Eric's House Of Ego

I was in a wistful mood yesterday. gundo posted about Toyboat practice, then we all went to Guitar Center and I was foolish enough to go back into the drum room. I am shopping for a djembe (probably next year), but there are other drums in that room.

I miss playing the drums. I miss playing in Toyboat. And I have had 4 surgeries on my hands, and I don't want any more.

Yeah ... sigh.

I want a Handsonic 10, which would at least let me simulate the sound of a drum kit, but they are pricey. I want more hand drums, since I can play hand drums.

Doesn't change that I would love to be able to put a pair of sticks in my hands and pound away.

And the verdict is in. If my thumb has gone back to where it is in the time since I had the last cortisone shot, another shot will make no difference. So, Thursday May 29.

On the plus side, he says that I can get back to playing guitar as soon as the stitches are out, and I have almost four weeks to get back to where I need be for a short set. If I am not up to it by that time, it's ok, since it's a short set opening for Heather Dale at a house concert at our place, and I can back out of that if need be, or pick songs carefully to put the least strain on my thumb.. The next show is Detcon a month later.

It will take about 5 minutes. I will be awake for it. I expect it to be kinda creepy but cool as well. I ended up with two or three stitches last time, should be the same this time. My grip will change. But the doctor seems to think that it should be workable.

I have been a little quiet on my knee and other stuff lately. Mostly because things are going so well.

My major problem now is that I sat on a couch for 4 months waiting for the surgery. I'm in terrible shape. That is changing. I put on a bit of weight and am working on losing that and more. I am more mobile than I have been in a year and a half.

The main thing is, I don't have any pain. To be more correct, I don't have any pain that isn't ordinary middle aged stuff. I don't want to get out of bed in the morning, but, admittedly, a lot of that is because I have a warm cuddly Lizzie there.

Memorial Day I was busy. We got to the venue at noon to see the start of things. We left for a couple hours in the middle of the day and then I was back until midnight for the drum jam. I couldn't have done that even a month ago.

I am feeling better and better all the time. I am hoping on being back to where I want to be in time for the fall shows. I hate playing shows sitting down. I'm still doing it for the time being, but I hate it.

I had a really bad day yesterday. Exhausted, restless. No sort of food tasted good. Just generally miserable. And the thing with the eye on top of that. I had already planned on staying home and I am very glad I did. I would not have coped with work yesterday.

Today is much better. I have the cane with me, but have hardly used it. I can walk better than I have in months. I'm still a bit tired, I still wear out easily, but great progress has been made. My knee really only hurts if I am not careful going down stairs. It does get harder to walk as the day goes along.

I went to the Doctor this morning and got the stitches out. Not having to have some sort of bandages on my knee is a marvelous thing. I just have little bandaids on now since there is always a little bit of a problem when you take out stitches but shouldn't need even those soon.

I had a marvelous morning with my love, of course she came with me. I could probably drive, but I intend to avoid it for a couple weeks yet. We laughed a lot, had a nice breakfast at Paneras. She has made this whole thing so much easier. We're coming up on two years living together this week. It both hardly seems that long and seems like we have always been together. This "us" continues to amaze me.

I did have the first thing like any real pain last night going up the back stairs into the house. I twisted myself somehow. Just a moment and no other problems since.

I'm tired today, but have a pretty free weekend so I can relax. I will get up to play some Wii games, I will spend plenty of time with my leg up and the cooling machine on. I may get my hand drum out, I may work on the drum brush gloves.

Jared has a music contest tomorrow, we will venture out and over to the HS to watch him play his solo. I missed a band concert last night, I just wasn't up to the walk through the school and sitting in tiny, cramped chairs in the auditorium for an hour and a half. Lizzie went and said it was very good. I hate missing things like that but it was necessary.

We got our taxes done last night. Good things coming from that.

I had yummy Kung Bao Chicken for lunch. I needed something like that. Lots of green peppers, celery and peanuts in it.

I'm tired, but I feel good.

Come to the party next week, it will be nice to see you.

I pushed a little hard yesterday. Which means I am being sensible and staying home with my leg up today.

I generally did well all day. I can get around, I can walk without the cane if I need to, but it's a good idea if I don't. Today, though, my knee is a little achey and the rest of my body is rebelling as well. I need rest today.

This was originally posted on Dreamwidth, after which it wandered out to various other sites. Feel free to reply where ever you want. I should still see it.

I am back to work. We'll see how sitting at my desk all day works for me. So far no problems. I do have to have some things done for me. There is a fair amount of my work that involves me being on my feet. I'll find someone to do those things for me for the next day or so.

So, the midday report. I am doing way better than I thought this morning. I was right about a lot of the tiredness coming from being in bed too long. My knee is much stronger today than yesterday. I feel that I hardly need the cane, but I will continue to use it for several days at least. And I will make sure that it is handy at all times for a couple of weeks.

Stairs are less of a challenge. I tend to lead with my right leg when going up or down stairs and it is odd changing that, but I can manage quite well going up and slightly less well coming down, as long as I lead with my left.

I still think I have a long slog on this, but it will be much easier than it has been the last couple of months. The surgery was SO the right thing to do.

The big bandage is off my leg. There are three very small entry places for the surgery. My knee is swollen a little, but they gave me a cooling machine which works way better than ice. I have showered. I feel SO much better now.

I am doing great this morning. My body needed this to happen so badly. I slept well but fitfully. The cats were a little more interactive than I needed last night, but were still very sweet.

When I got home I sat up for a bit, but then needed a bit of a nap. The couch isn't quite wide enough for my arms to be comfortable so I had Ian put up the foot rest. Helvetica then came and laid there in front of me, some so he could get skritches, but also because he is the protector in this house. If someone isn't doing well, he watches over them. He took it to a little bit of an extreme last night, thus the fitful sleeping.

I am getting around great. The Doctor said that I will know how much I can and can't do. After the surgery is still way better than the first month or so with the tear. I can walk, I can put weight on my leg, but I try to minimize it. But overall, I feel great. I woke up this morning almost 10 hours after I had taken the most recent pain med and I had no real pain. I have a higher energy level and higher level of alertness than I have had in weeks.

I can't have a shower till sometime late tomorrow. This may be the worst part. I hate missing my morning shower.

Currently I am sitting at the dining room table. The couch makes me feel constricted. I like having my feet up, but can't put the rest back down myself. Yeah, I am a bit of a control freak.

I think I woke up during the surgery, I will find out about that next week.

The main thing is that I can now start back towards feeling better. I can start back towards getting in shape.

Lizzie is a rock, as always. She knows what I need, she knows when to stand back. She is puttering around in the kitchen at the moment. I don't think I can ever make it clear how much she means to me.

Thank you everyone for your kind words the last couple of days. It means a lot.

More as thing progress.