I’m doing okay since my surgery. Recovery has been slow but steady. I knew going in I would be extremely sore the first couple of weeks but wow, this hurts! I suppose it makes sense because I have a large incision, screws and a rod were put into my spine and there was bone ground away. Still, it’s not pleasant.

On a good note, this pain is completely different from what I’ve been going through for the past year. It’s clearly all surgery related so I feel like it worked. I just have to get past the recovery. The doctor told me after the first couple of weeks I would start seeing improvement at a faster rate. So hopefully I’ll have a happier update next week!

No writing has been accomplished during this time. I haven’t even been able to read much. My mother told me the reading thing happened to her after surgery and it took her quite a while to get back to normal.

I’ve had a few writing ideas so maybe I’ll be able to get something on paper soon. I’m not going to push myself though. I can’t sit at the computer for very long but it’s getting better.

So what have I been doing with my time? Nothing useful. I play a lot of solitaire when on the computer and some puzzle games on the tablet when I have to lay down. I’ve caught up on all the shows I watch by myself. When my husband is home we watch Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. We are on a mission to watch all the Star Trek shows, except Enterprise. We’re on season 6 of DS9 and normally watch two episodes a day. We watched more like 4-5 my first few days home from the hospital though. We’ll start on Voyager soonish. I’m not so sure he’ll enjoy it but I mostly liked it, even with the silliness.

The only other thing I’ve done since I got home was watch a whole lot of news when my mom stayed with me during the days for half a week. I’m not really into politics. I keep up but I don’t watch a lot of stuff about it. I mostly get my news online. However, my mom loves news programs and I don’t normally watch TV in the afternoons. So I handed her the remote and a channel guide and told her she was in charge. I didn’t mind watching and learned a lot. I still won’t watch those shows on my own but it was a nice change of pace.

As for goals, I have a list I hope to check off as soon as possible:

• Read. I can read tidbits online but I want to read stories again.
• Write. This is always a goal but I hope I can get back to a daily regime, or even close to daily.
• Photography. I miss it!
• Cook dinner. I haven’t been able to cook dinner by myself in months. This is also probably one of my kids’ goals for me.
• Play World of Warcraft and Diablo 3 again. The way I have to sit in my chair to play these games is impossible for me right now.
• Put on socks easily. I can do it, but it’s difficult.
• Eat properly. I eat, but for some reason I get nauseated with every meal.
• Drink water without feeling sick. As with eating, drinking water makes me nauseated. I’ve been eating a lot of ice to keep hydrated.
• Go to Sam’s without having to use one of those scooter cart things. I used one for the first time ever on Sunday because I was determined to get out of the house and help with the shopping. I’ll admit it was a little fun but I don’t like having to use it. We were finished quickly because the cart moved faster than I was able to walk the last few months.
• Pick up things. I’ve developed this tendency to drop stuff now that I can’t pick it up! My mom gave me a long-handled grabber but it doesn’t work on everything.
• Get off of pain pills! I hate taking them and can’t wait to stop.
• Pet my dogs. Unless I sit on the edge of the bed and convince them to get up on their hind legs and lean on me, which they hate, I can’t pet them at all.
• Drive. My doctor told me to use common sense when deciding to drive again. I know it will be at least a couple of more weeks.
• Get my own ice. Since I can’t bend and we have a bottom freezer I can’t do this. We have an ice maker in the top but it mysteriously stopped working.
• Work out. Since about a month, maybe two, before surgery I’ve lost a lot of weight. I can’t eat as much as I should because of the pain pills making me sick. It sucks to lose weight in an unhealthy manner but I hope to take advantage of it when I can finally get into a gym.

There are many more things I want to do but the list is long enough for now! I’m feeling a little better every day so I’ll be able to post more often soon. Also, I realized it is not a story, but I was able to write this post without having to struggle too much. I’m calling it progress!