7 Weeks Later
The updates have been lacking for many reasons in April. The first is how many times can you post that you are getting better? Plus, there are ups and downs of recovery that are sometimes hard to talk about. Please forgive me 
My Last Day at Home
Friday was my last full day at home. On Monday, I returned to work armed with my slip from my surgeon. This is the second time in my life I have used a permission slip at work. In case you are wondering, the first said I was having brain surgery. I had no clue how my body was going to respond to this. It is a big change from hanging around the apartment most of the day. I’ve been working on making sure my strength is where it should be and I have the stamina to work a full day. For the most part, I have returned to all of my volunteer activities to help with the transition. My only concern about all of this has been the deadly metro ride that I take into and out of the city each day. There is more on that necessary evil below. My body is handling the walking, carrying light things and most activities pretty well! I’ve graduated to picking up our 15 pound turkey (otherwise known as Scarlet) too.
Oh, Metro – I Still Hate You
Metro, Metro, Metro. I did NOT miss you in the almost two months I didn’t have to set foot in your stations. Saturday, April 30th I decided to give it a go again and the first trip up to U street wasn’t too terrible - other than your employees yelling at me because you didn’t announce the train was going out of service. My second trip, back from U street, just hurt. The jerky nature of bad drivers made my neck and titanium mess just feel absolutely horrid. Thank goodness I had my iPhone games to concentrate on so I didn’t focus on the pain.
Commuting in has been interesting. It takes me about 40 minutes on metro before we reach our stop – it should take 20 but that is metro for you. By the time I reach the office, the ride has exhausted me. I have started treating myself to some coffee to help feel a little more normal and to get my energy levels back up before work begins. If it weren’t for metro, I think I would be fine returning to work full-time. I am hoping I don’t have to give into driving into the city during the summer but it is starting to look like I may have to.
Hitting the Road Running
On my one month post surgery date, I just didn’t feel like I could stand running or really doing much of anything, so I gave myself a few more days to get back to running and exercising. Running still feels like it will hurt, especially with how much it can hurt to take metro. But, I have gotten back on the elliptical and able to do a decent amount of time on it! I’m walking everywhere I can. I even put in over 5 miles walking around DC and Alexandria on Saturday. I would love to be able to run a 5K by the end of summer but I think I need to aim for a later date; especially with my body getting used to getting back to work. Maybe I’ll aim for a Turkey Trot or something else at the start of the holiday season? At least then I would have an excuse to eat all the mashed potatoes I want!
Nerd Prom
For those of you who don’t know what nerd prom is, it is one of the days that everyone in DC looks forward to each year. It is actually called The White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. What I love about the dinner is the humorous spin that is put on current events. For instance, I am assuming most of you have seen the movie The King’s Speech, well, President Obama made a joke about how a sequel is being made – The President’s Speech. Here is the trailer: