Week 8 - Ready for Surgery

As my last full week before surgery, I was busy busy busy. I had training 3 days at work, which was a good thing because it kept me busy there when I could so easily have been distracted. Every non-working minute was devoted to getting ready to be home for a month with a messed up shoulder. It may not be so bad but why chance it? I'm preparing for the worst.

But it wasn't all about my surgery. The week did start with a fun night at knitting. Since the library was closed for Presidents Day, we were meeting at the Vets Club, which is where we met for the year after the flood when the library was in it's temp location. I was picking up pizza, we had full access to the bar and I had baked cookies. We could also knit as long as we wanted rather than having to leave at 8:00. We had a ball and I had 2 beers! It was good to take my mind off things and I didn't get home until 9:00.

On Tuesday night, I was watching TV and knitting when I got a Skype call from my friend Eileen in Canada. We hadn't scheduled it so it was a lovely surprise and we talked for over an hour. Does anyone know how Skype exists? How do they make any money? I don't get it but do love it.

The weather was freakishly warm at the start of the week. I sat on a bench eating lunch one day and was perfectly comfortable in the shade in just a shirt. Another afternoon I was sitting knitting on a bench and actually had to move to the shade because I was hot. That all changed on Thursday when we had rain, hail and thunder within a few minutes and by that night, it was snowing. It was a hairy drive in on Friday and it snowed most of the day but had stopped by drive time. I left work a bit early because I had errands to run on the way home and didn't want to drive on icy roads in the dark. After a stop at Wal Mart to pick up the hideous fleece cape I'd ordered to wear over my shoulder brace and at PetSmart for a month's worth of cat food, I headed home to finish the last of my to do list.

I had taken my last anti-inflammatory Friday morning so was motivated to get anything physical done before the meloxicam was completely out of my system. I started the day with a vet appointment for 3 cats, all overdue for shots. Unfortunately I couldn't catch Pie, my former feral cat who is very skittish. I got 2 cats in and the vet said I could bring Pie in later if I caught her. Between attempts to catch her, I got busy with the heavy lifting in the house. First I moved all the yarn boxes in the spare room onto the bed to free up the floor so I could move the extra chair (the one displaced by my newly acquired recliner) into the spare room. I also neatized the entire house, putting anything away that needed moving. I was still feeling OK by the end of the day but was glad to have everything done. I never did catch Pie so would have to be satisfied with 2 out of 3 done. Maybe I could get her into the carrier one morning this week and go to work late. If not, she'd just have to wait until well after my surgery. Oh well.

I woke up super early and got busy in the kitchen first thing on Sunday, cleaning the frig and cooking/prepping the last of the perishable food. I reorganized the freezer and by the time I was done, I had a clean kitchen and more food ready to go than I'll probably be able to eat in my month at home. Many of my friends have offered to bring me food and when my friend Lorri stopped by after church, she did the same. Then I opened my freezer to show her all the casseroles I've frozen. Anyone who knows me shouldn't be surprised. Like I'd ever go hungry! Check it out.

Andrea and I had discussed doing an Omaha run on Sunday but I had not fully committed. By the time I decided it might work, Andrea had made other plans but I was still considering going because I had a big bag of scraps for Lori's chickens so could drop them on the way. But when Andrea called to say Lori was in town and was stopping at her house, she suggested that Lori could come pick up the scraps. Yay! That was what I needed to hear to nix the idea of Omaha. I happily stayed in my comfy clothes and settled in for some knitting. I could hit the market over lunch on Monday instead and enjoy the rest of my Sunday, which I did.

So I ended the week in good shape for surgery. In addition to all the prep at home, I had everything all set for getting to the hospital (I'm driving myself in for 5:00 a.m. and my cubie mates volunteered to drive my car back to my house on Thursday after work), a ride to my post-surgery follow up appointment and a ride home after surgery with Anne, who is also staying at the surgery center until I'm settled in my room. Check, check and check. It's good to have such great friends. Now to get through the next few days. I'll be happy to just be back home and on the mend. Wish me luck.