Greetings, earthlings!

I feel like I've been on a semi-trip away from real life, these past few weeks, hence the title of this post.

After the two week post-surgery mark, I was feeling a bit better each day. I've been able to get out and go to the zoo, more walks, attend a dear friend's graduation party, and go visit with family for a 4th of July BBQ.

Medically, I still seem to be in solid shape. At the follow up appointment with Dr. Hanscom, he advised me  to stay the course, so to speak. He wants me back to living my "normal life", asap, and he recommended tapering off the drugs within 3 weeks or so.

Also at this appointment, Hanscom removed the last wrappings from my incision- these tape like pieces called steri-strips covered it from top to bottom. He suggested my mom take them off that evening, then offered to do it himself. We were glad he did, considering about half my scabs came off as well. I think having my mom do that would have been painful for her (though it really didn't hurt me. haha)

Having my scar fully exposed has been strange. With the great weather we've been having, I've been careful to keep sunscreen on it while I'm enjoying making up for nearly a month indoors by getting a general tan :) The "worst" part of the scar for me isn't the way it looks. Sure, as a 20 year old woman, I'm going to have my moments of sheer regret over this glaring "imperfection", but overall, I'm proud of it. It's a visible mark of what will be (God willing) the last stage of a journey I've been on for over half my life, now. I think it's rather beautiful.

What does stink about the incision is that there's numbness all around it. Up between my shoulder blades, in particular. This is just a surface feeling, due to the surgeons cutting through some nerves during the procedure. In time, I expect my body will compensate in some way, and it will go back to feeling more normal. At the moment, if I touch any of those affected areas, all I get is a subtle brushing feeling, and some pressure. I've had to work on not letting that creep me out!

So far as tapering off drugs goes, I'm in the final stages of that now. It's been an interesting experience. I'm extra-sore, and extra-tired. My only withdrawal, "symptom" so far, seems to be full body chills. I'd been experiencing them for about a week, but only made the connection to the changes in meds yesterday. Can't believe I didn't figure it out sooner, since it's pretty strange to have full-body goosebumps on a gorgeous, 80 degree day. haha

More than anything, I've been struggling emotionally, the past few weeks. It's been hard to be cooped up in the house. I've had some visitors, but let me just say to anyone that is considering a major surgery and recovery; do not judge your friendships based upon who does or doesn't show up. I've had a handful of friends, mostly from school, who surprised me by consistently keeping in touch and offering to visit. However, I think it's honest to say that many people I expected to see didn't show up. That's what happens. Life goes on in your absence, and there's no use in holding a grudge over it. I've just had to forgive and let go, in a few instances where I was disappointed.

When I've been most in the dumps, it's been my mom and a couple close friends who have really helped me through. I'm pretty crappy at showing my emotions, and tend to bottle things up until I'm ready for a meltdown. These people have been a blessing as I've been working through this.

Right now, even as I feel really crummy, about to finally have breakfast at noon because it took me forever to get out of bed, and achy all over due to being almost off of my drugs, I'm still more hopeful than I have been the past couple of weeks.

I have quite a few outings and plans set with friends and family over the next weeks and months- the most exciting of which is my family's trip to see our Texas relatives at the end of July. I cannot wait for that! Though I am curious to see how my new hardware responds to metal detectors. I'm also in good enough shape that I should soon be able to start painting for my own enjoyment (unheard of!), and getting a head start on the few jobs I'm going to have during the school year.

So all in all, I'm just chugging along. Thank you again for your prayers and support these past few months; they have been truly priceless to me and my family :)

PS: One of my goals in the next couple weeks is to put up a blog post that is a "photo-journal" of my time in the hospital, and the first weeks home. Keep an eye out for that, if you like!