It's early Sabbath morning. The children have loaded the car in record time for our 2 1/2 hour drive to church. This is our first Sabbath since surgery and we are eager to fellowship with our 2nd church family again. Last night I received a call from a cancer sister. She too will be worshipping with us today and we will actually get to met for the first time. We're both excited! It is a full day and the family is concerned that I not over do my first big outing. I shall do my best to be careful. :)
I can tell the children are excited. They are chattering in the back which is not something they normally do at this time of morning. Orchestra chatter, golf cart adventurers, the temperature (-1) to (-8) depending on where we are, and the effects thereof on diesel engines are all mixed up.
Thankfully the main gravel road we travel was snow plowed to perfection this week. It is like driving on pavement which will ease the wear and tear on all of us. This only holds true for short periods during the winter so I am very grateful.
This week began the exercise portion of recovery. I praise the Lord for the progress made. My arm extension improved about 6-8 inches. I learned yesterday, the importance of doing them at intervals during the day. I didn't get them done in the morning and by afternoon, I was feeling vey swollen under my arms again. So I know, as uncomfortable as the exercises may be, they are important to reducing swelling and lymphedemia. The children continue to exercise me twice daily and my distance is improving. Because of the wintery conditions in our area, snowboots are a necessity and I pay close attention to where I step.
Most mastectomies performed today are not the radical mastectomies many remember from a few years ago. The techniques used today most often allow for the sparing of muscle tissue which greatly reduces the recovery time and leaves patients with the ability to regain their full range of motion within a matter of weeks. Personally I am grateful to all the medical research that has allowed for such tremendous changes in techniques. It's made a big difference in my care and recovery.
Making it back to bed on a full time basis is the second major accomplishment of the week. I finally decided to tough it out and it took several nights of interrupted sleep, but now I'm only waking up once or twice to change position which is getting easier all the time. One night, as I gingerly arranged myself in bed, I lay the talking with the Lord. It dawned on me that for the first time, I'd had a couple of minute that actually felt "normal". That gave me hope that eventually life will not only look normal, but feel normal too.
This was our first week since November without a two hour trip to town. We all thoroughly enjoyed the break, so we home schooled Sunday to Friday. We also enjoyed our resident mamma moose and calf. They don't seem to mind our activity and just hang out by the old salt lick. We think this mamma is one of the older animals that used to visit the previous owners 5-6 years ago. She goes to the old salt lick locations and hasn't discovered our new ones yet.
The children began planning our trips to see grandparents in other regions of the country this week. This is a healthy sign that life is moving on for them. Ideas to make the trip creative, flow from Inventor's brain when he should be focused on Algebra. The Harpist in concerned with speed and comfort. The Rocket is my worrier and Cat Lover joins which ever side will make the discussion most exciting. Meanwhile DH and I sit at opposite ends of the table and smile at each other. Life is returning to normal.
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