been out there walking every day.  I've worked up to 2.25 miles and am shooting for 2.5 today.  Those miles DO add up, even if you walk.  Amazing.

Here are some pix from my latest walk along the parkway.  I really love spring and spring is happening here.  Finally.

These are little May apples, just up from their winter slumber.  They start out looking like so many tiny green umbrellas, just popping out of the ground and opening to fend off a spring rain.  In May they'll have a single flower that hangs just under the umbrella.

The great blue heron was nice enough to hold still for a mini-photo-shoot just yards away from me.  Isn't he handsome!

I'm sentimental about violets, too.  They were one of my grandmother's favorite flowers and make me think of her.

More May apples.  These are a bit further along.  I have a tiny colony in our yard, which has grown to about 14 umbrellas.

Last night we had the grandkids for the very first time overnight.  Ella is rather camera shy, but was okay with me taking a picture of her crown.  Have you ever played the hide-your-body-behind someone or something game when the camera is pointing at you?  I have.

The only shot I was allowed of her making a pasta necklace.  Rigatoni (whole wheat, of course) on shiny red ribbon.

Glad to report that we had a fun evening.  Stories, laughter, dinner, games, and bedtime.  They fell right asleep at the appointed time and slept later than we'd been led to believe (until just about 7 am).  I'd forgotten the fun times of blanket pajama clad kids, short order breakfasts, and hurrying to get dressed before church.  

I'm still fairly sluggish after my surgery, but I am determined to get in my daily walk and at least 2 other worthy tasks each day.  Guess what?  I found that my discharge instructions say "no housework."  No can do, but I'm taking the restriction on lifting more than 5 lbs fairly seriously and that cuts things down to a  pretty reasonable level.

Do you hide behind things when the camera's pointing at you?

She LIKES me!!

YAY!  My little Nike+ girl isn't diss-ing me any more.  I guess going 2 miles must be her criteria of a "real" session--no matter what the pace.  I must admit that I pushed myself to go two miles to see if I could get her back to cheering me on.  It worked.  I felt better walking today, and am glad of the workout.  I also forgot all about taking pain meds after the early morning dose.  The walking warms my muscles a bit and I don't feel sore.  (My incision doesn't hurt at all, just the muscles on my back near my neck--which is where my surgeon said I'd probably feel them).  I'm only taking tylenol and think I'll take a dose before bed time so I can get comfortable and fall asleep.

Last night, after my afternoon nap, I didn't get to sleep until 3 am.  I got up and came downstairs and realized I felt fine.  No soreness, no lack of energy, just fine.  So I made a batch of brownies.  Wait!  Let me explain--my Dad died in December but will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery at the end of April (there is always a delay at Arlington and we've appreciated the extra time to get things together).  I'm the only of his four children to live in the area so I'm hosting a dinner for the out of town guests and friends the evening of the funeral.  I figure the only way to get this done (especially in my necessarily slowed down recovery mode) is to do it bit by bit and freeze ahead.  So last night I made the first of several batches of the brownies which my Dad so loved to make for people.  Really the best in the world--IMHO.  They went from the cooling rack to freezer zip lock baggies and into the freezer to await their brethren in the coming weeks.  It feels good to have started.

I think I've tracked down the final numbers I need to give to the H&R Block lady who's doing our taxes (ours, my Dad's and Jays).  She's wonderful and said that she'll fit me in whenever I feel like coming in.  Maybe tomorrow so I can check that big one off my "to do" list.

We had a fun time at our outing last night.  I forgot to take my camera but am hoping a friend sends me her picture so I can share.  Maybe tomorrow.

Have you finished your taxes yet or are you a Procrastinator (like me!)?

Spaghetti

I'm a fan.  I like mine whole wheat (Barilla) and cooked al dente.  Check out Karen's (Waisting Time) pasta post today.  What I'm not a fan of is spaghetti legs.  I walked along my favorite path this morning and felt like I had spaghetti legs.  Why is it that over a year of good exercise on a regular basis doesn't carry me through three weeks of not exercising??   I went just over 1.5 miles, but that's the longest consecutive walking I've done since my surgery.  Anyway, I did it and I'm assuming it will get better and I'll get stronger.  I wouldn't mind at all if the temperatures warmed up 15 or 20 degrees, either :-).  I was disappointed that my 1.5 miles didn't perk up my little nike+ gal.  Guess I'll take Cammy's advice and tell her to "stuff it."

I get a lot of pleasure from "walking the garden" on these spring mornings.  Here are a few pictures from this morning's walk.

 The Virginia bluebells are coming right along.  This entire bed (8'x8') will be in full bloom in a week or so.  I like the tightly furled buds that look purple.  See the next picture to view an early bloomer with its beautiful blue flower.

Looking through the deciduous magnolia blossoms to the weeping cherry.  The cherry was a "volunteer" a couple of years after we moved in--probably a bird dropped the seed.  Luckily, I recognized it for a cherry and let it grow.  The magnolia was from son John's tenure working at a nursery during his college summers.  This magnolia was declared dead, but Johnny thought it might live and brought it home.  He was right.



I made a wonderful stir-fry last night.  Sweet red and yellow peppers, flank steak, mushrooms, onions, and thin spring asparagus. Served over brown rice.  So good and it feels great to eat things that you know are chock full of vitamins and good-for-you ingredients.  Fortunately, I made a double recipe, so tonight's dinner just needs heating up.

Tonight, we have our first social outing since my surgery.  We're going to a lecture, tour and reception at the Library of Congress.  I haven't decided yet whether to try to cover up my scar/incision or to just wear whatever.  The bruising has almost all faded.  Either I'm getting used to the way it looks or it really doesn't look that bad.  It is kind of cold though, so maybe a cashmere turtle neck wouldn't look amiss.  We'll see.   I plan to have a little lunch, take a shower and wash my hair, and then take a lovely nap so I'll be fresh and up to an evening out.  I'm hoping we'll swing by the national cherry blossoms on the tidal basin on our way.  Apparently the cool-ish weather has prolonged the bloom for several days. I normally hate naps (I don't like waking up in the late afternoon) but these past few days, they've seemed the thing to do.  I can't nap too long though, or I won't sleep well at night.  Just an hour or so.

How about you?  Do you like naps?

A few of my favorite things

I haven't downloaded pix from my camera in a while and here are a few I thought I'd share with you.

Dorothy

 This is Dorothy, made for me when I was small by my Great Aunt Dorothy.  She has lived in a box in the top of my closet for oh-so-many years, but my littlest granddaughter, Ella,  recently discovered her and has adopted her for the time being.  Dorothy's yarn hair is a bit sparse, but Ella decided that a hat would help.  It does.  She's sitting on one of my new red leather chairs.  I think she looks very cute and I'm sure she's delighted to be loved and cherished again.

Jack-in-the-Box

While his sister was building a lego castle, little Jack decided to play with the container.  He was nice enough to hold still for a photo.  Jack-in-the-Box.

Our Daphne smells so fragrant, I keep a bit in our bedroom.

 These are the first of the Virginia Bluebells to come up.  Now, about a week after this picture was taken, there is an entire bed filled with just-about-to-bloom bluebells.  They are beautiful.  They've spread from one 4 inch pot I planted 20 years ago. Click on the picture to spot the blue flower buds just right of center.

This is Winter Hazel.  The yellow catkins are very pretty on the bare branches.

We have a red maple in the back yard that is a wonderful indicator of how spring is progressing.  It is just outside the windows of our sitting room and I love watching it as spring begins.

One last favorite thing.  With my new metal hardware, I'm 3 mm taller than I was on Friday morning.  Sweeeeet!

I'm feeling pretty good today.  I'm not exactly perky, but I've managed to do several chores and I can tell I'm getting back to feeling like myself.  I got a package ready to send with Easter outfits for our west coast grandkids (yes, dear Laura, they will actually get there before the holiday!).  I also did some laundry and got caught up on this week's Bible study lessons.  Tomorrow I may venture out in the car to mail the package.

My little Nike+ girl is diss-ing me even though  I've added my couple of mile walks since the surgery. Not fair.

Later.

Home Again!

Hey dear friends,

This is mostly about my surgical stay.  A little long--feel free to rejoin us next time if you're not up for a detailed report.  . . . although you'll miss the part about Lady Gag-Gag and about the 14 year old boy who told me to take my top off . . . .

I'm back home.  DH was there to pick me up this morning at 7:15 and we walked through the door at 8:30.  Dorothy got it right, "there's no place like home."  Thanks so much for your prayers and support.  It really helps.  The surgery went very well.  No more tingling or numbness in arms or legs and the weirdness I felt while walking is almost entirely gone.  Miraculous, really.

In addition to the lack of bad symptoms, I now have a 3 inch scar on my neck, lots of bruising that's just showing up today (it looks sort of like someone tried to strangle me!), and lots of telltale adhesive outlines left over from the dozens of monitors they stuck to my body.  I also get to ditch the Ubangi Appliance (neck brace)--YAY!

It turns out that I did have to get the breathing tube inserted before they gave me the general anesthetic.  As my doctor explained it, his first concern was my safety, his second concern was my comfort.  One of the symptoms of  pressure on the spinal cord is having increased reflex reactions.  All my reflexes were hyper and a little parade of interns came through to test a neat little reflex called the Hoffman reflex (flicking my middle finger resulted in my thumb flexing).  I don't know whether the "gag-reflex" is officially included in this reflex reaction category, but I can attest that my own particular gag reflex was working overtime yesterday.  A perfectly lovely resident named Sarah somehow turned into Lady Gag-Gag and kept inserting long sticks with marshmallow sized hard cotton balls drenched with nasty tasting numbing lotion.  And she held them at the back of my throat for 15 seconds at a time.  God was merciful though, because that's the last thing I remember before waking up in the recovery room.

I really liked my team (even Sarah) and got great care.  They were all working for me and it's incredible to understand that I was just the first patient in a long day for them.  My doctor greeted me at 6:30 am and came by to see me last night around 7:30 before he headed home after his last patient.  Amazing.

After I got back to the ward it was lunch time.  The nurse brought my lunch and whipped off the domed plate cover and I had her put it back on.  I think it was some sort of chicken with onions, but the smell didn't agree with me at all.  I ate the canned pears from the tray and sent the rest back.  Dinner also got sent back.  No nausea, but Salisbury steak covered with gravy, pasty white noodles, and overcooked boiled collard greens did not appeal at all.  (the male nurse was happy to have it and took it for his dinner). I took the small apple and the milk from the dinner tray.  I had brought an orange in my bag, so ended up eating three pieces of fruit and some milk.  I did eat some breakfast today--not terribly appetizing, but I was hungry.  Scrambled eggs, french toast, and a piece of ham.  I ate half of each offering.  I was down 2 pounds this morning when I got home!

The first in the series,
My very favorite book of all time.

I also didn't sleep well last night.  We got up at 3:45 am to get to the hospital on time and I was "out" for about 3 hours during my surgery, but I figured that trying to get to sleep around 9:30 was reasonable.  Between the noise from the ward (buzzers beeping, phones, someone else's TV), the lumpy bed with hard plastic cased pillow,  and the intermittent visits of the nurses (10, 11:30, 1, 3:30, 4) I probably only got 2 hours of sleep last night.  I got up at 4, gave myself a sponge bath and got dressed.  My kindle with a good book and reading light was a godsend.  I was (re)reading The Reckoning, the third book in Sharon Kay Penman's Welsh Trilogy.  The book took me to a faraway place and held my interest.  I also had the nano with some nice relaxing music. I'm a little sleepy right now and may take another cat nap.

I really don't have much pain and have waved off all attempts to give me narcotics and am sticking to tylenol.  (My pain level is very low and if I take the narcotics I may have nausea and constipation and won't be able to drive--no narcotics for me, thank you very much.)  I was able to walk 6000 steps yesterday (I took my baby nano with pedometer) astounding my nurses and the neurosurgery resident who came to check on me.  I did it in several trips--walking actually felt good and helped warm my muscles (especially upper back/neck area) that were a little sore.  I also did a few gentle yoga stretches to relieve some of the soreness.  I must say that right now (after a 4 hour nap this morning) I'm fairly sore and achey.  I slept through the time when I should have taken my tylenol.  They say you should keep ahead of the pain, I'll have to remember that!  DH and I are going to walk along the river path when he gets home.

One last hospital person profile to keep you smiling.  There was a corpsman who did part of my pre-op appointment.  He looked about 14--really (he could have been 17 which is the age at which he could enlist, but he looked very young).  He was a little nervous and stiff; he was probably new in his job.  He didn't talk much.  He took my vitals and then said "take your top off."  No "we're going to do an EKG, I'll need to attach some monitors to your skin . . "  just "take your top off."  Considering his age and underlying nervousness, It flitted through my mind to wonder if he used this line on his girlfriend . . . Without further instruction, I took my blouse off, but kept on my undergarment.  That was apparently okay.

I did take some pix of my incision and bruising, but decided not to post them.  Maybe later, when I have some more healed up pix to put next to them.

I'm hoping that I can get back to my focus on losing weight now that this surgery is behind me.  I'm planning a good WW dinner (low fat, whole grains, not overcooked!).

Thanks again for your support.

Tish

The day before tomorrow

Things are going apace.  I just found out that I'm supposed to report in at 5:30 (that's "o-dark thirty" in the AYEM) for my surgery.  I sure hope that means I'm first on the agenda.  I have been getting some odds and ends taken care of just in case I'm not feeling up to it after I get home on Saturday--laundry, gathering some last bits of info needed to complete our taxes, and making a few phone calls re my Dad's estate.

Reading a bit more on the Internet and talking to the anesthesiologist yesterday during my pre-op appointment has me just a bit more apprehensive about it.  There's a fair chance that, because of the degree to which the herniated disc is pressing on the spinal cord, I'll have to have the breathing tube inserted while I'm conscious rather than after I'm blithely unaware so as not to further aggravate the spinal cord.  Definitely not my choice--I've got a very healthy gag reflex and hate anything in the back of my throat.  I'm trying to let that worry go, though, I've had three babies sans anesthesia, for goodness sakes, surely I can get through this.  Right??

My Ubangi Appliance

The good news from yesterday was that I may not have to wear my Ubangi Appliance (my brother's wonderfully descriptive term for my neck brace) for a couple months after the surgery.  While it's normally worn to keep things in place so that the bones can fuse, my doctor is inserting a metal plate to hold things together while the bones fuse and that technique sometimes means that the neck brace is not necessary.  I'm looking for small mercies!  We'll see.

I started to realize how much I was concerned about that (the breathing tube) when I was doing a bit of grocery shopping on my way home.  I sailed right through the produce section and found myself browsing the shelves where the cake mixes were.  I realized I was looking for a Boston Creme Pie mix.  I don't know if they even make that anymore.  It's something my mother used to make when I was in my teens.  Talk about seeking comfort food.  They didn't have it, BTW, and I came home with another box of my WW Strawberry Smoothie frozen treats, instead.

I'm definitely packing my kindle to keep my company while I recuperate in the hospital tomorrow.  This is one time the light weight and compactness will really come in handy.  I bought the leather case with the light for mine and can read in the dark, too.


Thank you all for your good wishes and prayers.  I hope to check back in with you after I get home.

Love & hugs

Tish

What's Happening

Hi All,

I'm still in an exercise hiatus, but the end is in sight.  I saw the neurosurgeon today and he said that the two herniated discs in my back have probably been there for some time.  The disc in my neck, however seems recent and needs to be removed ASAP.  He showed me on the pictures from the MRI where the bulge from the disc is bumping into the spinal cord and compressing it.  He says that all of my symptoms (numbness and tingling in arms and legs) as well as feeling awkward when I walk (sort of like one leg is an inch or two shorter than the other) are being caused by that compression on the spinal cord.  Also he said that things would rapidly get worse and might not be reversible if I don't get that pressure off of the spinal cord very soon.  The upshot is that I'm scheduled for surgery (ACDF) this week--first thing Friday morning.  I'm feeling good about this.  I liked him a lot.  He's the kind of doctor that doesn't rush you through things.  He answered all my questions thoroughly and helped me understand his answers.  He'll do the surgery.  Oh and I'm wearing one of those awful looking neck braces to keep things stable until the surgery.  I hate how it feels, so it must be good for me. :-)

I'm really missing the exercise.  Apparently I get to start walking again as soon as I feel up to it after the surgery.  No lifting or jerky kind of exercise, but there are a lot worse ways to get exercise than walking along the river path in the spring when the wild flowers and the trees are waking from winter..  I'll break out the pedometer and to the 10K step/day challenge and work my way up.  Biking, running, folk dancing and lifting weights will have to wait for a while.  I'll ask about yoga.

I'm still going to town on the de-cluttering.  If you every followed "fly lady," you'll recognize my tactic of going into a room and removing 5 things.  (not necessarily furniture--I have way too many little dishes and ornaments around too).  Do this a few times and things start to look uncluttered.

We had company for dinner the other night and I started the dinner with a caprese salad.  Mmm.  Fresh mozzarella di bufola, tomato slices, and basil leaves sprinkled with salt and pepper and drizzled with olive oil.  YUM.    We also had fresh asparagus, grilled lamb chops with mint jelly, and whole wheat couscous with dried apricots, mint, and toasted almonds.  Sliced California strawberries and a dollop of ice cream for dessert.  It was easy to fix almost everything ahead and a very nice spring dinner.

I'll keep you posted!