
So I was supposed to have a homehealth nurse come today, and I hadn't heard anything from anyone. I was feeling pretty confused about everything, so I called first thing and spoke with the director of my Home Healthcare Provider. I told him how confused I was about how things worked, when would I see a nurse, how I really wanted to see a different nurse from the one on Saturday, so he set me up with someone who called me shortly and said he would be out to see me between 11am and 1pm. Our dear friends, Lee and Marie, showed up to help with yardwork and housework and wow - such a tremendous gift! Shortly after they arrived my homehealth nurse, Richard, came to take my vitals and change my bag, so Marie stayed with me to learn all about it. She had been a high school science teacher, so I was so thankful she wasn't grossed out like I think I would have been had the situation been reversed. Richard gave me better instructions on what to do than the first homehealth nurse, and I was grateful for his knowledge and compassion. After he left Marie set to work cleaning all our tile floors, along with cleaning our kitchen while Lee took the wood he had brought from their property and he and Tim chopped it up for our fireplace and then did some yardwork. Then Lee vacuumed our carpets and took all my flower arrangements and took out all the dead flowers and put water in them. Marie took out garbage from all our bathrooms, and I almost forgot they brought some yummy, just baked breakfast bread with cream cheese! At one point we all had lunch together with a leftover dinner we had been provided, and I ended up napping on the couch while this flurry of activity was buzzing all around me. We had another friend come by for a visit, and I must say, by the time everyone left around 4pm I was tuckered out, even with my little cat nap thrown in there! It's a little hard to balance the desire for fellowship with the need to rest, and I think I may have overdone the fellowship today just a tad, but no permanent damage was done so I think it was worth it! Here was my outfit for the day - nice and comfy and warm! So thankful! It was really too windy and cold to walk today, so I just gave myself a break from walking for one day and let it be. My appetite is definitely growing every day, and while this may be TMI, I've been super thankful to have my bowels moving so well! Have had no trouble there at all (I think I had 3 BMs yesterday), which is another huge thing to be thankful for! I don't think I've ever gone through anesthesia and pain meds before without pretty major problems in that area, so having to undergo 2 surgeries and therefore 2 boughts of anesthesia and extra pain meds in a matter of days, not to mention actually losing a small section of my small intestine to my stoma, and to have no bowel issues to me is quite a miracle, and another thing I'm so incredibly thankful for! I think it helped to take stool softeners every day for the first few days, but I decided to discontinue those today because of how loose everything has been, and change to a good probiotic along with some organic yogurt. Tim bought me a probiotic made by Renew Life - highly recommend it!