Christmas, Bed Rest, and Cats

The mug speaks the truth

My parents bought me a new mattress a couple months ago as an early Christmas present. I was really desperate for one; I wasn’t sleeping very well and was having back problems. I remember that after previous surgeries, my hips and back would hurt after only a few days in bed. I’ve been in this bed for over two weeks now and I’m still comfortable.

However staying in bed for this long is not as fun as it sounds. I was put on bed rest after my last hospital visit. I need to keep my leg above my heart to keep the swelling down. No one ever told me that bed rest would have side effects. I get heartburn, because I’m always lying down. I have heat rash all over my back. When I get up to go to the washroom, my leg swells up and hurts for about an hour.

I’m home alone now. My roommate is still out of town, but my sister comes over in the mornings to check on me and bring me food. Sometimes I have visitors. They always bring food.

December 24th vs December 29th

Christmas was good, I don’t remember much since I was heavily medicated, but my family took lots of pictures for me so I could remember. On Christmas Eve there was no snow still and it was 16 degrees Celsius out, it felt like a nice spring day. The grass was green and the sky was blue. I’ve had a green Christmas before, but it was still really cold like winter. This was strange. It didn’t last. On the December 29th there was a huge snowstorm. And it hasn’t really stopped snowing. So now it looks like a typical January out there.

Tramadol, Lyrica, and Advil

I have a week left until I see my surgeon again. A week and a half until the school semester starts. I keep trying to get off the narcotic pain meds, but every time I do within 12 hours I’m so uncomfortable I’m back on them. I really don’t want to be on them still when school starts, because they make my brain all fuzzy. I wouldn’t be able to get any work done. I’m looking forward to seeing my x-rays at my appointment. Dr. Steeves always makes sure I get to see them. He’s great like that, very informative and makes sure I know what’s going on. He’s the top rated orthopaedic surgeon in the city.

I don’t think I’d be able to get through bed rest if it wasn’t for Tesla. She’s my kitten. She’s a 10-month-old calico. I adopted her in May, and spent a lot of time with her, training her not to destroy things, not to chew on cables, or claw the couch. I got her accepted into a Pet Smart Charities grant for people on financial assistance, so she could be spayed and I only had a $20 co-pay. She is so well behaved, easily affectionate, hilariously vocal, and is ever so gentle. She has a lot of patience when my one-year-old niece is pulling her fur and squealing in her face. Tesla likes to cuddle with me all day. Both her and Jinx, my roommate’s cat, spend all their time on my bed or in my room. They only leave to go eat and use the litter box. Its like they know something is wrong with me.

I’m happy to have the cats, and I’m happy when friends come visit, but I cant wait to get out of this bed, get off these drugs, and get back to school and my life.

TTYL
Julie