Recovery Day 20

 A lot has happened since I last wrote. My back doctor said if I had the procedure by the 10th of August, I would be ready to go to a wedding on the 22nd. Well, we went to that wedding (so I guess I was ready) in Southern California and we both did well. The hardest part was climbing stairs, but we went up and down the stairs very slowly and all went well. Of course we tried not to go up or down the stairs any more than necessary.

The wedding was wonderful. The bride was gorgeous. The parties were grand. We had a great time. We flew handicapped and Delta took good care of us. Once we landed in Ontario, we rented a car (a Genesis which was very plush) and drove to Fallbrook. All the planning worked out, but then I'm a planner.

I've had the follow-up visit with my doctor and he says I'm ready for part 2 of the procedure which is doing the same BVNA procedure on L4 and maybe L5. Apparently you can only do the procedure on 2 vertebrae at a time. That might happen on September 11 (also called 9-11--kind of an ominous date).

In the meantime, I'm walking and standing better, but I still can't walk a mile--2 blocks seems to be what I can handle. I can stand a little bit, but if I cook at the stove, I sit on a barstool. The pain level is low. I'm doing PT in both the pool and the gym, so I'm trying to do everything I can to recover and keep the back pain from returning.

I'm watching the fawns grow up. The twins, which were full of P and V when they were newborns, are now proper little fawns. All four of the fawns are starting to lose their spots--that means they are growing up and will soon have a scent of their own. Fawns with spots do not have a scent, nature's way of protecting the little ones. Yesterday the twins were resting in the back yard and their mama was not too far away. They mind her now--she finally taught them how to be little deer, but she had her "hands" full with their antics. The other 2 fawns were much quieter than the twins. 

Life in the Rockies is good. We are getting a bit more rain this year than usual, and no one is complaining. The rain is needed as the rivers and lakes are low on water. It rains at any time of the day but there's always a breeze before the rain. The rain is spotty too. The RV park, a mile from my home, will get rain and we'll be dry or the other way around. Rain cells are not predictable. '

I'm still crocheting. The menagerie on the kitchen desk has duckies, turtles, piggies and kitties. Most have a new home waiting for them but I get to enjoy them before I give them away. The latest turtle I've named Tortellini and I'm working on Donatello, who should be finished tonight. 

Healing takes time. I have the time and things to do to help me use the time well. I listen to books, crochet, paint rocks and watch the fawns grow up. All is good. Remember, we're all in this together.

Recovery

I read a long time ago, that one good way to recover from something is to place yourself in a happy environment. Look at fun movies; read fun books, do relaxing things that make you happy...so I'm trying to do that.

In case you're wondering, yesterday I had a procedure nicknamed BVNA (short for Basivertebral Nerve Ablation)...long story short, I was put to sleep and the naughty nerve was ablated to oblivion (or at least I hope it was). For the next week I'm in recovery mode...that means taking it easy so the thing can start to work. Yesterday I was not too sure it was working but today the back feels quite a bit better.

As part of the R&R treatment I'm playing iPad games, listening to books, looking at some TCM movies and "fun" TV series, crocheting roses and critters, and painting rocks. How edifying is that? 

We saw "Never so Few" that had a blockbuster cast of Frank Sinatra, Gina Lollobrigida, Steve McQueen and a lots of other big names only to find out it was group of people trying to develop a story that just did not work. Later, I read what IMDB and Wikipedia had to say about the movie, and we agreed with each other. In addition the 1959 movie lost over a million dollars. It was fun to see how a movie can be made without a story line--we were discussing the movie as it was being played and the discussion was a lot more fun that the terrible movie.I don't recommend it.

Then we saw "The Great Escape" with much of the same cast (no Gina this time--in fact NO women in the cast) and it was a good movie. Some stories work better than others...and while both were based on "real events" the addition of the love story in the former movie was just plain stupid. I recommend this movie.

I'm listening to the 32nd book in a monster series written by Christopher Cartwright. The books are about the adventures of a "wonder man" named Sam Reilly. The books have been great fun to listen to for their completely over the top adventures. Sam can do just about anything, and since he's rich and handsome he does. They are works of fiction with a bit of history and science and geography (and lots of descriptions of weapons, fast cars and motorcycles which I gloss over). I've been to many of the places mentioned in the books, and the geography and history are pretty accurate--however the last 2 books have taken place in Jackson Hole and Cartwright does not have a clue about Jackson Hole. Cartwright  greatly disappointed me...so much so that I'm thinking I might quit the series...even tho I'm really close to finishing them. Sometimes the stories have huge gaps in them, and after 32 books I know where to look for the gaps and gloss over them. It's sad because I've enjoyed the adventures and I like the characters in the books. Gees, I listened to the books for 2 summers now...they must have been fun. It's strange how I could ignore all the "story gaps" only to be brought back to reality when the author got the geography of a place I know very well, all wrong. It makes me wonder what else is wrong??? If you get hooked on the series, only go to book 30. The books have been fun and now I'm disappointed..that makes me sad...but I'm still on the road to recovery. 

(P.S.--all is not lost, I can crochet or paint rocks when I listen to books...and that's always fun.)

I'm learning how to crochet complex roses. I developed a pattern for "dashboard duckies" that are just too cute...and I'm giving critters to people to make them smile...that puts me on the road to recovery too. 

All of this explains why I've not written in my blog for so long. The last few weeks before this procedure have been painful...walking and standing have been hard. Pain zaps energy and I've been zapped. Now I'm hoping the pain will be gone soon. BVNA takes a while to work...but I'm hoping this will work. I'm writing this blog with fun and hope and positive thoughts and the prayers from my friends and loved ones. All of that is very important.  Remember, we're all in this together.