Periods of Activity

(Practical Reflections, Part II)

"Pace your daily activities to avoid fatigue, alternate periods of activity with rest."  That is the first line of instructions in my discharge papers under the heading: "Ms. Spencer's Activity After Discharge."  Makes sense, really.  Be smart about what you're doing so you don't do too much, too quickly.  I'm fortunate, my nurses were clear with me that daily activity really means laying on the couch.  I thought I'd share with you, though, what some of my periods of activity and rest have been.

Periods of activity include the following, with the appropriate rest described after:
*Walking from the bedroom to the kitchen for coffee, down the hall to the living room and sitting on the couch to watch Abby welcome the day with her various antics.
Rest - 20-30 minutes sitting to gather energy for the next foray for 2nd cup of coffee
*Walk back to bedroom to change clothes, very strategically pull on shorts and t-shirt, go sit down to eat breakfast with my girls.
Rest - 1 hour of semi-awakeness laying on couch, attempting to focus enough to read a book but really just holding the book to make myself feel more human
*Walk out of house, down 1/2 the block and back at the approximate speed of a turtle.
Rest - 1.5 hours of deep, drug-induced sleep.
*Go to breakfast at local restaurant.  1.5 mile car ride each way, 1 hour alertness in the real world.
Rest - 6 hours on the couch, narcotics and ibuprofen as comfort aids, with 2 slow walks to the bathroom and back plus a 15 minute upright period for lunch.
*A phone call about work, breakfast, talking with Shannon about her day, getting Abby ready for school (she's figured out how to help me help her get ready w/out me having to lift her at all), hugging my girls good-bye, blogging
Rest - I'm thinking it's going to be a 1.5 hour nap.  I'll let you know how it turns out when I wake up.