A long day in Real Pants!

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To celebrate Mother's Day yesterday, we planned a big day in Billings, including dinner at a nice restaurant. I was pretty excited about the outing until I realized that amongst the restaurant's white tablecloths, candlelight and beautiful decorations would be my gray, 100 percent stretch cotton sweatpants. Not a pretty sight.

So I dug deep into my drawer and pulled out a pair of Real Pants. Would they fit? Only a week ago I foolishly tried to pull them up over my giant, swelled, tender leg. Yesterday, I held my breath as and gently eased them up, up, up over my hips and then managed to zip the zipper and snap the snap. Victorious! Not only was I thrilled that I could fit into them, I was amazed that I hadn't forgotten how to work a zipper and snap! Now don't get me wrong. Real Pants were not without some sacrifice. They rubbed against my incision and I had to unsnap them while in a sitting position to loosen them, but it wasn't too bad. I wore these Real Pants on our very long (eight hours) day of looking a lawn mowers for Mom, eating yummy cedar plank salmon at the restaurant and then visiting Grandma in the hospital. I took one extra pain pill to help me through the day, but I was surprised at how not tired I was after it was all over.

The reason may be because of my second accomplishment of the week: getting some sleep. I decided to dump the cpm and give regular ole sleeping a try. With the help of some pillows under my knee and a painkiller before bed (thanks, ladies, for the tips), I have been able to sleep more comfortably on my back and also roll over in the night to sleep on my side, as well. I still long for the day that I can sleep through the night again, but for now, I'm happy that I'm only waking up a half a dozen times. Also, without the machine, I can get in and out of bed by myself now by using the strap to pull my leg up onto the bed. Very wonderful.

I'm still working out my frustrations with my limitations, but today, at least, is a day I'm not fighting with them. There are times that I feel so normal that I almost rise from a chair and take a step without my crutches (I would never ever do that, of course) and there are times (like last night after I got done with all our running around) that I get random cramps in my leg and then the notorious shooting pain in the groin to make me realize that I am, in fact, not a normal person. Not now, but soon. Very soon.

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