An Update and Christmas Wishes

It's been a week and a half since my surgery, and it's time to get online and give all of you an update. First of all, thanks to all of you for your good thoughts and prayers my way. As it turns out, evidently somewhere along the line the MRI was misread, and the tear in the rotator cuff wasn't nearly as severe as they feared. So my time in the sling is not 5 weeks (as a matter of fact, I'm out of it right now as I type to you), and I'm beginning exercises now to get back in shape. I've still got a steep road of rehab in front of me, but it's not nearly as bad as we all thought.

Richard, in his own unique way, decided to document my surgery for me and for everyone. Here I am pre-op, waiting to go in: He said the thermometer on my forehead indicated I was about "medium rare" at this point. The incredibly cute sheep (dubbed "Lambie Pie" by Horace, my mom's minister, who was there with us to stay with my mom and who is an incredibly good guy all around) is a gift from DF Andy, who saw it and knew it had to come live with me -- when you pet it, it moves and "baaaa"s.

What the thermometer didn't indicate was the thundering migraine I woke up with that morning. At the time this picture was taken, it was about 11:15, and they had promised someone would be in with something for it. Notice the smile. That's because I believed them. At 12:30 when they came to get me, I still hadn't seen anyone, and the smile had turned to tears. When the nurse in the holding area said she was sorry I was so upset, I calmly explained that my head was about to pound off, that I had (if she would look at my record) a history of migraine, and they had *promised* someone would be there to give me something. At which point the anesthesiologist showed up, and I explained that were I home, I had Imitrex I would have taken that would have taken care of it, to which he replied: "Well, you should have gone ahead and taken it."

What??? Am I the only person on earth who understands what "Nothing by mouth after midnight" means?? Hel-lo?? Am I crazed to not want to mix drugs when they're giving me **more** at the hospital???

I was quite proud of not decking him with my good arm. Besides, he was the one in control of the narcotics at that point.

So they put some combo of something in the IV that caused a nice nap, and when I woke up, I looked like this:Admittedly, not my best moment. Give me points for actually publishing this. Most people have destroyed all pictures that look like they've been on a 3 day bender. Mine was only a 3 hour one.

So, recovery is going pretty well. I can get my arm up over my head (bringing it down is a new adventure in pain), and while I had hoped to avoid PT, I'm afraid that I'm resigned to the fact that I'm going to have to do it. I still can't stitch -- pulling the needle through the fabric moves the shoulder too much and is painful, but I've found that I can hold the arm stationary and knit a bit. To that end, I give you two completed projects: My first knitted dishcloths, which I have given to my mom. I'm starting to like knitting dishcloths.... got some yarn and a pattern for a Dale Jr #88 cloth to work on over the holidays. The dishcloths are relatively low concentration and quick gratification, so they're what my attention span craves these days.

Before the surgery I finished this baby sweater for my friend Toni's daughter's little one who is scheduled to make his/her debut in January:The parents elected not to know the sex of the child before it was born, but both of them went to UGA. At great personal cost, this die-hard Georgia Tech alumna knit a red and black Bulldog sweater to please them. *sigh* The sacrifices we make for friends, eh?? :)

Richard, Oscar and I are ensconced at my mom's here on Christmas Eve. We'd like to wish all of you who celebrate as we do a very Merry Christmas. To the rest of you, may you have a happy and safe holiday season.