It never changes...

Can you remember when you were a little kid, and everything seemed to be taking forever: Christmas arriving; the calendar rolling around to your birthday every year; trips to anywhere in a car; getting to that magic age where the next cool thing was in your realm (riding the "big boy" roller coasters at Cedar Point, staying up past 8pm, driving, voting, having a drink)...you get the idea. Do you recall that time - that feeling of anticipation, eagerness, the ants in your pants?

Well, now it's my turn, and I am itching to get back to walking, maybe some work on the exercise ball. The fact that I have been warned to take it very easy, "cautiously return to your routine" - is a little fear-inducing, I have to admit. I have been told to avoid doing anything which would stress the abdominal muscles and the corresponding/neighboring tissue.

Well, how do you do that!?!? There isn't anything that our amazing bodies do which doesn't utilize those core muscles.

The doctor said there was no way of knowing if there are any further weak areas within the peritoneal lining, so there may be another tear and resulting hernia - so just be careful. I wonder if a perforated bowel is any easier to predict.

Are you kidding?! Seriously...no push-ups, no sit-ups, no core Pilate's? That exercise ball targets the abdominal region for nearly everything. And my mid-section needs the focus, so how do I go about strengthening without jeopardizing?

Returning to normal routines is going to be a bit like walking on eggshells...on a tightrope, over the Grand Canyon, on a windy day.

So, maybe bike riding and casual walking for the time being will be ok. Short rides and tolerable walking distances for a while...I've already been warned about avoiding hills (and I live at the top of one), so as not to overdo.

I've been waiting for the end of the month so I can at least try getting back into light gardening, but have been told no excessive bending (none at all if it is possible), so there goes the weeding, and certainly not much shovel work. Wish this had happened last year, or at least over the holidays, then my waiting period wouldn't have bleed into the outdoor season.

Nope, it never changes. I feel like a little kid sitting at her classroom desk, the anticipation of summer stretching before me - just beyond the walls and doors - waiting for the last school bell of the year to ring, so that I can go happily on my way.