Wow...Can You Say Jet Lag?

Howdy folks!

I'm sorry for being remiss and not posting since I have been home, but I have been completely wiped out and have had no energy for anything. Also, being home and being able to sleep in my bed has been wonderful, but like everything else, it has been a painful adjustment.

So...Mark, in his last post, advised that I would give details about our trip home and the wonderful experience at the airport. Well, the flight really wasn't too bad. The first leg from Barcelona to London was quick, thank God, because they were regular business class seats and had the flight been longer than the hour and a half, I would have been in trouble. I took a pain pill....so, all was good! :-) When we arrived in London, it was nice to be able to go to the British Airways lounge and wait for the connecting flight. I was able to lay down and "veg" for a little while. Also, I was able to use the caregiver card to get Jeff in as well, even though he wasn't seated in business class. The flight wasn't bad. I took another pain med once we got on the plane and was able to sleep for a while and then I watched a movie and read. Landing went well. Everything was good, that is, until we hit Hartsfield! Who would have thunk that it would take almost 2 freakin' hours to get out of the airport? There was a fiasco trying to get a wheelchair to get through the airport. I actually got kicked out of the wheelchair because the worker didn't think that I needed it. He had the audacity to say, "Do you really need this?", then he laughed!!! Yep, he actually laughed. I thought Mark was going to blow a gasket. Then, we actually had to wait over 45 minutes to get through Customs. Picked up the luggage, only to find out that we needed to put it on another conveyer belt to re-pick up at baggage claim. After that, then we had to go through security again. Needless to say, the wheelchair was not very comfortable and I hadn't taken any pain meds for over 9 hrs. Had I known it was going to take so long to get through the airport, I definitely would have drugged up! :-)

The drive home was horrible! I was hurting so bad and finding a comfortable position in Mark's car was impossible. I couldn't get out of the car fast enough to be able to "run" to the bedroom to lay down on my bed. I knew that Augustus wasn't going to understand what was happening, but at that point, I just needed to lay down, no matter what! As soon as my body hit the bed, I immediately started to cry. I couldn't stop it. Mark held me and told me it was ok because I needed to cry through the pain. I took a pain pill and fell asleep fairly quick once the throbbing was under control.

Sunday was a pretty good day because I was able to sleep. That was the first time in 2 weeks that I actually slept. I woke up Sunday and felt relatively good. However, I stayed up most of the day and didn't stay on my med regime so...by the end of the day, my hips were killing me from sitting too long and the pains in my legs was worse.

Yesterday, the jet lag was starting to really effect me. I was sooo tired and had a hard time doing anything. I completed my exercises and walked a lot inside, then went for a walk with Mark and Augustus in the neighborhood in the evening. Other than that, I was just trying to block out the pain and get through the day.

Today, a little more of the same. I had to take some pain meds late this afternoon because the leg pain got to be too much to handle. I decided that I was going to spend a good portion of my day laying on my heating pad to see if some of the hip pain would subside. It has helped some, so that is good. Also, I have definitely felt the storm coming in today so maybe that is what is making me so uncomfortable.

Well, there it is. Nothing to glamorous. I'm just taking everything day by day and trying to read my new body. I have to say that I'm so excited to be home and happy to be able to spend the start of the holiday season with many family members so...things couldn't be better, despite my current challenges.

Have a good night,
Kim