Week 15 - Back in the Routine

Welcome back!  I’m really not sure for the best way to format these weekly updates, to I’ll just try a chronological summary of the week for starters.  We’ll see how that goes…

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Friday was probably my best day at work all week long.  I had virtually no discomfort in my groin, which told me that I was sore simply from using muscles that hadn’t been used in a while (as well as having had holes poked in them!)  I was walking at a normal pace (early in the week, it was painful to walk too fast), and just felt great.

When I got home, I fixed dinner and decided to throw a load of laundry in the wash (to free up more time on Saturday).  As I went to get my dirty laundry, I was suddenly attacked by an spring-cleaning urge to clean out my closet.

I pulled out clothes and shoes that I hadn’t worn since the Roosevelt administration (Teddy).  Those that seemed to have good life in them (although out of style) went into a bag for Goodwill.  The rest went into my rag bin or the trash.

To celebrate the end of taking my antibiotics, cleaning my closet, and the end of my first week back, I opened a bottle of Sam Adams—my first since the holidays.

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With my chores out of the way Friday night, I decided to head to Indianapolis on Saturday for the first time since Christmas.  I did it in the name of research.

I’m still a bit nervous about being out for extended periods of time with my mild incontinence.  I want to make sure that nothing silly will happen on longer trips, so each time I go out, I try to make it a little longer just to see what happens.  So far, so good. 

I’ll have to admit that when I see a restroom, there’s a good chance that I’ll take advantage of it while I’m there.  I’m probably being a bit too cautious, but there are still a few occasions where my bladder tells me “Go NOW!” and I really don’t have a lot of time to find a bathroom.

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Sunday was a pretty quiet day around the house.  It got off to a slow start. I woke early to use the bathroom, and the next time I looked at the clock, it was after 11:00 AM!  Yikes.  I guess that first week of work and activity caught up with me.

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Work on Monday was pretty much the same as it was 8 weeks ago.  I opened my spreadsheet at 8:00 AM, started doing updates, and had my report out by mid-afternoon.  I’m not sure if it’s good to be back in the routine (rut) or not.  J 

Monday night was a bit hellish.  I just kept running to the bathroom: 12:00 AM, 1:15 AM; 2:30 AM; 4:30 AM.  When the alarm went off at 6:30 AM, I knocked it across the room and rolled over for a few extra minutes of sleep.  Next thing I know, it’s 8:00 AM.  Ooops!

Not sure why I had to run to the bathroom so many times…  I stop drinking in quantity after supper just to prevent that very thing from happening.

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After Monday night’s episode, Tuesday was a long day at work, especially considering there were two hour-and-a-half long meetings and another hour-long meeting in the day.

The day ended with a run to Kroger to restock groceries and another load of laundry (I try to do a load a night during the week so I don’t have to worry about it on the weekend).

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Wednesday started with my weekly meeting (there’s that routine (rut) thing again), and lunch was spent with a friend trying to solve the world’s problems.  No solutions.  Yet.  Another load of laundry in the evening (whites).

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And that brings us to today—Week 15.  It was another day of conference calls and meetings.  But I did try one thing different.

Many of my little incontinence episodes through the week occurred when I stood up from a seated position.  To try and minimize them, I had been standing up rather slowly, doing my best to follow my Kegel exercises and contract my muscles to prevent anything from happening.

Last night and today, I said the heck with it and just stood up.  Guess what?  I seemed to have fewer incidents.

And I'm wrapping up the evening with a load of colors in the laundry,

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All in all, it was a good week.  Things seem to keep getting better, even though the pace is slower than I’d like.  I’d also like to figure out a way to keep from running to the bathroom all night long—that’s getting a bit old and quite tiring.  Patience.