81 days

3 x 27 = 81 equals almost 3 months equals an hellacious long time.

Joe tells me that it takes 3 days for every one day spent in the hospital to get your strength back. For me, that is 81 days. In the meantime, I am as weak as a kitten. No. I'm weaker than circus lemonade. Weaker than my mother's coffee.

I still struggle with the stairs. I need every support I can find to make it up the 4 steps in the garage to the house. I do those stairs at least twice a day and they haven't gotten easier yet.

Yesterday, my pup, Sydney, left me a present in the closet - she barfed up her breakfast (dogs are so much fun). I tried to leave it until my baby sitter came to help me, but I found myself almost stepping in it over and over. So. I did what a normal person would do, I grabbed my rags and my Pet Enzyme spray and got down on my hands and knees and cleaned up the mess. And there I was: on my hands and knees in the closet and I couldn't stand up. Help. I'm cleaning and I can't get up. Totally humiliated, I crawled to the bathtub and used it to support myself to get to my feet.

All my usual go-tos for fitness fail me and I feel lost. I can't do weights. I can't do any machines. I can't even walk on the treadmill, yet. I can do chair yoga. I can walk around the house. I go downstairs to work on my quilts and slowly make my up the stairs a couple of times a day. I ask for help. A lot of help. And anyone who knows me well knows that that is the one thing I've always struggled with. My mother complained all the time: "You never ask for help. Ever since you were two-years-old, you want to do it yourself!" Joe always asks me do I need help? No I don't "NEED" help - I'm not helpless, but sometimes, I want help.

One week out. 3 x 27 - 7 = 74 days. Equals 2.4 months. I wish I knew a way to make it quicker.

In other news:

• I received the call yesterday about 6pm. My case was discussed at the weekly solid organ transplant meeting and I have been 'green-lighted' to be listed for a double-lung transplant. I still have more testing - none painful or invasive, that needs to be done and maintained while I'm listed; however, none of that gets in the way of 'getting my call.'
  
• Joe has delivered my Spike quilts to the kids - one for mom and one for dad. They were each delighted with their very specially designed quilts.
  
• I'm hoping for a very quiet weekend with my son, Alex. I enjoy spending time with him - he has very interesting viewpoints on all things political and we have some lively conversations.