Slow and Steady

I begin to worry about myself when I become overwhelmed with pride because I managed to take a shower without a chair in the stall to sit on. I know I couldn’t have done that a few weeks ago when I first got home from the hospital, so there is some tangible proof that I’m progressing the right direction. I just wish I could have one major success like that each morning, and then get to sit back on my laurels and vegetate the rest of the day. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that, though.

The Elder and Younger Sisters came over yesterday to give me my birthday presents. The Elder stuck with mostly practical gifts – clothes that we hope will fit me once the ascites goes down. She also bought one toy for the cats too. I’ll have to take a picture of it and insert it into a diary entry this week some time. I’d describe it, but it really defies description. Kitten is entranced though, and O’Beast can’t figure out if it’s a toy or something that is going to grab him and bestow a very painful death upon him. Cattitude, of course, can’t really be bothered, except that she’s been giving Kitten some weird looks for getting so involved in something that keeps the humans so amused.

Back spasms continue to plague me each time I sit down or lie down. They don’t last too long, but it’s become quite annoying. Frankly, I’ve little incentive to get up and do anything since I know that the moment I sit down again I’ll end up having to go through another session of those things. I’ve been using a moist heating pad for 20 minute intervals the past few nights, and I think it may have eased the intensity of the spasms, but the frequency remains unchanged. Yet another thing to complain about to my transplant coordinator on Tuesday morning.

An e-friend of mine whose husband had a liver transplant in Houston the beginning of this year was kind enough to send me the post-transplant care list that their hospital gave them. Many of the things on the list had not been mentioned to me, and I want to ask about those Tuesday morning as well. One item on the list mentioned that perms and hair coloring were not permitted. Another item specified no reptiles as pets in the house. Still another said no fresh fruits or vegetables for the first six weeks after surgery – they had to be canned or cooked thoroughly. I’m not surprised there’s some discrepency between hospitals, but these are pretty major items. I’ll be curious to hear what my coordinator has to say about the list.

Today I was supposed to participate in the Relay for Life for the American Cancer Society. This will be the first time in five years I’ve missed walking for my team. I wish I’d been just a little better – I could have managed a lap with my walker in another week or so. So much for my timing.

Kitten continues to be the little dunderhead she’s become so famous as. Yesterday The Socialist pointed out two very weird looking whiskers Kitten had just below her nose. The were short and blunt and I figured they were just two more whiskers she’d fried in the great Candle Safety Awareness Incident from some weeks ago. She wasn’t particularly happy about having the stubbles investigated closely, and I didn’t think any more of it until I found a piece of one of my cactuses on the floor under the dining room table. The Socialist grabbed her, I held her head, and he pulled. Sure enough, they were two cactus spines she’d managed to lodge into her snout. It’ll be a miracle if she makes it to five.