Stronger Each Day

This morning, I had a surprise phone call from a very good friend and we enjoyed a really nice visit.  Not long after, I went for a walk with another close friend and then we had quinoa salad for lunch here at home.  I was so pleased that I was able to walk a little farther before I started to pant and tire.  I even managed to push myself to walk up a hill during the walk.  So far I've avoided hills as they take a lot of energy out of me.  My friend and I had a great visit which continued throughout our meal.  After lunch, we moved to the patio and enjoyed the outdoors while we sat in the shade of the patio umbrella.

While we sat on the patio, I regained some of my energy.  Once my friend left, I worked on weeding one of my flowerbeds which has been neglected.  Once I had an area cleared of the weeds and looking good, I was able to transplant some of my red pepper plants. This activity left me tired and so I spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in the shade on the patio and reading a book.  I'm discovering that once I've used up my energy, I may get some of it back but it is more short-lived.  I'm slowly getting stronger each day and my stamina is slowly increasing.  I just find that I'm impatient to get on with living.  I love gardening and playing in the dirt so it is a little frustrating when my activities are curtailed due to a sudden tiredness.

I'm not complaining because I do see the improvement each day.  My doctor told me last week that I would feel much better in about 3 weeks or so.  Tonight was the first time that I was able to handle helping to do the grocery shopping with my husband.  I don't know that I was much of a help as he has become very efficient in the shopping area.  It was nice to go along for the walk though.  However, after the second store, I was too tired to go on.  So I sat in the van and people watched while my husband finished the rest of the shopping.

I'm very tired tonight but in a good way.  It is very satisfying to have been able to do some new activities and extend myself further in some of the other activities.  I just need to continue to be patient with myself.  My hair is starting to grow back.  You can now tell where my hairline is and I have areas of my head where it looks like I have smudges of dirt.  The hair isn't long enough for the wind to move yet but you can see the shadow of it.  We think it is red but we can't tell if it is curly.  It does look like it is coming in thicker.  It was very thick before so I don't know how I'll get a brush or comb through it if it grows even thicker.