shake it

It was actually sunny and warmish today.

More snow fell here on the weekend and it felt like winter would never depart but today, well today there was hope in the air.  Hope that spring is actually around the corner, even if there is still a significant amount of snow and ice on the ground around here.

Mark went back to work today, and got through the whole day.  He's feeling much better this week than last.  He still needs to be careful when he twists or transitions from a sitting position to a standing position but overall, we can both see a huge improvement over last week. 

When we got home tonight, we actually sat out in the sun porch (which is still wrapped in plastic) with the dogs.  It felt wonderful to see the sunshine and watch stuff starting to drip.  Birds are actually returning to the neighbourhood too! You forget how much fun they are and how much you missed them until they come back.

With any kind of luck, Mark's week will be uneventful.  He has his consultation appointment at the cancer clinic this week.  We've been looking forward to learning more about what that process will be, how long, etc.  He's done so well with the surgery, I have to expect that he'll do well with the chemo too, and we will soon be able to put all of this behind us and focus on regular, boring life.

Stuff like cleaning up the debris from the December ice storm, digging up the gardens we're getting ride of and selling our income property.   Just to name a few... boring will be good after all of this health stuff.

best news ever

Not a hernia.

Not an infection.

Not a popped staple.

According to his doctor, he has a pulled muscle.  He can go back to work but he's going to have to be very careful and not lift anything heavy. 

I was so relieved that I almost cried.  In my mind, we were going to be sent to emerge... you know, worst case scenarios are always the first place I go. So happy right now... yay!

Valiant Effort

Yesterday was supposed to be Mark's first full day back to work.

It didn't really work out like that.  He spent the morning with a man, learning about our septic system.  See, we've been living with our septic system for just over a year now but really, we're city folk who are trying to figure out things that you never have to concern yourself with, when you are attached to a sewer.  In any event, it was time well spent, probably should have happened last year but, the main thing is we now know a lot more about tanks and fields and Waterloo Bio Filters than we did before.

The septic meeting ate up his morning but he got into work for the afternoon and put in a few hours.  Overall, he was pooped at the end of the day but enjoyed being back at work.

Today was to have been his first full day at work.  It seems that he has injured himself, getting into a car this morning.  That stitch he was talking about last week became VERY painful when he had to try to get into a car he doesn't normally drive (he's a taxi driver).  The pain took his breath away and he actually had to go home.  He was pretty disappointed about not being able to work but honestly, I'm so glad he just went home to deal with his pain instead of trying to soldier through.

Fortunately, he has an appointment tomorrow with his GP so she'll be able to tell us if he has a hernia, or a popped staple, or an infection... whatever it is, I hope he doesn't have to go back for another surgery.  Right now, he's feeling better, he's taken some tylenol and kept his feet up all day.  He agreed to stay home from work until he sees his doctor tomorrow.  Thank goodness for that!

mid week smile

Sharing this because it's hump day and you probably need to take a break and that break should probably be something that could possibly make you smile.  This made me smile so, enjoy!

No work for YOU!!

Mark has officially been doing too much and not resting enough according to his surgeon!

Apparently he's healing nicely but shouldn't be thinking about returning to work this week.  He's been told he can go back next week, cautiously.  The doctor advised him to take it easy and slowly work into a full schedule.  Normally, he likes to see folks off work for 6 week before they go back.

I know that he's been doing too much because he's complained of a light stitch in his side, around the area of his incision. It's not the incision itself, Mark described it like a poke.  The pain doesn't last long but I don't that any pain in that area is great at this point.

So, for now, for the rest of this week anyway, he's being a good patient, following doctor's orders and waiting for next week to arrive.  I think he's going a little stir crazy to be honest!

Happy Pi/Pie Day

So Mark is a few days past 4 weeks post-op.

He's feeling better every day although he continues to be disappointed by his energy level.  Napping is a pretty typical thing for him these days, although this week he tried to stay up all day, just take it easy.

It seems like he's pushing himself a bit more than I think he should be but he assures me that he is okay and not overdoing it.  Next week, on Tuesday, he goes for his follow up appointment with the surgeon.  At the moment, Mark hopes to return to work, at least part time, next week.  We'll see what the doctor has to say about that plan.

Overall though, he's come through the surgery ordeal pretty well.  Still not sure what the chemo stuff will look like but I think he has to heal a bit more before we know more about that.

In other news, it's Pi Day today so we marked the occasion by having some tourtiere for our dinner tonight.  Any pie counts on Pi Day I think!