Oct 14: Sat

Hi all! It's a good thing that I don't go by comments left, or else I would think that no one but Deneen was reading this anymore! But, since many people tell me that they check regularly and don't leave a comment, I will keep on updating.

In a better mood than last post (that wouldn't have taken much). Pain in the front from the costochondritis seems to finally be improving, although bending over still very painful. Shoulder, side and back all have decreased in intensity, although frequently rear their heads. I drove 2 miles yesterday to test out my ability to drive stick shift (to and from pedicure: the important things in life!). Couldn't push the shift down and in to back up, but used my left hand to help. While I don't want to drive for long periods, it wasn't horrible, although the pain did increase some, especially in the front. Tomorrow I'm going to try driving Mom to the grocery store, which is less than 2 miles, and see how things go.

I'm concerned about not leaving the house in that I don't know what my stamina will be. I am shooting for returning to work part-time the week of October 30, so I need to know if I can shower, dress, drive and do anything at a location before I can return to work. I've already discussed with my boss, and I will start out in the office doing stress tests, which is physically much easier. At least there are two full weeks before then, so I can hopefully build up strength. I am walking for 20 mins on the treadmill, up to .65 miles as of this morning. I will either go again on the treadmill or go for a walk now in the afternoons to continue to build up strength. As the pain decreases, I will be able to do more. Main accomplishment of late has been almost finishing cleaning out and reorganizing my filing system--a real chore!

So, better than last week and hope to start improving more in the next couple of weeks.

Thanks for checking in, Laurie