And, oh, yes, an update on the much-anticipated shower! I know you are all waiting with bated breath to know if I did get the shower that I was desperate for after two weeks. Ha!
- I did get the shower. It might have been the best shower I have ever had. Before, when I was dealing with medical issues (“crises” seems a bit strong… :>), I hadn’t had these types of restrictions. I had other ones (e.g., covering something while showering) but never the strict admonition to keep the dressing dry no matter what it took. Anyway, I came back from the clinic appointment and got in the shower at… 9:30 am. It was glorious.
- I will confess that I did get the dressing oh-so-slightly wet most days. This didn’t seem to matter – much – until the last few days, when it did start to threaten to peel up from the edges. This meant that I frantically applied tape to those edges in an effort to avoid having to take more drastic measures (like, um, wrapping my arm in saran wrap, no thanks…).
- I have no shame in admitting I took another shower that evening. None at all. I need to donate to an environmental group, though, to make up for my excessive showering that day…
- A bit more arm stuff, then I promise I’ll move on!
- The good: I am improving every day. I am completely off pain meds (I was only taking 1 tylenol at bedtime and… yeah. Let’s just say that’s probably not doing much…) It still hurts but it’s not bad at all. Maybe a max of 5/10? Nothing I can’t deal with. I’ve also started eating more – yay – and moving more – double yay! I think I’ll be okay for our vacation next week – this will be a moderately active vacation but no hiking up the sides of mountains. 🙂
- The not-so-great: Well, sleep still isn’t fantastic, although I have gotten a few nights when I’ve slept 2-3 hours at a time! This is amazing for me. Those nights, unfortunately, are usually followed by nights when I wake up every hour on the hour, pretty much. Sigh. My hair is still falling out (see below). And… the bills are rolling in. Double sigh. Thank goodness I have insurance but honest to Pete, you should have seen the full charges for the not-even-overnight hospital care! Gaaahhh…
- Things making me happy…there are many of them. Which makes me happy. 🙂
- I still talk to my parents every morning. It makes me so darn happy.
- I’ve also started eating an apple and roasted almonds for my snack and I completely forgot how much I love apples. I tried Pink Lady this time and they are wonderful. Not sure what I will try next. Mini desserts (chocolates + some ice cream and fruit). Whew. I missed these!
- 56 Hours. Wow. I’m totally sucked in. It may not be high literature but you know how sometimes you just read the right book at the right time? I suspect this is one of those situations. I also read One Night on the Island and enjoyed the slightly non-traditional ending.
- My class. It’s nearly over – uploading grades on final assignments today – but oh, this class helped keep me going this summer! My students were awesome. Absolutely fantastic. Such a joy to enjoy this part of my job!
- My hair. OK, this is both frustrating and good. My hair looks terrible when I grow it out. It gets straggly and kind of limp and looks very thin and kind of pathetic. How I wish I could have long, gorgeous hair like so many of you. But alas, it seems as though my thin (and now thinning more, sigh) hair does not want to be long anymore. As I was supposed to have a hair cut in May and had to reschedule, and her first appointment was last week (yes, I love this stylist but oh, it is hard to schedule with her!), my hair was reaching the “wow, it looks amazingly awful” stage. Last week I had over an inch and a half cut off and I LOVE it. It’s doing the curly thing it does in the summer, which I’ve learned to live with. I also bought some (ahem, ridiculously expensive) stuff that is supposed to help thicken it. We shall see. I have my doubts.
- Back to food… summer plums and peaches and apricots that are so juicy you need to eat them over the sink to catch the drips. The. Best. (I’m sorry if you dislike fruit, but… I just don’t understand you…. :>)
I am hoping to be back here with more normal, non-arm posts soon. I’ve been (finally) reading some posts and long-form articles that are really making me think (in a good way!) and I have thoughts that I feel compelled to share.
A brief taste of those bits of wisdom making their way into my life…
- The word “umwelt”, which entered my personal lexicon last week…(from Rob Walker)
- Seeking “aliveness” vs. seeking “meaning” (from Oliver Burkemann)
- Being present… paying attention…
- In light of current events in the US, this from Krista Tippett in an interview with GQ: “We have a bias—which I also inherited, it’s in our education—to take what is dysfunctional and catastrophic and frightening and failing more seriously than what works well and what is quietly flourishing. The bias is a really powerful one. …The question for me in the beginning is, how can we make goodness as riveting as evil and destruction? … A part of that is the way we’re wired and the way we’ve been educated: not to take in the fullness, the reality, and the complexity of what is happening that is generative, that is redemptive, that doesn’t cancel out that the terrible story of our time but it stands alongside it.” Making me think about how I can work for good, rather than just lamenting the bad, the awful, and the cruel that seem to surround us these days…
And I shall leave you with that. Here’s hoping that “normal” really does make a re-appearance here soon. I hope you are all staying cool and at least getting some time to enjoy your summers. I am – still – dreadfully behind on blog reading, but hope to make up some ground in the coming week+.
What great news! I’m so excited that your arm is doing better and that you’re looking forward to your vacation. I hope you’re able to sleep better when you’re away from your day to day and you’ll heal even faster.
Thanks so much for your well-wishes and support. <3 I am so happy to be feeling more like, well, me, too. While I am looking forward to vacation, this week has been a doozy so far. I get a bit of a reprieve today so hope to get caught up… that would help me truly enjoy next week with my family. My goal, of course, is not to further injure myself. 😉
Hooray! I would have taken two showers as well! You have earned it!!!!
I read 56 Hours this spring and loved it. I’d read the author’s previous book which was a little graphic so I was concerned about where she was going with the story but she got it right.
I kind of thought I’d earned it, too. Plus, to be honest, it just felt darned good. 🙂
Thanks for the head’s up on that author’s other books. I previewed them online and suspect my take would be similar to yours – they verge a bit too close to horror, from the summaries. I’m nearly to the end of 56 Hours and let’s just say it just got pretty interesting. 🙂
Yay for showers. One of my biggest realizations as an adult was I COULD take two showers a day.
I struggle with being cold in the winter, and sometimes only a VERY hot shower can thaw me out. I always made myself wait until the end of the day. But have learned to, every once in a while, take TWO VERY hot showers. And it feels wonderful.
In the summer I don’t bathe every day, so I don’t worry too much about over-consumption. It was more just the thought that, “Hey, I can actually take two showers not for getting clean but because they make me feel so happy and warm.” It has been a bit of a lightning bolt moment in my life.
So much truth in this! I am in absolute agreement that two showers per day – and mine are (typically) short – is a true luxury. I started taking 2 showers when I worked evenings in a nursing home – I simply could not go to bed without showering, and then in the morning, after exercising, well, I wasn’t going to go into work sweaty and gross! And I’ve maintained it ever since – I sleep better – I maintain my temperature better in the winter (we are twins in that regard!) – and it helps me relax. All good things! <3
Oops. That posted too soon – I hit enter and it went.
Obviously, far more important than my shower epiphany is the fact you’re feeling better. This is wonderful news and I’m absolutely delighted for you! Hope you continue to heal well and that the upcoming trip is purely wonderful.
Thank you! I’m glad I’m feeling more like ME, too. Still using the sling, and still stymied by pain periodically and the restricted range of motion but the improvements are obvious, at least to me. I’m hoping to get a bit more work done before leaving Friday afternoon… that will help me truly enjoy the time with my family (hopefully without further injuries… fingers crossed…). 🙂
I’m glad you’re starting to feel better and can finally take showers! Think of all the showers you DIDN’T take in the past few days (weeks?) – that should definitely offset any two-shower days you’ve had!
How can we make goodness as riveting as evil and destruction is something I want to ruminate on. To be able to drown out all of the bad things with good things… would be a wonderful thing.
Thanks, friend! I confess that I typically take two very short showers a day – an old habit from working evenings and nights in nursing homes and ICUs. Let’s just say going to bed without a shower wasn’t happening! That said, that first shower was quite a bit longer than usual. 🙂
I’m still thinking about how I can focus on the good, and dial down my focus on the evil in the world. I am a classic doomscroller, and find it very hard to shift my perspective to focus on the positive. One thing I’ve found this week are the mini “poetry films” posted by On Being on YouTube. I love poetry and these are short excerpts from mostly modern poems that are accompanied by animated films. Just listening to someone read to me is such a relaxing way to start the day, and keeps me focused on something other than the headlines for a few minutes. Maybe starting small (I mean, really, most of them are <3 minutes) and then building on that foundation is one way to go... <3
Glad to hear that you’re slowly getting better and yay for a shower! I think having to go without makes up for your extra long one 🙂 The enviornmentalists can stay away haha!
I also read 56 Days a while ago and it was a really good book…sucked me in right away as well. Hope you enjoy it!
The showers still feel wonderful, even this long after I was able to have that first glorious one. 🙂 I really liked 56 days – particularly the not-quite-conclusive ending. Glad I was not the only one!
“I need to donate to an environmental group, though, to make up for my excessive showering that day…”… hahaha, that made me laugh. You didn’t shower in how long? You can absolutely take two showers in a row after the arm-ordeal. You deserve it.
Also, I am also VERY MUCH into apples (with almond butter) right now. I eat two a day. My go-tos are Granny Smith and Gala, but now I think I want to try Pink Ladies.
I am sure you figured already that “umwelt” is a German word, right? I’d be interested to know more about the article you read. 🙂
Sorry I missed this one when replying to your other comments, San! I can’t tell you how nice it (still) is to take a hot shower in the morning. Doesn’t matter how hot it is outside – my shower has to be hot. 🙂
Apples + almonds are still my go-to snack. Yum. There is just something – even in summer – about a crisp apple. I’ve periodically done peaches and blueberries, because it IS summer, but apples. Mmm… (Have you tried Cosmic Crisp? Those are super-good, too…)
I’m still working my way through all of my tabs and the one on umwelt is still open, but I hope to share my thoughts soon, if I can get things together! Still struggling getting back to “normal” in terms of reading blogs, blogging, etc.