Sylvia's Journal

This morning, for the first time ever, I got very busy (coffee, hot pack, toast) before I started writing. We’ll see how this new routine affects the creative process (not so great).

I went to bed very early after Sita, Jim and I returned from serving a lasagna dinner with our Quaker meeting in a church in Beverly to about 70 down-on-their-luck or very low income income folks. It is usually a bit of a feeding frenzy. People come primarily to eat and they do it fast. Panera had donated various breads and pastries that would have filled a few bathtubs. Much of that went too, although we helpers also got to take some of that home. We will be in full carbo celebration for about a week I estimate.

That was about the most strenuous activity of the day. For the rest it was a very low energy day. I felt I got nothing accomplished other than checking email and sending a few out. I struggled a bit with that feeling as I counted the hours of work and non-work. It was rather lop-sided. Much of the day went into recovery work anyways.

In the morning Axel accompanied me to the surgeon in his Beverly office. We waited one hour in a small and dreadful waiting room (painted in grey – what were they thinking?) with the TV blaring at us. The surgeon explained that my abdominal fascia were probably sutured with fishline (no kidding, Axel recognized the name from his fishing years) and that the sutures from below and from above came together just about at my belly button and that was the knot with its sharp ends I was feeling. He explained about the risk of snipping these off (hernia) in the early months of healing but that the intervention was easy and that it was up to me. Later in the day he called me back. He had obtained the report from UMMC and the sutures were of the kind that gets absorbed. He counseled patience and told me that the discomfort would probably go away. Axel and I had already decided to wait it out.

Axel was dropped of by Ted for his OT and PT and picked up over an hour later by Diane and her husband Dr. Curt Prout, the oldest practicing doctor I know. I am sure Axel had another consultation from him on the drive home, a multi-purpose drive. Axel is anxious to get his driver’s license renewed and start driving again so he doesn’t have to call on people all the time for these rides. His eye sight is improving quite remarkably and not being able to drive is starting to annoy him big time. But Sita is more cautious and is not that anxious to see her dad behind the wheel.

My physical therapist took measures again of the range of motion of my foot. She does it when I feel that I am not progressing much. She proved me wrong and told me that I had made huge progress, more in some directions than others. I have held off on many of my exercises fearing a tendinitis. I don’t know whether I have been successful yet, so I continue to take it easy. The sole of my foot appears to be awakening and although it is a good sign, the discomfort has increased.