I've found it to be been much harder to recover at home with my nearly five year old crawling all over me. Children have an amazing ability to sap all energy from you.
Good news on the Anna front – she was able to have her neck catheter removed on Monday! (See picture of Anna in sidebar to see catheter). They didn’t have to put her under as we thought; instead her doctor just numbed her up and removed the tubing while she was awake. Apparently, it was still a little bit painful, but Anna is VERY happy to have it gone.
On a day to day basis, Anna is still living with a significant amount of pain from the surgery as well as a somewhat numb right thigh. Her doctor told her that these conditions are both related to how thin she is right now. Because she currently has very little body fat right, her new kidney is pressing on nerves that are making her leg numb. The only remedy is for her to gain some weight. Her high pain level is also related to her extremely thin frame.
I’m trying to get back into a normal routine, but it’s difficult when you need to stop to rest as much as I need to right now. It’s very frustrating for me as I’m always on the go. My day goes something like this (give or take on the times):
8:00 – take Issabel to school
8:30 – come home and take a little rest
9:00 – drink coffee, do some laundry, call Anna
10:00 – take a little rest
10:30 – do some other miscellaneous chores, check email
11:00 – take a little rest
11:30 – get out of the house,take a walk, get a little movement in my legs
1:00 – take a nap
2:30 – miscellaneous stuff, and more resting
4:30 – pick up Issabel from school
5:00 – dead to the world
I was very busy yesterday and didn’t take a single nap (unless you count the half hour that I fell asleep on the couch before I went to bed for the night). I’m paying for that today, I woke up with a horrible headache and my pain level was up higher than it has been since I came home. I probably should have taken some of my prescribed meds, but I popped two Tylenol instead and am feeling better now. I think my body is just trying to tell me that I am not recovered yet and to back off for a little while longer before trying to resume a more normal schedule.
Well – it’s time for me to take a little break. I’m taking it super easy today.
2 comments:
Missed you today for donuts and bagels. Maybe we need to have some delivered to you and Anna?
We're having a little Cutty Sark this afternoon.
I found your blog while surfing the Internet. I found out this week that I have been approved to donate a kidney to my mother. Since I am around your age with young children I have found all the information incredibly helpful and it is making me consider the length of recovery a little more realistically. Before reading this I thought it would take a week or so :) Anyway thanks for sharing your experience and I hope that Anna continues to improve and life gets back to normal for you. She is lucky to have such a wonderful friend.
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