I am Here. I am Now.

I’ve now been back home for 3 days.  I had grand plans for much longer and more meaningful updates and posts but I realized that perhaps I owed my dedicated readers at least a brief update.

I got home on Friday night around 6:30 PM and it is now Monday night around 7:30 PM. I was able to wash my hair this evening for the first time since the surgery. It looks like they put some sort of hair product in my hair to keep it away from the incision site, and it is not readily water-soluble. So although the adorable beehive look I had going on has been reduced somewhat, the top of my hair is definitely still firm and a little crispy. So whenever my doctor’s office calls me back about scheduling my follow-up visit, I will see if they can inform me of precisely what product they put in my hair so I know how to remove it eventually. Because while I do appreciate and enjoy the very attractive hairstyling job I had done at the hospital, I would eventually like to get my own natural, soft hair back!! 😊

My partner Phillip has been generously going on brief walks with me every day. Prior to my surgery I went on daily walks and it’s been delightful to be able to resume them. I just get very easily winded and a little bit dizzy. So we have to walk slowly. But just being in the sun and the air and beside somebody that I love is very nurturing. 😍

I’m also working on avoiding excessive stress triggers. I’ve already made the mistake of checking LinkedIn once or twice. Nope. And then I did look at some short videos that people had in Facebook Messenger. I don’t even know what they’re called, but many of them were political and so I had to stop looking at them. And other random sources.

Thanks to my experience at the hospital, I am now well aware of what it feels like when my heart rate and blood pressure start to spike as a result of stress. I’m hoping to buy a small heart rate monitor so I can use that in some sort of self biofeedback.  The surgeon’s specific instructions to me when I went in for the consultation in July were to do my very best to avoid stress for 2 weeks after my surgery.  I don’t think I had realized how many things were causing me extreme stress until I was able to track how my body felt and map it to my vital signs thanks to the EKG that was attached to me the entire time I was in the hospital. So now I know that when it feels like my heart is pounding out of my chest, that translates to a spike in my actual heart rate. Yes, listening to your body and trusting your instincts are actually valid things.  Who knew 🙃

So I will continue to work on taking care of my body and my stress levels while I heal. I have been slowly resuming my prior daily physical therapy exercises which has been a lovely routine. My sleep has begun to return to its past sub optimal state…

I will close by saying that I am incredibly humbled and honored by how many of you have taken the time out of your days and your lives to visit my blog and read my writing and be present with me on this journey. My hope is that at least some of you will gain some moments of insight into your own lives by being present here with me.

As of 6:30 pm today (October 20), I’d had an astounding 800 views and 300 visitors to my blog.

For context, the morning I first shared about my blog and my Brain Grape post on Facebook on Saturday, September 13, I’d had 32 views and 5 visitors!

Sending love and gratitude out into the world! 🌍

I am here. I am now.
You are here. You are now.
We are here.  We are now.
💜