I’ve been doing well with not overdoing things for the last week. No major setbacks. I can walk about 1/2 mile now, with a couple of stops along the way. I do this about every other day. I’m still doing morning Qigong and Tai Chi. In the afternoons I add some strengthening exercises from physical therapy and also do yoga on my mat on the floor, now that I can get up and down off the floor safely.

I’m able to drive, go to the store and manage carts and grocery bags. I can stand long enough to prepare meals, clean up and do some light chores around the house. I can shower without the grab bar and long-handled brush, since I can easily reach my feet now. I think I’ll try a pedicure this week and see how it goes–shave my hairy legs! The raised toilet seat came off this morning.

I’m off the Celebrex and using ibuprofen occasionally for pain. Some days I don’t use anything but the ice/compression machine and stretching. I do continue to use the CBD salve and sublingual oil at night and I’m happy to say that I’m sleeping like a baby!

I’ve massaging vitamin E oil into my scar morning and night. It is laying down nicely and closing up now. It is important to work with scar tissue starting in the third week so it doesn’t set in. Use gentle circular motions. When it is healed enough, you can hold the center of the scar with one finger and then use a finger on the opposite hand to gently stroke and pull the scar out towards the ends. This is a helpful technique for smoothing out scar tissue.

I graduated from physical therapy yesterday. Last time that didn’t happen until week 7. Lori said she had never graduated someone this quickly, “But, I can’t give you anything that you don’t already have and that you can’t do for yourself.” And I know this is true. It is up to me now to work out my own therapy and healing process, staying in that precious Goldilocks Zone.

I came home from the appointment and cried. I am relieved that this rehab is so easy compared to the last one. But I also feel disoriented. Suddenly, so much is behind me already! I’m trying to catch up to that emotionally. I also realize fully how hard it was for me last time–frustrating and disappointing. I struggled so hard to get better (just like I did all those years I had pain and thought it was a soft tissue injury/problem). This is an old pattern of mine. Beating my head against a brick wall, because somehow that is going to get me where I want to go. I hope that I have learned from this experience to stop when I catch myself doing that and examine what I’m trying to force. I’m learning that acceptance and surrender, while working persistently and gently at one’s edge, is a much better approach!

Hopefully, I can remember this wisdom as I move into the summer and all the things I want to do that I haven’t been able to for so long. Pacing and patience, Rhonda. Be gentle and kind with yourself. (I think that message is for all of us.)