Stitches removed, each one a step closer to emancipation

Getting stronger every day... That's really what it all boils down to, right?

The bottom line here is that today the stitches were taken out, and Prof. Meller proclaimed the area "clean and ready for rehabilitation". Yeah! Then he gave me a few letters for my GP to get the ball rolling for physical therapy and hydrotherapy. (Yeah, my hydrotherapy will be renewed!)

I am now walking [albeit a bit crooked-ly] in the house with no crutch, putting more weight on my leg. Slowly I will regain my strength, to equal my faith, which has never before been this strong.

I went to the Kol Nidre service at the beginning of Yom Kippur. Robert was leading the davening at a retirement home near our house, and I try to go every year- it is a very, very moving and deep experience, ushering in Yom Kippur at the setting of the sun. We drove to the place, then afterward left the car there and walked back [and wheel-chaired] home. We all went to sleep early that evening. I did decide to fast. It is the holiest day of the year, and I didn't have any directions not to fast. Even my doctor said I could fast. So, I fasted. I was relieved, in a way, to be able to take part in a huge world-wide spiritual movement. Yom Kippur is one of the only holidays of the whole year that most of the Jews, in most of the places, are doing the exact same thing for the exact same reasons. It can be really awesome.

I understood that if I felt sickly, when even staying in bed is too uncomfortable, then I should eat. I wound up making that decision around 4PM. I was indeed feeling sickly, and even though one isn't supposed to take measurements of any sort on Shabbat and Yom tovim (holidays with a status similar, but not exactly like Shabbat), I took my temperature. I was feeling fevery and needed to check. Good thing we have an analogue thermometer. I had a mild fever, just like I felt. It was 37.6 (99.6 or so?). So, I drank. Water, then tea with sugar. Then a cracker. I thought I'd stop there and start doing "shiurim" (measurements of food at given intervals; an 'in-between' sort of status on a fast day for those who need it). But after a half hour passed and I felt no better, I decided to out right eat. I had a small plate of healthy food, and then retired to the couch for the duration.

The slight fever and icky feeling lasted through the evening, but this morning it was gone.

Then there was the Tel Aviv trip today to the hospital to get the stitches out and a post-op check. It all went smoothly, and we got back only 5 hours from the time we left (at least 3 hours for travel time alone), but I was completely wrung out for the day. I crawled into bed at 4PM and that is where I have stayed.

I am trying to plan only one main thing into any given day, at least until the end of next week. Tomorrow I go to my GP to get a blood test, and get the paperwork started for the PT and HT (hydrotherapy). I hope to rest for the remainder of the day; we'll have to see who can take Dov to get his glasses fixed in the afternoon. Poor guy has been walking around with tape on them for a few weeks. I ordered the new pieces we need, and haven't gotten around to getting to the optical store to actually get them fixed. It has to be in the afternoon when he isn't in school, and it just hasn't worked out, mainly because of the holidays and Shabbat. This Friday evening begins another holiday, Succot, so I am determined to get his glasses fixed before then. And, while we're at making a list of Important Things To Do Before The Next Holiday, Emma needs her vaccines for the year, and we need to purchase Azriel's birthday present (shhhh! Don't tell! It's a red tricycle! I'm so excited! We just have to get to the store and buy it already!). Oh, and a few loads of laundry, and.... One day at a t i m e...