Today is June 29th.
Today is the last day of high school for my 4th child, TeenBoy.
It has been a long time coming...
13 1/2 years, since the first day of kindergarten, to be exact.
And I am very sad to report that today...
I weigh more than I did the day he was born 18 1/2 years ago.
I weigh more than I did when child number 5, BratChild, was born 17 years ago.
I weigh almost what I did the day I gave birth to SIX 15 1/2 years ago.
Just how much do I weigh today, right now, this very minute????
Let's just say that I have to lose more than 10 pounds to be at 200.
A year ago I was holding steady between 190 and 195.
Working nights and not spending as much time running in the pool last summer had my weight creeping into the 200-zone by September.
The abnormally cold and snowy/icy/yucky winter saw me sitting around 205 by February...
And then disaster struck.
I injured my arm and tore the rotator cuff.
Did you know that you cannot walk on a treadmill without tipping over or being in excruciating pain with a torn rotator cuff?
Neither did I.
And sleeping is best done sitting up on the sofa with pillows to prop the affected limb and keep it from moving during the night.
And doing any sort of aerobics is out of the question...
just swinging the bad arm to maintain balance is painful...
and then the neck and upper back/shoulder blade pain and limited mobility...
Well, suffice it to say, it sucks.
Steroid therapy added weight in days.
A cortisone injection a few weeks later probably did not help.
Two months of "let's see if therapy helps..."
It. Did. Not.
So, surgery was done in April.
I spent 2 weeks with the arm in a sling and not doing anything to undo the repair.
And then Physical Therapy began.
And let me just say that I HAD NO PAIN AFTER SURGERY!!!!
None. Nada. Nyet.
And then...
4 weeks and a day into my, ahead of schedule, rehab...
Pain, and the inability to move my arm in any direction, hit.
PT was stopped and another cortisone injection was done.
Apparently, bursitis had developed...
which happens in 50% of post-surgical patients with my type of injury...
according to the surgeon...
Yeah Me!
Not.
So, back to PT after 2 weeks of rest and...
I am still in excruciating pain.
I am still unable to use my arm normally.
I am resolved to get in shape regardless.
The weather has broken and finally I can get in my pool.
I can run in the pool because...
Water supports my bad arm while I run and allows me to move it gently through the water without too much pain.
Yesterday I ran for an hour and a half before going to PT.
My arm hurts like heck since PT...
but after 2 weeks without it I expected nothing less.
So, I am starting from square one...
I am still sleeping sitting up on the sofa...
3 1/2 months into this and the words of a co-worker come to mind...
"the healing...it is a process"
Yes.
Yes. It. Is.
