[jessmith07]

Mark,

As I recall, when you caught Catherine and I on the balcony in our PJ's, it was rather chilly out......so probably not (Ladies, I'm sure you know what I mean). I'll try and figure it out...I have a lot of photos that I want to upload onto the web (like snap fish, maybe), so maybe I'll try what you suggested later.

Yesterday was a lazy day in the hotel. I didn't go anywhere until Marty came back from work. I forced myself to rest and nap, and honestly, it didn't do much good; all it did was keep me awake until 4:00 this morning But we went on our treck to the tower, taking the underground Metro to get there, and spent about an hour just standing in line. This wasn't very good as my back and hip muscles prefer to be moving about, and my left foot started swelling. After about 20 minutes of standing, I remembered that I could tighten up the back brace a little more, and once I did that, it helped relieve the soreness of standing. We finally made it to the top, where I quickly found out that I was way underdressed! It was windy and cold, plus it was getting late and we were hungry, so we didn't stay too long.

This morning, I woke up with mild aches and pains, but my meds had worn off in the night, so once I had some breakfast and took 2 lortabs, I'm feeling better. I've noticed that my hip muscles get very achey, and I attribute that to the streching of my spine due to the restored disc height, and the fact that the brace might be helping to settle some of the "load" (for lack of a better term) onto my hips. Plus, I've been doing a lot of walking that I haven't been able to do in months, and it feels wonderful! Besides, I'll take muscle aches over that little man who used to follow me around stabbing me in the spine with a hot poker any day of the week!!!

I still have some weakness in my left leg that I'm sure is due to the surgical site being on my left side, as there is mild pain in the leg directly below the incision when I try to lift it. My incision is healing and itching like crazy! My belly is still distended and swollen from the surgery; I look about 4 months pregnant. How long does THAT last?

Anyway, I might venture out today a little, but not too far, as Hubby will come home from work tonight and play tour guide for me...this is my first time here, but he's been here jillions of times for work....I know, poor him! (Sweetie, I know you're reading this, and I LOVE YOU!!! )

I'll try to call treefrog tonight. I've got her number at the hotel, and I've been watching closely for her to post anything, but since I haven't seen her online, I'll call and see how she's doing and give an update, if she says it's okay.



Au revior for now
Jess