October Recap - Bri Visits, Voting, Friend Visits And A Recuperation Update

 At the beginning of October, I was just two and a half weeks into my recovery and I was feeling kind of down. After not seeing Briana for almost 4 weeks, she finally came home for a weekend visit. It was so good to give her a big hug!! She had not seen me after the surgery, so she got to see me all bandaged up and not able to walk for the first time. 

 

Me and my girl...

 

When Bri got home, we talked and talked and talked and caught up with so much life stuff.

Rosh Hashanah was that week and we held off having a Rosh Hashanah meal until Bri got home on Friday so she could eat it with us. Matzah ball soup, potato latkes and challah bread - yes please!!

Bri had some errands to run on Saturday and ended up finding an adorable witch's hat, a super cute black cat pillow and a Halloween collar for Mei...

 

That evening for dinner, we surprised Briana with some mac n cheese we purchased from one of her favorite places "Mr Macs"...

These were cheeseburger mac and lobster mac. Yum!!!!

She definitely enjoyed being home and caught up on some sleep. Then Sunday came and she had to go back to school. Insert sad face here.

 

After Briana returned to school, her absentee ballot showed up here at the house. Doug, Bri and I all requested absentee ballots because of Bri being at school and because it would have been difficult for me to vote in person with my heel issue. So, Doug drove down to SCAD to bring B her ballot, she filled it out and he brought it back home. Then he turned in our ballots in person to the voter office...

 

Briana was able to vote for the very first time and it was SO very exciting!

 

Up until the time that Briana came home to visit, the only visitors I had were my parents. It is all I could handle at the time. But when October rolled around, I was ready to see my friends in person. I am grateful for my hubby, texting, calls and social media, but it still gets a bit lonely being stuck in the house. 

 The day Doug drove the ballot to Bri, my friend Amy came over to bring me lunch and to visit for a while. Yummy Panera...

Two days later, my friend Julie brought me a sandwich from Honeybaked Ham (I had turkey) and a cookie. It was so delish and it was great catching up...

Then a week later, my friend Kelly brought me lunch from Mellow Mushroom and the catch up was great...

Doug's and my friend Khalid came over for a visit and we watched soccer and brought in some Chinese food (and the guys played some pool)...

My friend Valerie has been a bit under the weather, but she still dropped off a pot roast pot pie on my porch from a local restaurant and it was amazing!!!

Speaking of food, Doug has been wonderful at making sure I am fed. He has made some delicious meals (pork chops, chicken breast, wings, steak, eggs/bacon and sandwiches)...

He even made sourdough bread from scratch...

 

And we of course have done our fair share of takeout these last six weeks...

I had not eaten Burger King in years, but I thought it would be fun to try the "Wednesday" meal from there. Yes the bun was purple. Unfortunately, the burger was really dry and I was not impressed (the BK by our house usually disappoints)...

As you know (if you read several posts back), Doug and I went to eat at our favorite Mexican restaurant one day. I then ventured out to a second restaurant - Chinese this time...

It always feels good to go out and feel some normalcy, even if it is for short spurts of time.

Doug and I did have a bigger outing to Ellijay one day, but I will blog about our day in my next post...

As for my healing, it is slow going. Doug is still a rock star caretaker. As of my last surgery update, I had a purple bandage on my foot and I didn't need to return for 3 weeks. Well, I was back after one week because the medical tape started to rip badly and I needed to be re-bandaged. This time, my doctor decided to use ACE bandages to try to get me to the splint removal finish line without a visit (like I had on during week one)...

The problem with that is with any sort of movement with the bandages, the under cast padding gets all bunched up. I tried over and over to straighten and tighten the bandages, it was SO uncomfortable after a while. I made it about 11 days and I was done. I had to call to see if I could get the boot on earlier. The doctor said I could come in the next day and get the splint off and I could move into a boot - except still no weight-bearing for two weeks. I got the boot one day short of my 6 week post op. I can start walking carefully on it for two weeks after the non weight-bearing period...

Unfortunately, my wound is still not completely healed and I can feel it. It still hurts and feels raw. It is covered with a bandage, but it still hurts. I cannot get the wound wet at all until it completely heals, so I need to still keep my wound covered in the shower.

The boot weights A LOT more than the splint. It isn't fun to lug around. I can tell that I have lost muscle in my right leg. At least I can remove the boot and let my leg breath a bit when I change my bandages and when I get into the shower. But dang, I just want to be better.

My cat is still happy I am basically immobile...

 

I have an appointment a couple days before Thanksgiving to check my progress. The hope is that I can get out of the boot and into sneakers right before Thanksgiving. We shall see.

 I need some thoughts and prayers regarding this wound healing. Doctor says this happens sometimes to people. I warned the doctor before this all went down that I heal very slowly. I really want to feel better at the incision point.

And of course, I will blog all about Halloween too. That is coming up in a future post...

So that is October in a nutshell (Ellijay and Halloween posts coming soon). I've spent all of October trying to heal and I am still not there yet. This is a trial in patience for sure!