Morning View

We are relaxing at the camper this morning. It's nice to sit on the deck enjoying our morning coffee. (Decaffeinated for me) The medication side effects are hitting me harder this morning. I'm shaky, nauseous and I have a slight headache. Hopefully it gets better. I'm planning to take David out to dinner for his birthday this evening. Right now I'm sitting here watching CHIPs trying to ride this out. What a blast from the past.

I'm thinking about after my surgery and the first time I stood. My arms and legs were so heavy because they were extremely swollen. It took all the strength that I had to just stand up and I wasn't allowed to push myself up with my arms because my sternum had been pulled apart and reattached during the surgery. They didn't want me to injure or interrupt the healing process. They call it sternal precautions. You have to learn how to get out of a chair or a bed without pushing with your arms. It really wasn't easy at all. When I was finally standing it felt great. I marched in place and then I was exhausted. I spent a few more hours in the recliner. I would do arm exercises and David would help with my legs by doing passive range of motion exercises. Like I said my legs were so swollen that I couldn't move them myself so this was extremely helpful and each day it helped with the swelling. It took a couple days but I finally found the strength to walk in the hallway of the ICU. It took a lot of help by physical therapy, the nurse and David because I had arterial lines and chest tubes. It was a fantastic accomplishment!

I have come so far since then.

Each 💔 beat matters

KellyAnn