Progress

I am repeatedly told that I don't look like a recovering heart patient, which although is nice to hear it is partly coloured by two facts:

• how many recovering heart patients do people really know?
• for those that you do know, how old are they?

Overall I am feeling pretty good. The mornings are pretty good- I generally feel like myself. My biggest complaint is still the pain in my neck (literally) and my reduced range of motion in my shoulder & neck area. I can't really go to a massage therapist yet, so I am still just using warmth & trying to stretch. The last of the scabs on my incisions fell off this weekend, so I can return to wearing clothing that covers my chest area. The incision looks pretty good & can hardly be seen when wearing a button-up top.

My goal for myself today was to walk to our library & I had my rescue ride queued up in the event I could not make it home. Going to the library will be no problem- it is down hill most of the way. Therefore, the walk home will be trickier with it being uphill. I spent too much time this morning doing email for work (my plan is to do an hour a day) & talking on the phone, so when it came time to go for my walk I knew that I was too tired to make it back. Once noon hits, my energy level definitely starts to slide.

So, for my walk I went to the jewelery store around the corner to check out their medical alert bracelets. Not thrilled to have to wear one, but also not interested in bleeding to death in the event that I am in an accident. I saw some that were OK & was happy to see that I could order in white gold- until I saw how much more a white gold one will cost vs. a sterling silver. The economy sure isn't touching the value of gold right now. Geesh.

When I returned home I tried to take a nap, but that was not successful either. Not enough energy to do too much, but not tired enough for a nap either. So instead I started examining my CDs to see what I could rip onto my MP3 player, catching up on family blogs, and posting to you. Sydney arrives home in less than an hour, so I don't have much time to fill. One of the best parts of my recovery is having the opportunity to walk with her to the bus in the morning & this week she decided she wanted to come home to me rather than go to daycare. So we get a bit of time together before we go get her brother from daycare. Jo's is only a 10 minute walk if we cut through the park, so I can manage that with the kids without any difficulty. Last week when I first walked home with Sydney I asked her if she wanted to cut through the park or take the sidewalk home (which is longer). She told me that we should go through the park because taking the sidewalk would be too far for me to walk. What a sweetie, trying to take care of her mom.