Slowly feeling better

Today I woke up and felt great. Jeff got up early and let Tess and Nan out to go potty. When they came in, Tess decided her night shift was over and went to the office; Nan took up the slack and lay next to me on the floor keeping me company. Every time I move she would stick her nose on my body and either nudge or lick me. She has stepped up to the plate quite well and takes her job seriously.

Then my mom arrived and again, Tess and Nan abandoned me. They bolted to the door, barked and circled my mom, tails wagging and bouncing up and down. They know her arrival time and eagerly wait each day. They will be in for a big surprise since tomorrow will be her last visit for a while.

And of course, mom fed them their biscuit and fussed all over them. For the rest of the day, she had two sets of piercing eyes fastened upon her. Mom made me breakfast and after we ate, Tess and Nan got some leftovers. Nan has learned to sit nicely and gently eat off my mom’s hand. She has also learned if she *talks* to mom, them mom will fuss over her.

My appetite was quite good as I ate two Japanese pancakes and a fruit bowl. I can breathe without effort and my energy level is much higher. I feel much, much better and it shows.

Janet came by to work Tess and help with chores. I walked down to the barn with her and gave her some lesson tips. Tess and Nan sat in front of the gate as they knew sheep work was involved. Nan was sadly disappointed when Janet took Tess through the gate. Nan sat and looked at me so I called her over and gave her some bread and fussed over her.

I took a 12 minute walk and checked on the critter. Mr. McGoo is doing well and was walking on his two legs; prior he was dragging on leg. He looked like his wounds were all healed up. I gave him and the chickens some bread. It’s good to be able to able to do some sort of feeding.

I got back to the house and still felt good. I wasn’t tired as before so I fiddled about in the kitchen with my mom. I made coffee and did some little chores. It was nice to even be able to do a little something than be helpless.

Janet came up and asked if she could work Scott. Scott was more than happy to work for her and did well. She then took all the dogs and played ball with them. Sleat, Kuro, Scott, Tess and Nan were so happy to play ball and had a fun time. I watched from the living room window, Kuro has grown up quite a bit and is going to be a nice sized dog. He is all legs and is very in tune with people.

I cut my pain meds in half for the day and I felt it. My chest had a dull pain at the top, enough to make me feel it. So I took a ½ perco in hopes that it would help. It helped ease the pain but not totally. I am going to have to readjust my pain meds as the Doctor wants me to reduce them. I’ll be happy when I can really reduce my pain meds. I have to go back to work in three weeks and I sure hope that I will be well enough for that.

Mom made salmon with a shallot glaze topping. Plus steamed potatoes and carrots and fresh corn. It was very tasty and I ate most of it. I don’t think my mom have ever made a bad meal. I didn’t finish the corn so mom gave that to Tess and Nan. She also gave her salmon skin to them. They have the game plan all figured out. During the meal, sit in front and be quiet and after the meal, sit mice in the kitchen and they will get the leftovers. They are on their best behavior with my mom.

After lunch, mom went to find Rigby in the barn. Tess and Nan went with her. Mom fed Rigby, Tess, Nan and Kodi some canned food. Kodi greets my mom when she shows up in the morning and she fusses over him. Kodi was delighted to get some canned food. Mom is developing a fan club here.

Mom left and then I took a nap. Partway through the nap, I woke up. I must have rolled on my chest incorrectly and it hurt enough to wake me up. I lay on my back for a bit to ease the pain and it slowly went away. I think since I cut my long term pain meds in half, I’ll have to take ½ perco to tide me over so I don’t get the hurting chest pain. That pain really woke me up.

Jeff and I had dinner and I ate (almost) a normal sized meal. It was very hot and I think my appetite was affected from it. I am going to drink an Ensure for some calories and then my nightly milkshake. Pretty soon I will just as plump as Tess. I did weigh myself today and I am 111 lbs, a gain of two pounds from yesterday.

We are bummed that I still have a hole in my heart. Some how that happened after the surgery and there is no reason why. I am not looking forward to another operation but at least it is not as critical as the one I just had. The huge hole that I had is mostly sealed and I will be better and the main thing is that I am still alive. With the 2.8 ratio, I was in danger of a clot or stroke (high candidate) and now I am not in danger. There are people who have the 1.7 ratio who are fine and do not opt for surgery.

I am hoping with the lung tap they did yesterday and the prednisone that this will speed up my recovery. Eating several normal sized meals will no doubt help. I keep a daily log of my walks, meals, Blood pressure, heart rate and so forth. This gives me an idea of my good and bad days. Now, I hope the future entries will be all good days!!

Thanks to everyone who posts comments on the blog, emails or phone calls. I love getting trial updates. Today I got a trial update from Donna. It was so sweet that it brought tears to my eyes. Thank you Donna and Kate for making my day!!