Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho...

it's off to work I go.

Today was my first day back at work after recovering from surgery. I'm starting back slowly, working only 30 hours per week to start. Once I can handle that without much trouble I'll move back to full time. My work is allowing me to telecommute while I build my stamina back up. I'll still be going to the office, as I did today, but I cannot yet stay in the upright position for an entire work day, even at 6 hours per day. Today I made it 4 hours at work. On top of that, I drove the 35 minutes to work. Jonathan had to drive me home though - my back was aching incredibly. The remain 2 hours of work I have completed laying down with my laptop on my lap. Thank goodness for laptops and wireless internet connections! Once I get a better grasp on what needs to be caught up on at work and what all of my new responsibilities are, I will be able to spend a bit more time working independently, from home. I'll set up a desk here to work at. That way I can practice sitting up working for lengths at a time, but be able to rest my back as needed. I'm not sure what they would think if they found me lying down on the floor at work, so this option probably is best for the meantime.

I was originally supposed to return to work earlier. However, my disability had to be extended due to an unfortunate regression in my recovery. The doctor thinks that I might have pulled a back muscle a couple of weeks ago when I was sick. And on top of that, some of my nerves might have been healing, thus heightening the pain I was experiencing. The doctor prescribed rest to help heal my muscle. At the worst point, I could not even perform the simple task of blowing my nose! It's amazing what muscles are affected - muscles you didn't even knew you had! Also, for about 5 days, every time I took a breathe, it felt as though my heart was being stabbed by a knife. Not fun. Thankfully that sensation finally passed; at points I thought it never would.

Today, the pains I feel are limited to extreme muscle aches/spasms. Hopefully those will subside with time, and with practice using those muscles at work. This road to recovery is long, but at least I'm recovering.

No Loose Screws

Yesterday I had another follow-up visit with my local orthopedic doctor. Because of the amount of pain I was in he had some x-rays taken. Thankfully, it was determined that all of my hardware is where it should be and that my fusion is coming along great. That was music to my ears. He then believes that the pain I have is from having pulled a back muscle or two, and suggested that I take it easy in order to let that heal. So instead of returning to work on the 16th of this month, I will be returning on the 23rd. All of the necessary arrangements have been made with work and disability, so I should be free to recover til then.

I was concerned about returning to work in this much pain. The work day is going to be enough of a shock to my body and will certainly easily fatigue me, so I was worried about returning in poor condition to start. The extra week to allow me to better heal should enable me to better focus on work when I do return. I'm grateful for this.

Ouch^10

For about the past 5 days my upper back has been in a lot of pain. So much so that the heavy narcotics and other medicines are barely making a dent in the pain I feel. Every move I make hurts, even trying to do something as mundane as blow my nose. I can no longer bend my neck down, and I need Jonathan's help to get off the couch and out of bed--tasks I have been able to perform on my own for a month now. Since the pain isn't getting any better, I've been starting to worry more. I hope that at the doctor's appointment tomorrow the surgeon might have some answers. At the very least an xray might ease my concerns. Jonathan did make a very good point this weekend regarding the pain I am experiencing. The pain seems to be associated with my back muscles. Last week I was pretty sick and that including a fair bit of vomiting. Jonathan suggests that perhaps I strained a back muscle when I was sick. Sounds pretty logical to me since that is about when all of this started. Unfortunately I am supposed to go back to work next week, and with this pain I can't even drive much less work for a full day. Over the past weekend Jonathan and I did go to a friend's 30th birthday dinner. I didn't want to miss it since it only comes once a lifetime, so I sucked it (as well as a pill) up and went. We enjoyed it, but I was in a lot of pain the entire time, and had to leave somewhat early. Hopefully it will resolve itself. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

The 96-Hour Flu

I've been pretty quiet lately in part to having the flu, or at least something resembling it. As soon as I would start to feel a little bit better, I'd get worse again. I'm hoping that today will not continue that trend. Being sick is bad enough, but being sick when you can barely move your body is even worse.

On a more positive note, I finally heard from my insurance that I will be carried through the full 3 months of recovery. After chasing the company and doctors daily for over a week, it is a comfort to know I can actually relax and focus on my recovery again. All this means that I should be back to work on April 16th. Things could change after I see the local surgeon for another follow-up next week, but I doubt that if they changed it would be by all that much.

Once I go back to work the roller coaster ride begins. I wonder how I will handle it. Shortly after my body gets used to working, I intend to start up my MBA again with the summer semester. I hope I can handle it as I do not want to get any further behind with school. What a frustrating scenario!