Monday, July 4, 2011

Sailing Through Surgery Recovery

I'm going to have to be helpless more often. I'm getting visits from so many people I love. E (my friend since she sat next to me in Sister Dominic Savio's honors English class when we were both fourteen), my son, and his wife kept Richard company while I was in surgery; then E stayed at the hospital until mid-afternoon to entertain me after I was awake.

On my first day home, my next-door neighbor, L, at my childhood home from the time I was six, brought her two dogs and a basket of fresh fruit, along with all sorts of provisions. L and I talked of life's lessons learned, and I taught her to play Rummikub before Richard came home to make one of his marvelous salads to go with the chicken chowder that I had prepared before my surgery. She stayed the night, and we all played Scrabble. She and I are now planning a run on the beach with her dogs when I'm released for exercise.

L vacuumed her way out, and G, who was my next-door neighbor when we both had babies, came in. We spent a great time together discussing our favorite spiritual topics, napping, and playing some more Scrabble. Scrabble and soul searching, what a comforting combination!

The following morning dawned with the joy of knowing that my daughter and her younger daughter, S, were going to be my sitters. I knew that my daughter could cook, but little did I know that her thirteen-year-old was picking up the mantle of kitchen queen. We've been treated to stuffed peppers, two varieties of home-baked cookies, and a stupendous sausage soup.

Food for the body, soul and mind was brought by these two beauties. My granddaughter loaded photos onto my new digital frame that I had received as a birthday gift and figured out for me how to use my new video camera. She challenged me to a game of Scrabble, and entertained me while I watched her dance with her Wii. She and her mom also graciously spent several hours reclining with me and chatting.

Yesterday, the bed was rocking with three of our grandkids rollicking as they kept me company. My thirteen-year-old grandson, N, was so sweet to lie next to me and regal me with tales of his lacrosse camp and other summer activities. His ten-year-old sister, M, snuggled with me, which is still one of her favorite things to do with her Granny. My daughter-in-law and S joined us on the bed for a game of Yahtzee before the bed started bouncing with activity. About that time, my son arrived to whisk them all away.

Today, we took it easy. Richard puttered around doing domestic duties for me, and my daughter and her daughter came back to spend some relaxing time. I had my first post-surgery walk with my daughter before we returned to my bed for a great game of Rummikub.

Throughout all this, Richard has played several games of Scrabble with me, run errands, brought home frozen confections, kept me company over endless hours of murder and mayhem on TV, and been an all-round good host and sport. And I have a beautiful view of the harbor from both my bedroom and living room. Surgery doesn't seem so bad when done this way.

1 comment:

  1. Sounds as if You are truly blessed with loving family and friends! How you find time to blog with all those activities going on is beyond my ability to understand - but loved reading about your recovery. Don't stop!

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