On The Mend

After a good night's sleep, and waking to a sunny day for a pleasant change, I have a little bounce in my step today, so I thought I'd check in and thank friends on Facebook for their support and encouragement. It really helps, especially on bad days where the pain and fatigue make sleep a welcome refuge.

Speaking of sleep, wow am I sleeping a LOT - 18-20 hrs a day for the first 2 weeks, and still 12-16 hrs a day. Bone must be congealed sleep! I am also trying to get lots of protein, minerals, and vitamin C to make collagen, as that is always the 1st thing the body uses to stabilize and begin to heal a serious wound. Most of the bruising is gone, except for the blunt trauma bruise under my armpit. That's taken more than 3 weeks, but likely gone in another 10 days.

After my outrage that I didn't Tazer the perp or beat him bloody, I had a few days of despair as it sunk in that the ARPT is really a completely lawless environment where anything goes and there is pretty much no recourse unless you can get a pic of the perp, have some witnesses, and can get him/her to give up a valid set of contact info.

Still thinking about the pros and cons of riding so much on the ARPT, but to the extent I do, I will have to be even more defensive, maybe having to do some TDF style shoving of peds. Hope my lawyer is making some progress. That would be welcome news.

I'm learning to do the business of daily living with essentially 1 arm. It's not easy, and can be really frustrating, but you do get better at things as you go - like putting on a turtle-neck sweater, or even a hoodie. Taking them off is actually harder. Showering is the worst, but a back scrubber makes that a lot more manageable. Long soaks in Epsom Salts are very nice, and provide needed magnesium for bone and collagen.

I really miss my own cooking, as going back to TV dinners has been awful. Hard to get the fiber I need, portions are too small (OK, I AM losing a little weight, but not much), and not enough veggies or protein. I'm going to try making a hearty tomato chicken soup tonight with a big dose of black beans. The beans really add a lot to the soup, especially welcome is the protein, fiber and potassium. I use V-8 juice instead of water, and finish by baking in the oven for 4 hours at 275 degrees.

I realized a few days ago that I have to go back to the periodontist in a week to check up on the progress of the bone growing around the titanium implant. As sore as my shoulder is today, I hope they can remember not to bump me. May have to put off anything beyond a checkup for a while. Shouldn't be a problem, as that's more healing time for the jaw bone.

The last few days I have been able to do a little work on the computer, and am working my way through an SQL Server SSIS tutorial. Just ordered a new book, as I found out I'm not dense, the example in the book just doesn't work. I downloaded some new source code from SAMS publications, and will give that a try. The usual stuff attendant with software development. Nice to have an external focus for a change.

I still have a ton of things to catch up on, like getting an estimate of the damage to my bike, and filing my taxes, but my mood is definitely improving. I am a little worried about some possible rotator cuff damage from stuffing my shoulder into the road, but worrying about isn't very useful, so I might as well get on with life. A huge pile of laundry, and dirty carpets are calling.