Recovery Continues

I am now on day 5 post-op and I feel swell. Swollen, actually, but I do feel fine. I stopped taking the percoset on day 3, as I just couldn't handle the nausea, dizziness, and headaches. My body was starting to adjust, but I didn't like even the slight effects or the sleeping all day. The worst part was that I wanted to read, but I couldn't because I felt seasick just when looking at the page. So, I stopped and haven't taken anything since Friday. I feel great--hardly any pain at all. I even went for a little walk today out to our "lake," and it is a weird thing to see a blue heron, white egret, and cormorant in urban Los Angeles. Cool, though.

The hard part about the last five days is that my stepson has been here most of the time, and he really has no concept of sharing time or that someone who has just had major surgery needs some quiet and attention. He has demanded most of my husband's time, and it's frustrating. It's not that I really need my husband--I've actually been pretty self-sufficient, even making my own breakfast and watering the plants--but sometimes when you're in pain or nervous, you just want someone there to wait it out with you. I feel like a slug who's strapped to the bed. I can't really do much and I can't drive to escape anywhere. I get fed at my "feeding times," but I have to wait until stepson goes to bed before I get much attention from my husband. They went swimming, to the movies, to tae kwon do, have played games, and I'm just sitting in the bedroom with my leg elevated and iced, watching "The Hills." Again. And then, BM had to call and monopolize DH's time to talk about schedules so he didn't hear me call for help to get to the bathroom. Arrgh. Even when I need some help, it's tough to get it.

SS will go to BM's for the next couple of days, then back here for two days before we have the weekend to ourselves. Then, next week--no camps and we have SS all week long. This could be very tough on my nerves and attitude.

MPFL Reconstruction

Yes, it's been a long time. The end of the school year is always rough for me. This year, it was awful for a smorgasbord of reasons. First, I received an email in mid May from my school district saying that the academy at my school (for which I am the lead teacher) needed to spend $67,000 by June 1. WT**?!  We were told that our grant money for the year was gone, but someone made a mistake at the district and we did have money--a lot of it. So, I ordered my heart out--computers, document cameras, photocopiers, books, LCD projectors, and more. But the end of the year is stressful, and this was just one worry I didn't need on my plate this year. Normally, I would have a coordinator to help me, but she's been out on maternity leave, so I had to do it all myself.

Second, I had a lot of paperwork to figure for my academy's grant for next year, I had to line up a student teacher for next year, and worry about my paycheck, because we have five furlough days this year and seven next year! My check was $700 shorter than normal last month. Ouch.

Let's see...I also got a new position which will start in the fall. I will only teach two classes, and the rest of the day I will be my school's testing coordinator. I'm looking forward to that challenge, and although I know I'll miss not having as many students, I will not miss having fewer papers to grade. With 40+ kid to a class (and 5 classes per day), it was becoming so hard to keep up with grading. This will be a relief. I may actually get to be the kind of teacher I want to be when only teaching two classes.

Finally, I had surgery--today. I had an MPFL (Medial Patellar Femoral Ligament) Reconstruction. Basically, my own hamstring was used to create a new ligament in my knee. I will describe the surgery more later, as I'm running out of steam right now and drugged out on Percoset. I want to use this blog as a journal to update my progress, as I know there isn't a lot out there about the surgery and peoples' experiences with it. I know because I looked for them!

So, today, I'm hanging in there and hoping to get back on the computer tomorrow!