Happy Valentine's Day blog friends! I am super excited for the arrival of my valentine tomorrow and I think I'll wear a "Hello, my name is Lydia" badge, just in case he has forgotten what I look like after six weeks. Can't be too prepared, right?
Anyway, today was day two of my rehabilitation program and it has been a bit of a rough start. As you may remember, a program for me does not exist...so Mayo recommended me to this program, with the intention of modifying the curriculum to meet my needs. So it has been two days (four including orientation) and I have yet to see said modification. I haven't started any of the scary drugs to slow down my nerves and I haven't started any sort of "Let's teach Lydia to eat" plan. I have, however, discovered that the cafeteria serves vanilla frozen yogurt at lunch. Simple pleasures people.
My nurse case manager absolutely promises me that tomorrow I will meet with the doctor AND the dietitian to create a plan...fingers crossed! But in the meantime, I've gone to several informational sessions on the power of addiction and the pharmacology of opiate pain medication...all extraordinarily helpful information for the hot mess in the back row who can't even take Advil. Today I took session 1 (of 6) on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and ended up partly teaching the session after the instructor realized I was an elementary school teacher. I now have people coming up to me and asking for help with their kids...maybe I should pull a Lucy and start charging 10 cents for advice.
I also earned a serious gold star in physical therapy today when the therapist asked me if I could handle 5 minutes of aerobic activity and I did 30...and only stopped because I was late to my next class. Come on now people, pain or no pain, I don't generally sit still...just ask my husband.
All sarcasm aside, I haven't lost hope and refuse to be sent away without a fight (which I do very productively, I took anger management today after all). I'll meet with the doctor and dietitian tomorrow and hopefully be on my merry way towards a big, steaming pizza (with fresh mozzarella, basil and tomato please...although at this point, I'm not too picky). The muscles around my veins are working super hard at physical therapy and I'm determined to get my blood to flow at least semi-regularly by the time I leave. I've been practicing what I learned at biofeedback last week and I'm eager to try it again on Thursday. I am also learning lots of helpful modifications in occupational therapy to avoid back pain, including the purchase of a "grabber" to pick pencils up off the floor at school...try to contain your jealousy. And yes I'm 28, not 82.
So. I'm not really moving forward, but I'm absolutely determined not to move backwards either. So I'll call it itty bitty teeny tiny dance moves in place. More like a cha-cha, perhaps?
Hang in there and keep demanding the red carpet - in your sweet way - they won't be able to resist you! Of course, you could go the opposite direction and try hide your considerable talents so they can't over tap them, but I think it's too late for that!! Too many people know that you're amazing!!
ReplyDeleteI have a grabber you can use when you get back to Wolftrap...it is sitting in a corner of my house just waiting for someone to need it...Happily I will be glad to donate it. Lydia you are such and inspiration to all of us her at school who read your blog daily. Like I said before...you need to be writing book. Hang in there, enjoy the visit with your wonderful husband and stick to your guns and get the therapy you need. Miss you! Lois
ReplyDeleteI'm SO glad you won't have to take any meds! They're always a mixed blessing-just listen to the drug ads on television! And they clearly wreak more havoc than they're worth in your sensitive body! Itty bitty teeney weeney baby steps is the way to go, just as they've planned. You're a natural competitor but now you're in competition with the Lydia-invaded-by-the-GP-monster! You've taken over the wheel of this out-of-control bus (a.k.a. brain) and you'll win. I'm putting my money on YOU!!
ReplyDelete