Tuesday, June 21, 2022

 Tuesday, June 21, 2022

 

   Another wonderful night's sleep. I woke early. Scott took Elsa out for a walk at 5:15. Yvette needed to walk at that hour because she had appointments early in the day. I did a round of my exercises before getting up. I was good about doing my prescribed exercises so far. My sciatica was bothering me. I was looking forward to the pain medication.

   As I went about my morning business, feeding Elsa and getting my breakfast. I was addled. I had no idea why I was so confused; it was scary. When would I recover from the impact of the surgery and all the accompanying chemicals?

   I started the morning with a good fifteen rounds of FreeCell. I do that when I don't feel up to anything else. It took me time to post up the daily blog post.

    M & W's father called. We were still setting up a schedule for me to work with the girls over the summer. They had been on Oahu for the last two weeks because their grandfather died, and the extended family had gathered there. Their father proposed Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday mornings. It was early enough that I could have started today, but I wasn't feeling up for it.   I proposed we start on Thursday.

  I did the Wordle puzzle for the day. Shortly before surgery, I missed a word, album. It wasn't the first time I did that, but for the most part, I got them at least by the sixth try. That failure hit me hard. I became avoidant. It was an interesting lesson since I was dealing with that problem with adolescent D.  I hadn't done much of anything immediately after the surgery.   I finally started back up again. I approached it more randomly, sticking to words I knew couldn't be correct to try out letters and placement. Being playful is the key to most of life.

  I drove for the first time since the surgery. It felt weird. I've gone without driving for two weeks before, but this felt different. I think I felt hungover or drunk. I had to be super vigilant. I made it there and back without incident.

  The PT evaluated my progress. I learned sleeping 16 hours a day after this surgery was normal. She also reminded me to do ankle pumps to keep up my circulation and reduce swelling. Diaphragmatic breathing was also good for reducing swelling and icing, of course. She also showed me how to gently massage the thigh to move the lymph fluid, like stroking a cat.

      I stopped off at Safeway on my home. I was delighted to find I wasn't exhausted after the PT session. I bought Campari tomatoes, two bags of Hersey's milk chocolate kisses with whole almonds, one jar of Better than Bullion vegetarian soup, two half-pound blocks of Irish butter on sale, and two avocados. I ate one of the avocados and one of the tomatoes the moment I got home. I was hungry. 

  By the time I got home, I didn't have much time to nap before my tutoring session with adolescent D.  I started with the want/ went discrimination he had trouble with after asking him about his cross-country adventure. He didn't provide details, but it was clear he had a great time.

    I continued working with him on his negative attitude to using conscious processes to internalize and memorize new material. I asked his mother about his tendency not to use metacognitive strategies to get things done. She said he was always that way. He may have created his own learning problems by refusing to use the learning strategies most people use. He wants everything to come without effort. If he had to make an effort, he thought it meant something was wrong with him. It evoked shame. We spent the session tackling his belief and accompanying feelings. I had no idea how I would get him to learn if we didn't break this cycle. We didn't do any work on reading.

    At three pm, I joined the Community Building session with the Step Up Tutoring led by Ethan. Only three people were in attendance when I joined. It wound up they were all members of the planning group. I asked Ethan if the information I sent him on the questioning process made sense. He said yes, and he shared it with others. He recommended me to everyone he spoke to. Very flattering. I'm even impressed by how much I know and how much I have to share with others. I want to get the method into the schools, but teachers are not interested. It isn't evidence-based. They could incorporate the method a few minutes a week, and it would make a difference. It demonstrates how to figure out words on your own. Using this approach improved my reading.

   Ethan asked if I had a game they could use. I thought of the Gating Game, a language program I developed. I would like help refining this as a game with a reliable point system. I used a sentence from Cylin's book, "The White House Cat,' It was out of context and would have been difficult for anyone. The three participants were a little stunned by the difficulty. I told them I had done this game with third graders but provided more context before launching them into the game. I had to leave at 3:15 to drop off Elsa at Petco for grooming.

  Scott offered to drop her off and pick her up. I decided to do the drop-off myself because I thought it would be stressful enough for her to be groomed. If she had Scott drive her, which he had never done before, and drop her off, she might be scared.

   I didn't think I could handle the walker and Elsa on a leash. I took a walking stick to use as a cane. My leg was killing me after that short excursion. I was surprised at how bad it was. The PT said some people stay on the walker for a month. It looked like I was going to be one of those people.

  As Elsa and I approached the front door of Petco, she pooped. I didn't have a bag on me. Petco has a bag dispenser in the parking lot. A couple walked out as I stood there. I asked the young woman if she would do me a favor a get a bag. Not only did she do that, but she also stooped to pick the poop herself. I love living in Hawaii. As Elsa and I waited to be checked in, she peed on the floor. 

  I asked the groomer about pick-up. Scott had checked. Petco closed at 8 pm. He would make sure he got there in time to get her. When I asked the groomers, they said they go home at 6 pm. Elsa was their last for the day. I contacted Scott. He had a dinner date with a friend. It would mess up his plans. I decided I would pick her up too. I had the walker with me this time. I asked the groomer if she could take Elsa out to the car. She deposited her in the front seat.

    I saw a potted plant sitting by the front door when I got home with her. I assumed someone else had ordered flowers from the florist. So far, I've had two deliveries. I would check it later to find out it was one of my neighbors around the block who learned I had surgery and wished me well. It wasn't someone I saw often. I have no idea how they learned about my surgery.

   I let Elsa out of the car, unleashed. She usually goes right to the front door. She started heading that way, turned around, and ran into the yard. Any dog off a leash is a concern. I called. No response. I walked over to where I saw her run. There she was. She needed to take another poop. Good girl.