Day 69 ~ Healing

I find myself today in a fog. The procedure to remove my varicose veins went smoothly yesterday but I was required to take several valium and a cocktail of pain killers. It was pretty groovy for a while, no worries, no stress...they could have amputated my whole leg and I probably wouldn't have cared.

There were a couple of points during the whole process that I panicked a bit, especially when I could feel them tugging and felt the sensation of warm fluid running down my leg. I had my earbuds in and was listening to some lovely zen/meditative music hoping to avoid any lasting psychological trauma. I was sure the sound of a vein being pulled from my flesh would forever embed itself in my subconscious.

The surgeon sent home a list of instructions for the next few days/weeks. No heavy lifting, high impact aerobics, or strenuous exercise for 7-10 days. I have to wear a compression stocking for 2 weeks and am thankful that it is not August. Also, I may not sit or stand for more than an hour at a time, except for at night when I'm sleeping. I have to walk 2-3 times a day for at least 10 minutes each. During my resting sessions, I'm camping on the couch. The view from this perch is so extremely lovely, I thought I'd share it.
There is Kyle. I really wanted to go out and play with him but at the point I took this picture, I was still pretty high and decided to be an observer instead.
I've not been alone. The girls are finding that getting up and going for little walks throughout the day to be quite exciting. Today is opening day of deer season (modern gun) so there has been a lot of extra traffic on the road. We've been sticking to walking through the woods and wandering around the pastures. I have to say that the crisp autumn air is exhilarating but after about 15 minutes, I'm ready to find my spot on the couch again.
The pain has been minimal but my little instruction paper says that the bruising and lumpiness and pulling discomfort will worsen over the course of a week. I may post some "during" pictures because I know how much everybody loves to look at gruesome medical photos.

For now, I am going to take advantage of the fact that I have permission to take it easy. I plan on reading magazines, watching any little thing I want on the t.v., and relish in my assignment to get out and walk around in this glorious Arkansas Autumn.