Saturday, March 13, 2010

post op day 36 - 1st day out

Energy - fantastic!  but overexertion brings it back to an extreme low
Pain - 1

I couldn’t ask for a finer March day for my first outing. The destination: Gallery reception. As an alumnus, my work is being sold at the Faculty and Alumni auction to raise scholarship money.

The stairs have keep me prisoner in my own tower for six weeks. My first voluntary venture down the stairs goes better than planned a an I make it down the stairs in “record” time – one step at a time. Crutches down, swing, rest, repeat.

On the side walk, I loose steam after the first 100 feet. Normally this journey takes 25 minutes door-to-door. Non-weight bearing crutch “walking” is one of the most strenuous activities ever! Have I lost that much muscle being bedridden for 6 weeks? Or am I sweating profusely due to supporting myself with mostly upper body strength rather that the normal lower body strength?

It takes us almost 25 minutes to go a ¼ mile! By then I’m too tired to “hop” on the escalator. In fact I even get a touch of vertigo.

To the Elevator! Drat those elevators on opposite sides of the station. This adds an extra block of hopping. By the time we get down town I’m really exhausted. I can’t go more than a 100 feet before I need to rest. I steal a moment at every available chair from each sidewalk café along the way.

I arrive at the gallery sweating and exhausted. Fortunately, my office is upstairs. I lay down and rest for an hour! I miss the auction, but am refreshed enough to mingle at the closing reception. Each of my pieces has a red dot – that’s a good sign!



The auction brought in more than $20,000! Woo hoo! 50% of the proceeds to the the School of Photography Student Scholarship fund.

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