Jenny with the Axe

Last time I posted I was waiting at a rehab home for the swelling to go down enough for the doctors to operate. I got back to the hospital, Danderyd, on the following Wednesday, October 21st. By then the swelling had gone down, but while doing so had formed a blister, which had broken. And of course the damaged skin was just where the surgeon needed to cut into the leg, and the skin hadn't regrown enough that they would be able to sew me back up again.

I had two orthopaedic surgeons come and shake their heads over my leg, and taking pictures and sending them to Karolinska Sjukhuset where the plastic surgeons are. They were discussing whether it would be a) possible and b) a good idea to take some skin off another part of my leg and cover the damaged area. They had a number of other ideas that were discussed as well. And while they were making up their minds I was stuck in a hospital room with little net access and an extremely talkative roommate who appeared to see me as her next BFF.

On Friday the 23rd they decided to move me to Karolinska where the orthopaedics and the plastics surgeons are at least in the same house and can come look at the leg together. The ortho surgeon looked, and said that he could do the operation without any skin transplants by going in from the outside of the leg instead of the inside. He'd prefer the swelling to go down even more first, though. I kept waiting for the operation for two more days, but on Sunday he said that it would be better to wait another week before doing the operation. So I was sent home, and told to report back the next Sunday evening. This was both good news and bad - it meant I'd be home for both my own and Calle's birthday as well as for Samhain, but it also mean that it wouldn't be over and done with as soon as I'd hoped.

When I got back to the hospital the next week, everything went smoothly. The operation was very successful according to the doctor. I was in very bad pain afterwards and spent the two days after the operation half asleep or crying for more pain meds. After that it got bearable, and I was sent home on Friday Nov 6th. They sent a pair of crutches and some other aids with me. No wheel chair though - the environment here really isn't very wheel chair friendly, there are speed bumbs and hills or stairs to climb or fall down in any direction.

I'm still supposed to keep the leg elevated, so I spend about 23 hours per day lying in bed with the leg propped up on pillows. It gets boring. Very boring. I have a hard time focusing on anything, and the leg still hurts quite a bit. I have films, computer games, books and crochet within reach, though, and there is generally at least one cat close enough to cuddle and irritate should I feel so inclined.

The doctor said I should be allowed to put the foot down without putting weight on it four weeks after the operation, so that's just another two weeks to go. And sometime early January I will be allowed to start putting weight on it. Next week I'm going in to get the stitches taken out and hopefully get told that everything still looks OK.

Thanks to everyone who's sent me good wishes!

Two months ago, the Big Project was mostly finished. I was worn out, as were my colleagues. The difference was that I had about a week before going on to the next project - one not as big, granted, but on the other hand about 90 % of the work would be mine.

Being me, I kept working. I kept working though I got more and more tired, through a few weeks of doing little more than working and sleeping, through a weariness fogging my mind... I realised I needed rest, so I asked for a day off. I didn't get it, because one of my coworkers had already gotten leave that day. On the day I was told this, as I left the office, I took the car out of the garage. Right at the garage doors I swerved right. As Goddess is my witness, I have no idea why I did that. There is no reason to turn right there; it's a straight exit (though a fairly narrow one). The car is scratched along the right side and the back door has a huge dent in it and will need to be replaced.

I got home and sat crying. Some coven members were coming over for a meeting, and they helped cheer me up. The next day I called my boss who told me to take a few days off, which I did. It helped that there was a holiday in the middle of the week after, so with only three sick days I got almost a week off.

I'm back at work again now. Boss has strictly ordered me to make sure to take full hour lunch breaks, and to make sure I take the Thursday morning off to go riding. My colleagues are very supportive and do their best not to lay any pressure on me - though, me being me, I worry that I put too much on them. The new project got delayed and nobody's being upset about it; any complaints are directed to my boss who just tells people that they have to wait. And we've started having morning meetings where we go through all the items in our work stack, and we check off the ones that are realistically possible to deal with during the day - and we don't look at the others until the next morning. That way I can leave work every day knowing that I've done all I should and I never have to worry about the stack of things waiting for me.

Have I mentioned that I really like my boss?

(Yes, I'm also going to get some kind of therapy. Again. Maybe this time it'll take.)

I've just been at my first yoga class at work. I did go to yoga a few times at the old job, but haven't been to a class since last spring. Not that I was exactly limber then, but what agility I had seems to have been lost in the months since.

The class was fairly demanding and there were some things I couldn't do because they put too much stress on the arms/wrists. But on the whole I managed most of it without falling down (which really is a problem with some of the motions). We finished with a relaxation practice.

Now I'm all calm and peaceful. Also hungry as we yoga'd during what is usually my lunch break. If I make it down to the canteen without being talked to I might even keep this peaceful mood all the way through lunch...