Emily’s flowers which have opened up and lasted beautifully.

Sustained progress in terms of pain and mobility but slight setback because my leg has swelled up, mostly below the knee.  It’s uncomfortable and unpleasant and a reminder that it’s not all ‘onwards and upwards’.  I can’t tell if I’m doing too much or too little.  I rang the hospital on Sunday morning and got straight through to one of the physios for a good chat about do’s and don’ts and overall reassurance that it’s OK and normal.  Excellent and wonderfully accessible support, again.

I think I was sitting still too much on Saturday night (the curse of Strictly?) and also standing a bit too much cooking our tea.  So I had a relatively easy day yesterday, with two exciting ‘firsts’- washing my hair leaning over the bath, with Pete’s help, and going for a walk down the street, in the autumn sunshine.  Hoping to make it as far as the coffee shop by the end of the week.  The post-operative pain is definitely resolving and walking is much easier.  Thinking about cutting back on the pain killers.

I’m still relaxed and happy- mostly in bed, watching the leaves on the trees turning gold, rattling through the brilliant Jane Smiley trilogy- over halfway now with only another 1,000 pages to go (!), watching stuff on the laptop, listening to the radio, chatting to friends on the phone, enjoying the occasional visitor, doing my exercises, planning each day with Pete (what we’re going to eat mostly), and generally healing.  If ever I needed evidence that the operation has had a major impact it is that I am OFF MY FOOD!  Things taste too strong, and I can’t eat very much.  A quite new experience.

My bowels are almost normal now.  Had a great chat on the subject of bowel function with a friend who loves a good ‘guts’ chat- nice to be able to share.

The weather is a great aid to recovery.  I love the autumn blue skies and honey light.  I’ll go out again today and walk a little further.

I’m definitely up for visits and phone calls now.  Only connect!