We are on day ten of living with my parents, day five of recovery. Things got interesting Sunday night. I was using my continuous motion machine on the couch while we played Medina. Suddenly I got super cold. Like, “wrapped in fuzzy blankets and teeth are still chattering” cold. My legs started to hurt, then cramp, then twitch.
By the time Josiah got me to our room, I felt like one of the victims in a demon possession movie. I have never experienced that sort of comprehensive, uncontrollable, wild muscle spasms before. It was scary. He helped me warm up, but my leg muscles kept spasming. Eventually, we decided to go to the ER because I also had a fever.
The doctor said there are no signs of infection. The fever could be anything from normal post-surgery behavior to a virus. After several hours, they sent me home with an antibiotic. We were so ready for sleep, but the crazy wasn’t done for the night.
We forgot to lock the car in all the chaos. The next morning, Josiah discovered his laptop and backpack had been stolen. The GPS tag says it’s only 2.5 miles away. The police are unable to pursue without a specific address, and unfortunately, Apple tagging is not specific enough.
(So if you are reading this, Stealer of Laptops, perhaps you would like to reconsider your actions. Feel free to deposit the backpack to the same location you took it. Regardless of your religious beliefs, I feel like stealing from people on crutches is universally frowned upon.)
Monday rolled around. My parents started a heavy work week on not nearly enough sleep. My grandparents watched the twins by themselves for the entire day. They’re probably still sleeping off the effects!
Josiah spent the day bouncing between helping me, filing an insurance claim for the stolen items, dealing with moving issues, and trying to log out/reset passwords in case the laptop thief manages to get in.
It’s Tuesday afternoon now. My fever continues and sometimes the cold spells came back. I’m thankful physical therapy starts tomorrow. Because of the muscle-twitching scare, I didn’t do my therapy machine at all yesterday. Movement is so important in the early days of rehab. I have set myself back a lot by stopping. I’ve done the machine many times today. It hurts. My range of motion is not where I had it Sunday. I’m hoping the therapist can help me make a plan for getting back on track.
The movement setback is discouraging; however, there is much to be thankful for! Mom and Dad have been abundant in their support, of course. As have my grandparents and a dear local friend who, this very minute, is watching the kids so I can do the machine and Josiah can deal with paperwork.
Mom found me a wonderful heated blanket which has done wonders for helping sore muscles calm down. Sera is enjoying some one-on-one time with me she’s not had since the kids were born.
Sleeping at night can be difficult when nighttime sessions on the machine get painful; at least I have plenty of opportunity to nap during the day. Josiah has not been successful with this, trying to keep up with all the other things, so prayers for rest and energy for him would be so great.
I’m also thankful for board games on my iPad, this massive book of pulp fiction detective stories I got from the library, and movies. All of which help distract me while I put in time on the machine.
Speaking of which, my break timer ended. Time to get back at it.