Getting Better

Getting better is never a straight road.  It doesn't seem to matter if we are talking about learning to play tennis or pinocle or healing from a broken leg.  It really is two steps forward and one step back.

I went out this morning and fed the animals for the first time since I broke my leg back at the beginning of May.  It was wonderful to get out and see all the animals up close.  The goats looked askance at me... who are you, again?  Oh, yeah.  We remember now.  You used to feed us, didn't you?

I did the feeding from the Kawasaki mule since walking all around the property is still very tiring and also because it keeps me up off the ground and in less jeopardy of being knocked over again by the dogs.  I did not take Gus out this morning but Sadie came along and was her normal calm self.  Who knew I would ever refer to Sadie as the calm one.  That was before Gus came along and energized our lives.

Last weekend was the Fiber Christmas in July show in Kellyville, OK.  We had a great time and the show was a wonderful success.  It was my first show since my broken leg.  It was exhausting as I expected it would be.  I was glued to my cane the entire time.  We used the the hang tag that allows me to park in handicapped parking.  I tried to put my foot up and rest it but we were busy and that didn't really work.  Then magically on Monday morning I stopped using the cane.  I have a limp at this point so my gate isn't wonderful or even but I'm getting around perfectly well on just my two feet.  That counts as a huge step forward to me.  I've had similar breakthroughs during this process of going from wheelchair to walker and finally to the cane but they don't always stick.  I thought I might have to go back to the cane this past week but I just keep walking along without it.

My ongoing physical improvement is great and I am totally pleased with my choice of physical therapy.  I'm going to the Blue Lagune Therapy in Katy, TX.  I do my workouts in the swimming pool.  I love the water, I love the physical therapy staff.  I'm less enthused by the drive but I continue to show up because it has worked so well.  My stamina, flexibility and strength are all improving with much less pain than I remember from pervious physical therapy experiences.

I am continuously surprised by how much slower my enthusiasm and motivation are returning.  Every part of my day is so much more tiring than it used to be.  I've had three or four great ideas for blogs running around in my head for the last several weeks but somehow haven't been able to sit down and type them out.  I have two big looms that are begging to be warped but I can't seem to sit down and do it.  Healing takes lots of work along with lots of time but it also seems to require me to sit quietly and let it all happen.  That is not the general way of things for me.

There is some sort of magical sweet spot where you are working hard on your rehabilitation but not over doing it.  It's a hard spot to find.

For now I'm working on cleaning up the studio and getting everything put away.  Peggy will be out here tomorrow so we can clean out the loft.  At this point nothing more will fit up there but we have lots of stuff that needs to.  We intend to pull everything down and carefully decide what stays and what goes.  I'm hoping this work will reignite my interest in warping my looms. It should also make the studio much less claustrophobic.