The reason I started the Recovery Journal is to know where I have been on my journey to getting my health back. I realized today that my pathway to recovery is not really set well. I have a couple of guide posts on the journey ahead and a couple of long term goals, but I don't really have enough to help me get to where I need to be. So... I decided ( Read more... )

Before contacting my cousin to pick me up, there were a couple of things that had to be done. First, I needed to get my discharge paperwork in order. This was not too difficult because it was an explanation of what was done, what medicines I would need to take and what the new stuff could do to me. After that, as a part of discharge, I needed to ( Read more... )

Getting out of the hospital required 3 important milestones: being able to walk, having a normal temperature for 24 hours and being able to control my pain with oral medication. With Sunday's 2 Physical therapy sessions, I was able to walk with crutches and started to become regular. I was able to walk up and down stairs (my house has 4 steps that ( Read more... )

Facebook is really starting to take up a larger part of my life than I am comfortable with. When I looked at the terms of service, I am concerned that there are areas that they seem to have too much control. I use it to connect to friends, but I don't post as much as I would if I knew that my answers were protected. Of course, I am not going to be ( Read more... )

I was going through my notes the other day and found what could have been Recovery Journals #4 & #5 on one sheet of paper. I also sent out a whole slew of Thank you cards earlier this week, some of which were originally written while I was in the hospital. I have more Thank You notes to come. This is what I found out from both of the previous items ( Read more... )

One of the problems with getting into the hospital was that I did not bring my C-PAP machine. I thought I would only be there one night and the hospital was concerned about valuables, so I didn't bring it with me. When I found out that I would need to stay longer, I realized that I would need something. Luckily, they gave me something that helped, ( Read more... )

I am back at home and have been since St. Patrick's Day (this past Tuesday). I was lucky to have green on my t-shirt when I left the hospital. The surgery has been mostly successful, but there have been some complications and I am still in pain. So... here is a little of what went on ( Read more... )

Something last night made me get out some old books and get on the internet. I have always been interested in warships, military aviation and museums. In fact, I used to make a lot of plastic models of ships, planes and tanks. When I was in Oregon in 2007, I visited the Evergreen Aviation Museum to see the Spruce Goose, an SR-71 and a MiG-29, so I ( Read more... )

I met with my surgeon yesterday and I will be having surgery within the week. Due to the physical tests, the physical attributes of my injuries and other things going on with my body, I made the decision to have surgery on this. It is called microdiscectomy and I am confident in my surgeon. ISo, my recovery continues ( Read more... )

This is my first official blog on the recovery from my back injury. This is public, but the others may not be as I will discuss areas that are sensitive. I may post some of these as public for a few days, then put them on friends only. My personal health is important to me and some of it will be private ( Read more... )