Recovery Goals for Week of 9/4/22

It's been two full weeks since the operation. Time to check in to see how I'm doing versus last week's plan:

• Re-establish my RX regimen: Done. I'm back to my daily medication regimen. I did have an antibiotic added at my doctor's appointment last Thursday, but that's only for one week.
• Finish weekly grocery shopping: Done. I took Friday last week to do the weekly grocery shopping. Back on track. 
• Wash my Car (including vacuum): Kind of Done. I dropped by the car wash on Friday. Intent was to wash my car and vacuum the interior. The problem? The vacuums were out of order! Keeping this one in the "In Progress" category.
• Cook a meal: Fail. Some physical activities are still a bit challenging. In the case of cooking, standing for a period of time is tough because I can't engage my core to support my back. The result after a few minutes is a sore and tired back. I'm leaving this in the "In Progress" bucket and will try again toward the latter part of this week. In the interim, I'm happy that my wife and son have been wearing the aprons.
• Removing incision staples: Done. Staples were removed last Thursday. The doctor noticed a little infection trying to make inroads on a portion of the incision, so I'm on antibiotics for a week. The incision is covered with Steri-strips until they fall off. Some of them have started falling off. It's like my chest has dreadlocks. 
• Walk 20 minute round trip: Fail. Didn't even get started on this one. Pushing it to this week which means that other walking goals will all get pushed back a week. 
• Establish long term care plan: Fail. Pathology report is still outstanding. Hopefully this week. 

I was able to accelerate some of the goals that I had set for future weeks:

• Driving: I was able to make short drives around the area the week after surgery. Goal for this week (9/4) was to drive longer than 30 minutes. This was actually easier than I thought it would be. My car's seats are very comfortable and caused no pain or irritation. On Saturday, we were tired of being cooped up and went to Morongo Casino for a change of pace. I drove both ways and was comfortable doing so. BTW - the new buffet there was AWESOME!
• Social interaction: I'm no longer a recluse. Daughter, son-in-law and grandson have been over a couple of times. Obviously, if I went to the casino, I had to interact in a crowded social setting. I *am* being careful to mask up in crowded indoor spaces.
• Poker session: As part of the casino trip, I was able to sit at a poker table for a couple of hours. I *did* mask up (one of very few in the card room) for safety. I had to call it after a couple of hours because the chairs were uncomfortable and my back started letting me know. I'm leaving this goal in the "In Progress" bucket for the time being.

So, organizing my Trello board, here's the plan for this week:

• Wash my Car (including vacuum): Hopefully the vacuums will be repaired this week. 
• Cook a meal: Trying again toward the latter part of this week. 
• Walk 20 minute round trip: Targeting Wednesday. With the heat wave, I'll need to get out early in the morning.  
• Establish long term care plan: Hopefully the pathology report is completed this week. 
• Visiting our new grand daughter: We haven't been able to see Madison yet. She was born on the 11th when I was being a recluse. The kids were going to drop by the Monday after my surgery, but my grandson caught a cold and I was still fragile and didn't want to risk getting sick. I'm putting this on the road map for this week.
• Poker session: I'd like to get a 3 to 4 hour session in. Perhaps at a casino with better seats. I *will* mask up for safety. 

Bottom line is that I'm feeling a whole lot better that I thought I would be at this point. I'm up and around, putting in anywhere from 2,000 to 5,000 steps daily. Physically, I've dropped 20 pounds and my weight stabilized last week. The one thing that is driving me crazy right now is irritation and itching along the incision. Sitting up and using good posture minimizes the irritation, but it's so much more comfortable to slouch 😊