It’s been a couple of good days – each day just a little better than the day before.

Friday (day 12) I called my doctors office to see about making an adjustment to my meds to help me avoid having my hips and butt cramp up in the middle of the night.  I know it’s been related to the inflammation at the surgical site, and that it takes time for the nerves to stop being so pissed off…but when it makes the  hours fro 2:30am to 5am absolutely miserable, the worst in a 24 hour period…it seems like there should be something to be done about it.  After they consulted with the surgeon, they adjusted the meds I was taking for muscle relaxants, and added another round of steroids to help get me over this hump. Since I’ve been feeling so good during the day, it seemed like a reasonable request.  I adjusted meds Friday night and Saturday morning, and things were looking up.

Saturday (day 13) I had gotten a bit more rest, no complete cramp relief, but not pain scale 8-9 cramps for 3 hours in the wee morning hours…so I was happy.  I got up and made plans to go to the winery for a while.  I packed up pillows, ice packs, walker and cane, meds, and my mom-in-law came to pick me up.  I got settled in, and soon started the visits from friends I hadn’t seen in 2 weeks.  It refueled my soul…visiting with people I care about, and seeing the love and help they offered to me and to my hubby while I recovered – it was a good day to feel much better and to heal.  I walked around town a few times, feeling pretty good.  I even stopped for a quick visit with a friend who had hip surgery on Monday.  The change of scenery, fresh air, and friends did me a whole lot of good!  Hubby brought me home, and we reheated some lasagna from the freezer, had a nice green salad, and a few pieces of homemade bread that was gifted us a day or two before.  It was delicious and a fine end to a good day.  I changed into jammies, did my evening bathroom routine of braiding my hair, washing my face, brushing my teeth, and headed with all my paraphernalia to bed.  I’ve been starting on my side for a couple hours in the bed, and then moving to the recliner to finish out the night.  I dosed until the 10:30 alarm to take the stronger muscle relaxer and a steroid pill….took those, and off to sleep I drifted.

Sunday – I woke up at 3:15am and realized I had slept a full 5 hours…and apparently shut off my 11:30pm pain pill alarm.  And I wasn’t in screaming pain….as my groggy self woke up, and I log-rolled myself into a seated position to assess my situation.  I was kind of achey – but not really in pain…but goodness I needed to pee.  I was trying to decide if I needed a pain pill before actually getting up – but decided nope.  So I put the back brace on…got up and into the bathroom to empty my bladder.  I still wasn’t quite awake, but looked at my alarms and was due for a pain pill at 3:30 – and a muscle relaxer at 4:30.  I could feel the need for the muscle relaxer for sure….but managed to get all my stuff moved into the living room and the recliner – pillows, meds, fresh ice pack, water in the bottle, lights off in the bedroom and bathroom.  I then just paced the hallway quietly waiting for the 3:30 pain pill alarm.  Took the pill, and settled into the recliner in hopes of dozing again until the next alarm.  It took a while for the pain pill to work it’s way through my system, so I did some more pacing and a bit of massage and stretching my hips and hamstrings while waiting for the 4:30 alarm that would allow me to add a muscle relaxer to my system.  Got settled into the chair, moderately comfortable, 4 on the pain scale, but with a 6 for muscle cramps as they flared up.  Took my pills, and put in my ear buds – started a 20 minute Psalm meditation, and don’t remember much of it.  I crashed again until my bladder woke me up again approaching that 7:30 pain pill alarm.  I paced a little, got some more water, and settled in to doze a bit more before actually getting up to start the day.

Coffee, breakfast with hubby, a walk up the driveway with the dogs, started a load of laundry – thank goodness for the grabber tool!, and then off to take a shower and get ready for church.  Switched the laundry around, packed up my meds, spare pillows, ice packs, and stuff I would need for another afternoon at the winery, and my ride showed up about 10:15 .  A great service, lots of hugs from friends, and then back to the winery for the afternoon.  Been able to help hubby with some computer projects, took a nice walk in the light rain, and have visited with a couple friends while trying to relax.  I’ve started tapering off the pain meds, and that seems to be alright so far.  Pretty much I just need to focus on using and stretching my leg and hip muscles to keep them loose – avoiding those darn overnight cramps.

Every day seems to be better.  And the fact that it’s cool and rainy today is refreshing!  Makes me a little sleepy, but it’s been so hot and dry – this is a wonderful reprieve – and we need the moisture from a light rain to freshen everything up after a nasty dusty hot past few weeks of summer!