At-Home Recovery Begins

I've been home now for a little over five days now, and I'm getting stronger every day. This evening, I even drove (for the first time in about a month) to pick up Abby from her friend's house. I'm nowhere near full strength, but every day I seem to have a little more than the day before.

The weather this week has been really nice. The week started with temps reaching into the low 50's with a mild breeze, but yesterday we reached 76 degrees. It was absolutely gorgeous. On Thursday, Noelle and I ate lunch in the hammocks in the back yard, then laid there for a couple hours. It was pushing close to 70 degrees and absolutely divine. I could have stayed in that hammock all day. It's going to be cooling off a lot over the next few days, and we're supposed to get some rain with temperatures only in the 30's and 40's. Winter's not ready to yield fully to spring quite yet.

As part of my recovery regimen to get myself stronger, I've been going for walks every day since getting out of the hospital. A walk around our block, including walking a court behind us is 0.6 miles. I've also mapped out a 1 mile loop through the neighborhood. Noelle and I have taken two walks a day all week except today, when I walked alone. I've walked 1 to 1 1/2 miles every day this week. Aside from getting me out in the fresh air and strengthening me for my health and recovery, it's also preparing me for the 5k we'll be walking the day before Easter, just two weeks from today. I need to be sure I can walk that far by then. I have a way to go, and the days we're going to lose to rain aren't going to help.

I'm eating alright. I've only had to take anti-nausea meds three times this week, and haven't thrown up since dinner on Monday night. The problem is I'm not eating enough. My stomach shrank a lot over the two weeks that I was on IV nutrition at the hospital, so I can't eat a lot at any one sitting. Anything fatty coats my mouth with a fatty film that absolutely disgusts me, so even Noelle's famous chocolate chip cookies don't appeal to me because of the butter that's in them. It's awful. Also, my appetite isn't what it used to be. At lunchtime today, for instance, I craved one thing and started preparing it. By the time it was ready, the thought of eating it made me sick. Noelle offered me about 50 different options, but nothing sounded good to me. I finally accepted a peach smoothie she had made and had trouble finishing all 14 ounces of it. I'm now down to about 207 pounds. I've got to find a way to stop the weight loss!

Anyway, I'm loving being home and with Noelle and the kids all the time. I've had time to catch up on a lot of reading that had been neglected, and that feels good. I have some other projects that will get some attention in the coming weeks, as well. Right now, though, the project I'm most interested in is getting some good sleep tonight. Good night.