Becki M.

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It's been a really good day.  I felt a little stronger and was able to get the living room tidy, dust & vacuum and make it more presentable.  Made some homemade soup for lunch.  Had jello with Bubba (he's still home from school with a stomach virus), and went to his end of the year school conference.  He's doing well, and the teachers are happy with his progress, and he will actually be in advanced math next year.  He's also been nominated for the citizenship award.  I'm so proud of him!  He works so hard, and I like to see hard work rewarded.  

Tomorrow will be my first "back-to-back" days since my surgery.  Twelve hours is tough, but I hope things go well this weekend.  

I worked yesterday, and it was a busy day, but the true test comes after I get home.  This was the first night after working 12+ hrs. than I didn't awaken during the night with the terrible cramps and spasms!  I'm gradually gaining my strength and endurance.  I'm still struggling to get all my protein in.  Since I'm off for the next few days, I'll try the unflavored protein powder, in small amounts, to make sure I don't have that horrible reaction that I did with the flavored one I tried (and had to give away).  Hope that'll work, as I really feel the need for more protein.  I'm doing good with the sunflower seeds, and the almond/cashew/macadamia mix in small amounts.  Salad with mostly chopped chicken, ham, boiled egg and cheese is something I like to get from the salad bar at work.  I do manage to get maybe 3 or 4 lettuce pieces, but I make sure I chew everything very, very well!  

Since it's raining today, I'm getting caught up on laundry and housework.  I'm still having problem with my goofy left knee, but at least  I'm up and down throughout the day rather than non-stop like it is at the hospital!  I had hoped that losing 40# would give me less pain, but since I still haven't been able to resume my arthritis medicine, it remains quite painful. 

I had bought tickets to the Mercy Me/Audio A concert back in December the day they went on sale for tonight's show.  I was taking the kids to school today, and the local radio station was giving away front row seats, and I was one of the right callers!  What a blessing!  I took some really fabulous pictures at the show tonight, and look forward to adding them to my concert scrapbook!  I gave my other tickets to a friend who wanted to go but couldn't afford to go.  She was happy to have them, and I was happy to bless her!   I love going to concerts and these were several of my favorite bands.  Wish I could go to the Hawaii show on the 28th, but that's out of the question!  Building 429 will be in town in May, and Hawk Nelson will be here in June.  It'll be great to see them again!  Such really nice guys!

After dropping the kids at school, I went to the wellness center to do my exercises.  After the usual routine, I did 30 minutes of the water aerobics class and that was all I could do!  I went into the whirlpool for about 10 minutes and that helped.  My left knee still gives me a lot of problems, and even though I've lost 35#, it "feels" worse, as I'm not to be taking NSAIDs, and those have kept me going these last few years.  Tylenol just doesn't help, and I don't want to cause any problems to my GI tract, but I need to find something other than Lortab elixir to help the pain.  Maybe as I lose more weight, the pain will decrease.  Maybe not.  The last 3 years have been really hard on the whole left side since I fell and cracked my knee, but I refuse to stop living just because of the pain.  I need to make up some hours, but I didn't yesterday from all the cramps and spasms in my leg, and today I'm just too tired and hurting.  I'm planning on attending an inservice tomorrow, so that will help come payday.

All I can say is that I'm glad this day is over!  It started out pretty good, and was pretty uneventful until about 5 pm, when everything went kind of crazy, so I ended up being ~2 hrs. late getting off work.  14 hours on my first day back....way too long!

Had my yearly evaluation, and my boss is very pleased with my performance.  She also is letting me attend some inservices and classes extra this week to make up the hours I lost last week. 

Went to lunch around 1:30 and had some soup, a few bites of salad and did very well.  Had sugar-free jello around 6 pm and worked to get enough water and Propel in.

I need to work more on the protein intake now.

Monday, I will be 2 weeks post-op and I start back to work in the morning.  Being a nurse, I'm used to taking care of people, rather than having others take care of me!  I'm looking forward to being back at work.  Still unsure how a 12-hour shift will be on my first day back, but I'm going to give it my best effort!

Sunnier today and a lot cooler.  I'm ready for winter to be over!  I'm tired of the cold weather.  Bring on the sunshine!

After church, my daughter and I ate lunch at O'Charley's with some friends.  It was my first restaurant experience since surgery.  I was able to eat 1/2 of a chicken tender (finely chopped) and some baked potato soup, and broccoli casserole.  Couldn't eat much, but it was nice to socialize!  Have enough leftovers for 2 more meals!

The weather is really, really wet today!  As I watch the weather channel, it looks like the whole SE is in much of the same boat!  I'm so looking forward to going back to work on Monday.  I'm still having difficulty getting in all my protein, since the allergic reaction to the protein powder I'm a bit leary to try others.  The rash is better, but still not gone, and I'm trying to get in enough liquids as well.  I'm glad to not feel hungry all the time, but I have to remind myself to eat.  That's a real change.

Since I'm 10 days post-op, Dr. M. counted this as my 2 wk followup, and said I'm doing fine and I can go back to work on Monday.  I'm really glad about that!  I'm out of sick time, and I really can't afford to miss any more work.  With all the benedryl I've been taking, the rash is improving, and he said if I HAD to get a steroid shot, it was OK, but if I could do without it, all the better.  I'll stick with the benedryl for a few more days, along with the caladryl lotion.  Guess I'll find someone else who can use the protein powder.  He agreed that it was probably the thing I was allergic to.  I've been "promoted" to pureed, so I put some chicken in my mini-chopper, and had chicken and some finely chopped coleslaw for lunch, and 1 spoon of mashed potatoes.  It sure beats jello!  In 2 weeks, I can eat regular foods, and I'll see him again June 21 for my 10 week visit.  Hope to be "noticeable" smaller by then!

My boss was in a meeting, so I'll have to call her tomorrow to see if she can add me to the schedule next week. 

I'm still itchy, but not as bad and not quite as red, either.  I'm seeing Dr. M. today; wasn't sure whether to see my PCP as he may want to give me a steroid shot and that's something that should be avoided.  I'm not sure if it was the WHEY Protein Powder I tried, but that's about what I've narrowed it down to. 

The redness and hives has continued to spread, despite caladryl lotion, benedryl elixir,  and even some 2% cortison cream to areas other than my incisions.  It's starting to look like measles; moved up my chest, around to my back and now it's creeping down my upper arms and upper legs.  I found some Aveno bath  packets, so I'll try that.  I thought I was going to have to go to the ER about 4am, because it was so bad.  I didn't.  I guess I finally drank enough benedryl, 'cause the itching eased enough and I fell back asleep.  Dr. M. is operating today, so I 'll call the office later to see if he has any other suggestions.