I had back surgery.
It went swimmingly.
Moving on...
My mommy came to be my nurse. She spoiled me. Well, as much as a Nazi nurse can spoil someone. She's been around the bases of surgery a few times with my beloved father, so this was like preschool for her.
Her rules:
1. Stay ahead of the game on pain meds. I just got rid of chronic back pain. No need to become a chronic whiner of pain, because I'm two hours behind on popping the Vicodin.
2. Nap regularly.
3. Nap regularly IN your bed.
4. Leave your phone IN the living room while you nap IN your bed.
5. Walk around the block regularly. And by "regularly", she meant at least four times a day.
And while I slept in my phone-free bedroom, momma stayed busy doing laundry, cleaning my kitchen, dusting and vacuuming, and catching up on her reading.
In between taking naps and walking around the block, I stayed busy chatting it up with friends who stopped by to visit.
Let me tell you, folks. If you ever really want to feel loved, have back surgery.
There were flower deliveries from Lynden and Rock Valley...
Homemade cards from concerned pseudo nieces...
A basket of my favorite things from my Littles at school...
Meals on wheels from friends at church...
Grocery store runs made by dear friends...
Gatorade and cracker deliveries during the early stages of recovery/pre-mom's visit...
Coffee deliveries...
Lunch deliveries...
A basket of things to keep me occupied from my beloved colleagues...wait, that came out wrong. It was a basket FROM my colleagues. And the basket was filled with things to keep me occupied. That's better.
I was feelin' the love. And then I started to feel the squeeze of recovery. Having surgery was one thing. I was ready to be pain-free. It was the two and a half weeks AFTER surgery that rocked my world. I did not handle the absence from my Littles very well. AT. ALL.
One week after surgery, I snapped out of my Vicodin induced funk, and momma took me to school to visit my favorite little people in the whole wide world.
Look at those little faces. Be still my heart. And yes, that's an inter tube around my waist. And yes, that sign says, "No Hugging". I needed to protect myself from little hands and knuckles attached to arms that, when wrapped around my waist, come to rest on the epicenter of pain - my incision.
It's been three and a half weeks since the storm ensued, and every day I feel stronger. I can tell when I've been on my feet too long, or when I am too active. The recess duty teacher in me is going crazy. The youth leader in me is going crazy. The early morning workout girl in me is walking the fine line between crazy and psycho.
But, I'm back at school with my Littles, so I am happy, happy, happy. Let's add one more 'happy'. That's how happy I am. So, so happy.
xoxo
E
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