Dented

The six-month mark since surgery is coming up quickly—next week—and it looks to be the major turning point. Included in the round-up of the vast distance we’ve traveled will be that I do now have a dent in my skull. It just appeared in the last day or two, along sections of the incision line. Fortunately, it’s in the midst of my dense hair and isn’t visually detectable, only tactilely. It’s not a very big dent (so far) and it has no consequence we can perceive; it just has come into evidence. In the long run, if this is the major remaining souvenir of this adventure after the recovery is complete, we’ll consider ourselves fortunate beyond words.

The insurance company has approved what we hope will be my last round of occupational therapy, and it begins today. The shoulder is vastly improved from where we started: most movement in the forward and side planes is possible, and I even picked up and poured a pitcher of water the other day without thinking—until I was putting it down and realized the progress that represented. The shoulder clicks and thunks a lot—but it seems to be doing more of its job. The plane involving backwards motion is still mostly inaccessible.

Today’s challenges are good ones to have as they revolve around managing energy levels. With pacing, it’s a day that looks completely within reach. I’ve thought that before, of course and been wrong, but I have a good feeling about the balance coming more into my favor, whether that is from me learning to manage it better or the energy levels improving, or some combination of the two.

So on a personal level, recovery seems well established even as there is a way to go yet. For that, we are counting our blessings. The state of the economy has us wondering what else we can or should be doing for others.