Tag: recuperation

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Week 4 – Steady Progress

Learning Points …

Another mixed week which on balance can be described as “steady progress”. Two good walks around Roath Park Lake, one that involved hopping on and off buses – all part of a confidence raising process; indeed one of those occasions (Thursday) I was on my own for an hour and a half. Such are the small steps I take to recovery! The weather hasn’t helped much this week, it’s been bleak and cold and I’ve found out that I feel the cold much more than I’ve evr done before. Whether that’s because so much energy is being re-directed towards internal healing, or whether it’s due to my loss of body fat, I don’t know. I suspect the latter as I’m now below 11st (70kg) in weight. Other vital stats show that my BP is consistently c.115:85, pulse rate c.60, which is good. Must try and find out what my cholesterol level is however. I suspect it MUST be much lower because Jenny is watching what we eat so carefully. The result is that I’m loasing weight whilst she isn’t – curious! The night sweats have thankfully largely gone, as has the urticaria – I suspect that this was down to stress rather than red wine as I’ve manged to drink a few glasses this week with no after effects. 🙂

So what have I learnt this week:

  1. Friends are the key to recovery. I had visits from RC (and a walk round the Lake); C&E (before they jetted off to Dominican Republic); @MartynHarrow (who brought some lovely flowers – for Jenny; champagne and burgundy – which went down well with some beautiful trout and summer pudding prepared by Jenny who’s such a good cook); and @joenicholls and @breadedcod (who brought me up to date with Denver, INSRV-life and “everything”). Thanks to you all – you’re all part of my recovery team.
  2. Writing something down is no defense against it happening. I had a couple of massively “feeling sorry for myself” days. I don’t think you can do anything to prevent these if you’ve been active before an operation such as this. Those days are illogical, I know that I should be positive but feelings just flood-in and then it’s difficult to resist the “doom and gloom”.
  3. Getting “something done” is good! This week I managed to get a few things done in respect of the estate I’m administering; I also managed to investigate and arrange the transfer away from BT services to Virginmedia – I hope I don’t regret this at a later date.
  4. Little things can become big barriers to progress! It was only yesterday that we managed to get out and buy some “tights” (actually North Face base-layer leggings) with a French-seam (which mean that there’s nothing to chaff on the scar on my leg). So this barrier to my exercise should be removed. Can seriously recommend purchasing these to anyone else in my situation!

Hopes and fears for Week 5 – I fear the weather will not be a help this coming week. However, I must not use it as an excuse. Would like to walk to the Lake and back without using the bus next week. That would mean that my objective of walking to The Heath for my appointment on December 1st was definitely realisable. So my fears are minor. I know I will have down moments, but now I’ll be ready for them. I’m due to see Dr E in the surgery this week. We’re also planning on going down to see my mum next weekend, so that’s something to look forward to. It’s going to be a good week, and a positive one as well. 🙂

Objectives – again not too many this week. I would like to get some reading done; I want to finish watching Lord of the Rings. It would be good to order our new “workhorse” PC this week (funding permitted). I must do some more regular walking. I would also like to “get into” relaxation – I know it’s something I really MUST do! It’s just so difficult for me to find the time for. 🙂

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Week 3 – Ups and Downs

Learning Points …

Last week was a bit of a roller-coaster. It had it’s ups – watching NW & NH in Denver do such a good job for the JISC and UKFAM; having TW visit and “patient-sit” me while Jenny went for a hospital appointment; having a lovely walk and chat with EW who was also “patient-sitting” me; and catching-up with a few things in respect of affairs I’m dealing with in Hastings. It had it’s downs – the urticaria and the “night sweats” both got me down quite a bit, but I had a really bad day yesterday when I got quite depressed. So what do I take from last week?

  1. Getting something “substantial done” is a big call – pottering is about all you can manage after an operation like this. You get extra-ordinarily tired, even when you don’t think you’re doing anything.
  2. Following on from this, I think I can fairly say that you suffer a progressive energy drain as the days away from Day 0 increase. I shouldn’t be surprised at that, should I? After all my body is mending itself … bigtime. Patience is not a virtue I possess. It’s hard when it’s being imposed on me.
  3. When the adrenalin rush comes, as it it did for a couple of days last week, do you ride the wave or throttle back? I really don’t know – I’ll tell you next week. I do know that Friday was a really low-day and that Jenny had to work really hard to motivate me to do anything. I felt really sorry for myself but it was interesting how a chance meeting with a neighbour (DJ) caused me to “buck my ideas up” and “snap out of it”, causing me to believe that I don’t need to stay in a depressed state for any length of time. I’m sure there will be other days like Friday, but now I know what to expect!
  4. Celebrate the fact that broadly I achieved the objectives I set myself last week. I did specify the PC; I have almost come to a decision about BT Vision – though we used it last night to watch the Frost/Nixon film; I did write a couple of blogposts (and I did a lot of reading and viewing of the Educause 09 Conference in Denver); I did spend some time on my own and in some small ways did more for myself. So on balance I ended the week in a better place than I started. Bring on the champagne – forgot, I’m off wine for a couple more days.

Hopes and fears for Week 4 – I think I’ve got myself into a better place mentally for the coming week. Have had two “setbacks” so hope to learn from them. An obvious fear I have is that I start feeling sorry for myself. Having written that down here – I trust it won’t happen. 🙂 I’m really looking forward to a couple of visits by friends next week. I realise that they could also be tiring, so I must make allowances and take proper rest as well.

Objectives – not so many this week I feel. I think the coming week will be a reading and watching week. Got some stuff I want to read, I may have got to the moment when I can give some time to some serious reading. I also want to watch more of my Michael Palin Travel DVDs; Planet Earth; and the Lord of the Rings – it’s about time I gave that another outing otherwise I’ll wonder why I ever bought it in the first instance. Also I think I’ll work my way through the complete Beatles collection which I bought a few weeks back. I’m surprised from my sampling to date how much I’m enjoying the tracks I didn’t like at the time, and how extra good the ones I did used to enjoy are now in re-mastered stereo. The most serious objective is to do more walking. Been too much “in my head” this last week, must get out and exercise more – it would be good to find some trousers though that don’t chaff the scar on my leg; that would make things easier. Perhaps I’ll resurrect my “joggers” from the bottom drawer. 🙂