The Week in Review 7-11-2008

Wow, a weekly update that will actually take place on the day it's supposed to. I must be starting to get back to normal. (Ok, who am I kidding I was never good at getting my weekly updates out on Friday.)

Medically - Well, I finally got around to trying to start communication up with my new set of doctors just as I had with my first choice NS. We haven't really gotten far yet but at least the ball is rolling now which is a good thing. Basically, there is nothing new on the medical front other than continuing to recover here at home and feeling stronger each day.

Emotionally - If you don't count the very rude and unexpected call from a bill collector last night, I've been holding up very well emotionally. I completely lost my cool with the person yesterday but the truth is it was justified and I am hoping to give them another piece of my mind when I am feeling better. They were... well, let's just say that I'm glad I don't usually deal with bill collectors. I'm not going to get into the issue right now but I'm sure I'll blog about it later. It has to do with insurance companies, doctor's offices, and rude calls from collectors at 7:30 PM. The good news is that I sorted it all out today and they actually owe me a credit... just as I thought they would so the case will hopefully be closed within the next week.

Beyond that, I'm pretty emotionally stable with just the occasional out of character event but even that is mostly because I overdid it for the day or just let myself get too stressed. Not a big deal and nothing beyond what a normal person has. (Yeah right me a normal person....)

Mentally - I'm much clearer mentally this week. Most of the drugs are at their minimums now and actually tomorrow is my last day of the steroid. Do I hear whoops of joy? I was actually able to sit down with my finances this week and get everything sorted out and the bills laid out to pay tomorrow. I will be very happy to have all the paperwork caught back up and be able to see that I really did have things planned out so that it all ran smoothly. Then maybe next week I'll start checking in on insurance things and make sure the right people get paid the right thing and we don't end up in collections again for something that isn't even my fault. It's sad you have to stay right on top of your insurance company with weekly calls to make sure they honor what they are supposed to pay.

I guess also on a mental note, I am happy to report that although just a touch lower than what they were pre-surgery my "brain games" that I play are pretty much telling me that I'm on par to what I was prior. Truth is, the fact I haven't played most of them in over a month and the fact I think to play them later at night when I'm getting tired, is probably the reason for the lower scores. I'll give them a few more weeks and then let you know if there was any "permanent" damage to my brain from surgery.

Physically - Things are moving ahead on the physical front. I feel good. I am slowly gaining my strength back, especially in my arms. Truth is, I'm not sure I lost as much in my arms as I feared I had. I'm not going to be lifting any weights any time soon (or even laundry baskets for that matter) but I can do up to five without causing any strain or feeling like I'm too weak to.

It's really my leg strength that has taken the biggest toll. My legs feel like jelly a lot when doing even the simplest task. I can walk at about 90% my old speed. (Some of you know that I tend to be a speed demon when I walk and I've gained a lot of that back already.) I still have to concentrate when I'm getting up and down from sitting because my legs just don't have what they once did. But this is all good because it's forcing me to slow down until I get used to being more careful about not banging my head on everything that is near by. (Yes, I have always had a bad habit of banging my head on everything.... car door, desks, etc. I need to slow down and break that habit and fast!!!)

Beyond that, I still have a bit of facial swelling but even that is looking better each day. I'm struggling a bit with my... I guess hay fever but it's being just minor for now. Nothing a little of my inhaler can't keep at bay. I have finally gotten my body re-regulated to eating normally so I'm not starving all the time. This is a good thing because I was really getting sick of constantly fighting to not eat everything in the house. Another plus of less steroids I guess. I'm sure the loss in muscle counter-acted the starving giant but I have luckily not become a total blimp and put on tons of weight from this episode like I hear so many tend to on steroids. YEAH... Now when I start to try to regain some form of basic exercise maybe it will be a positive. :)

Family - I've actually been feeling good enough that I've taken back on most of the basic chores around the house. Dishes are pretty easy to do when you can do them throughout the day and I have been able to fold the clothes and the like so basic house maintenance has resumed to normal taking some of the stress off the boys.

John is back into routine now with a full weeks work and I think that has helped him feel like things are a little more set again. I have some things for him to do this weekend but that's just the typical honey-dos right? Emotionally and mentally he's holding up very well. He worries about me sometimes, especially when he comes home and sees that I've done some things that I probably shouldn't of but he also sees that on those days I sleep much better at night so I think he understands sometimes I need to push myself. I think it's the spacey moments that scares him the most. Sometimes I will say I am going to go to bed and an hour later I'm still sitting in the chair thinking about it. He's learning to cope with it though.

My son and I had a much better week this week and he was able to keep from pushing me into sensory overload. He tends to get caught up in TV and games and it totally overloads me. I can't imagine what it does to him. We established a nice little routine and set boundaries on these activities and we've been at each other's throats much less thanks to it. It's nice being able to think clearly enough to come to this conclusion.

Speaking of son... he had his 4H Foods show on Thursday. It was a long day for mommy but he was selected as an alternate for the State Fair for his Peanut Butter Fudge. This is a very big achievement. There's a good chance he won't actually go to the fair but it's an honor and a nice pink ribbon for his achievement.

Play - Can't really say there was a lot of play recently. We did visit dance and I had a good time talking to all my friends. I wasn't having my best day so we didn't stay long but it was fun all the same and now I have a little project to work on when I get the oomph to work on it.

I can't say there's much more to report. We are all doing well and I hope all of you are as well.

Huggles to all