A New Week

This last week has been pretty good even though it includes some experiences that illustrate more recovery is needed to get back to "normal." I feel well enough that I expect to be back to work very soon. Don't have to be 100% to get back (at least that's what I think & believe the doctors have the same outlook).

I have an appointment Wednesday for a neuropsychological evaluation. It's supposed take 6 - 12 hours. The results of that test, and a full day EEG that I had, will be used at my doctor's visit later in the month to decide how much work I can handle and how soon. Going back will be tough no doubt but still good to get started up on the old routine again.

Monday or Tuesday last week I got a cold. It lasted for the whole week. Some congestion is still clearing up. Coughing and sneezing were torture. Each cough produced a band of pain along two adjacent ribs on my right side. They hurt all the way from the front around to the back and seemed to tug at the attached vertebra, ow! Of course this seemed to emanate from the ribs attached to the fractured vertebra. I did my best to suppress every cough and sneeze to avoid the pain. Still I did sneeze and cough so it was a painful week.

Over the weekend the youngest kid, 10 years old, wanted to "build something with wood." He asks to do this every once in a while. When the request is indulged it usually becomes frustrating for us both. The kid imagines building a house or something nearly as ambitious. The adult, guess who, supervises and guides without a clear plan what to build or materials enough to build it as big as the child imagines. And the kid always finds hammering and sawing to be more work than imagined. This time the project is a tree house.

Fortunately we have an old club house that I built that I've wanted to remove from the yard for a while. I struck a deal with the 10 year old that he readily agreed to. Take apart the club house and we'll use that wood to build the tree house. I didn't expect it to go far because it would take at least a few weekends for the boy to disassemble the club house and I told him that. He agreed anyway because he was so intent on building the tree house.

Surprise, surprise. The 10 year old spent seven hours working non-stop by himself on Saturday and another three Sunday, with a friend, taking it apart. There's still more to do but he, and on Sunday he and his friend, did an incredible amount of work.

What was I able to do to help? I picked out the needed tools, instructed in their use, identified what to take off in what order and provided safety supervision. Safety was mostly making sure he knocked out nails so none were sticking up to perforate a foot. And, a few times, I hefted the sledge hammer to help him get some pieces loosened.

Turns out that level of effort is my physical exertion maximum at this point. Nearly the entire time the ten year old worked I stood and watched. But I did stand most of the time. The up side is I "worked" for seven hours on Saturday. The down side is "normal" physical activities still aren't normal for me. As has been the case for every problem so far capability has improved with time.

The remaining question is the brain. Recovery the last few weeks helped me recognize that I wouldn't have been successful returning to work sooner. Now I feel like I've recovered enough that I am evaluating my cognition more accurately. I'm pretty sure I'll get started back at work after the doctor's review of the MRI and neuropsychological exam. Here's hoping the doctor sees things this way too!