1. I can drive our cars now. That means I don't need to be transported by other (most willing) drivers. Moreover, it means I can contribute to the everyday sorts of things that keep our household running and the whole load is no longer on Debbie alone. That's been the case for just over a month now.
So, I got up this morning, leapt into the Camry, and blasted out to Walmart and a friendly Walmart employee delivered the groceries that Debbie ordered last night to the car.
I brought them home and each bag was light enough that I could carry them in the house and not risk straining my surgical site.
I realized, as I put the groceries away, that I wanted some things we didn't include in this order, so I opened an online account at Walmart, downloaded their app, made another order, and rocketed back to Walmart around 4 o'clock in the Sube and, once again, a friendly employee brought them out to the car.
2. I had wondered earlier in the day if I could actually drive the Sube. Would driving with a clutch be too much for my healing muscles and tissue in my lower abdomen?
I took a test drive late in the morning.
Debbie had loaded the back of the Sube with cardboard and I decided to take the cardboard to the recycling bin at the county transfer station.
No problem.
I didn't feel even a trace of discomfort as I worked the clutch.
The cardboard bin at the transfer station is below ground level, so it was easy for me to take just a few pieces of flattened cardboard at a time and drop them into the bin.
It required no lifting and put no strain on the surgical site.
So, yahoo!, I can drive both cars, do some light tasks, and be a contributor to the life of our household again.
3. As the surgical site continues to heal and as my new kidney continues to mature, the time is right for me to get out and walk. I've lost an awful lot of the gains I made before the surgery when I was going to either rehab or the Fitness Center about five times a week.
I've thought and thought about whether there's anywhere near Kellogg where I can walk in a loop, preferably near water. I sorely miss the Delta Ponds in Eugene and the walks I used to take around Greenbelt Lake when we lived in Maryland.
It doesn't meet my wishes for a loop around water, but the best place, to me, to walk around here is the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes and I'll return to it soon. Right now, I need flat places to walk (no hiking yet) and the Trail of the CdAs is mostly flat. I'll look for stretches that feature more benches. I currently don't have a lot of wind and I've lost some of the strength I built up in my legs from November to early May. I'll want to walk where I can also easily stop and rest.
So, that's my next project.
Now that I can drive, I can transport myself to trailheads along the CdAs and I'll start trying to determine which stretches work best for my current (temporary) needs.
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