28 days / 1 month

It has been one month post surgery. Today I took a trip to Ellensburg (my old college town) to meet up with two college friends for dinner. I rode over with a friend - about a 2 hour drive. We ate dinner together (fish and chips again... mmm, but becoming my staple food in restaurants because it's safe), shopped a bit at Fred Meyer, and had ice cream - then we went our separate ways and drove back. All in all, probably 9 hours of talking and being out - holy crud! By the time I got home my jaw was a bit swollen and my joints ached terribly... I was dizzy again, too. It was worth it, though :)

Next week I start back at Starbucks doing short 4 hour shifts. I'm starting back at the gym tomorrow, hoping to get my energy level back up by biking - walking is still a bit painful and it takes a lot out of my hip (at this point, somewhere between mile 2 and 3 walking my muscles start to freeze up and my hip starts to ache). I'm thinking that biking will help strengthen and stretch the muscles in a different, non-weight bearing way. I drove for the first time a few days ago, as well - I have avoided it this long because I've been struggling with dizzy spells and I feel awfully spaced out all the time, despite leaving the oxycodone behind over a week and a half ago.

I wore jeans for the first time today - I put a bandage over the incision on my hip to pad it, but was still pretty uncomfortable. Tomorrow is back to the sweats. Boo.

It's been a long road to get here, but SO worth it - I still have not had another migraine! In an ENTIRE MONTH, I've had ONE small migraine that was gone in a few hours. I am so grateful and awestruck by this lack of pain in my head.

Pictures - I really haven't been noticing day-to-day changes, so it was sure nice to see the major difference in the three-week versus four-week photos. Hurray!!