Recovery is a process, for sure!

I had a bad day yesterday, which is why there was no blog. I brought some of it on myself by sleeping sitting up in the living room chair for three nights. During the day, except for some small amounts of walking in the house and a four-block walk outside the house, I also sat in the same chair. Yesterday morning I woke up extremely swollen in the ankles and lower legs. YIKES!! I also weighed FIVE pounds more than the day before. YIKES!! All fluid, I was sure. Worse than the fear of that, I also felt sick. I was shaky, sweating, and nauseous. I had stopped taking the narcotic pain meds over 24 hours earlier because I wasn't really in pain, and I felt that the meds were making me sick to my stomach; however, I was still sick. I took the anti-nausea pills and went upstairs to lay down on the bed and elevate my legs. I got some relief from that, but after lunch, the nausea really cranked up again. Actually feeling scared, I called the doctor's office. They returned my call about 3 hours later, and he was most reassuring. He said it's residual anaesthesia causing the nausea so just continue the anti-nausea pills as prescribed. Also he said to keep my legs elevated, which I did for two hours after that phone call, and to go on a low-sodium diet.

Low-sodium diet? DUH. Why didn't I think of that? I have counted calories for so many years that I can do it in my sleep and have a good idea of what foods have what calories in them, but I have no idea about sodium. I didn't even know how much sodium is in a regular diet, let alone a low-sodium one. So...of course, we googled it. I decided to restrict myself to 1500 mg of sodium per day for awhile. I'm also writing it down, along with the calories again. This morning was weigh-in day, and it was 227. That's up six pounds from Thursday when I left for surgery, but a lot better than the 232 I hit yesterday morning. I could SEE those five pounds in my ankles!! It was scary. 227 isn't bad from surgery, so I know I can lose that in the next week or so if I take care of myself. I had to adjust my breakfast to lower the sodium, but it is OK. I had a fine breakfast of only 240 calories and 425 mg of sodium.

The other smart thing I did was sleep in the bed last night. I was afraid to sleep in the bed for fear of rolling over on the drain, or pulling it out of its suture, or laying on a sore spot, or having Mark poke his elbow on something with stitches in it. UGH. Fear. But I overcame my fear, slept in the bed, and woke up MUCH better this morning. That five pounds of extra fluid is GONE!! I slept pretty well, and I don't feel nauseous, at least not yet.

YAY!!

I also took a lot of phone calls yesterday. It was pleasant to speak with my friend Carol, my friend Bev, my sister Flyn, my daughter Evey, and my doctor. I also made calls to set up appointments with the radiation oncologist for next Monday, my doctor's follow up appointment for day after tomorrow, and the oncologist next Thursday. I paid a bill by phone also, so the phone was working overtime yesterday. In fact, it started to get hard to hold the phone! Ha Ha. My arms were tired. Ha Ha!!

Today I will get some visitors again. Bev and John are driving all the way up from Falls Church, VA! Wow, that's love. They are great people, and Mark and I are both looking forward to a nice visit with them.

I also got two deliveries yesterday. Evey and Eric are AWESOME. They sent me an edible fruit arrangement that included two pink-chocolate-covered, Mickey-head-shaped, pineapple slices. It's a special breast cancer arrangement with three balloons, so all the strawberries are dipped in pink chocolate also. Just beautiful, very delicious, and LOW sodium!! Also kosher! Just amazing. Mark was expecting it because he and Evey had talked about it, but I was completely blown away by it. I had tears in my eyes reading the card that they sent with it. Thanks, Evey and Eric!

I also received a box of pink ribbon things that I ordered online a week or so ago, before surgery. I have been wanting a pink ribbon magnet for the car; I also got some socks, a zip up fleece hoodie, and a key chain. The box came yesterday afternoon, and it was lots of fun to open and explore. The jacket fits perfectly, too. All of the items were 20% off plus a percentage went to fund a mammogram for a woman who cannot afford one. I ended up funding 11% of a mammogram. That's a good feeling.

Because I was sick yesterday and on the phone A LOT, I never got to write about how fabulous Sunday was with Kip and Denise for lunch and Lowell here for dinner. I was feeling really good all day Sunday, so it was just delightful to enjoy their company. Lowell and I watched six or seven episodes of the TV show, How I Met Your Mother, which I had never watched. It was very funny. I loved just sitting in the living room next to Lowell watching TV for hours. That's something we rarely get to do anymore, and that time was very precious to me. Thanks, Lowell!

I am now exhausted. I started writing this blog around an hour ago. It seems to take forever to do this now because my left arm gets so tired so quickly from typing. I have to keep taking breaks from the typing. My muscles on the left side are definitely weak. Unfortunately, I'm left-handed, so it's just really annoying to have limited use of the dominant arm. It will get better, I know. I'm doing the exercises that I was given, but I'm restricted in motion due to the drain right now. I am a bit surprised at how tiring this typing can be now. So I have to stop, right now, and go rest.