Walking Spirit

The great news is that I'm still feeling well. My last day on the Antibiotics was last Saturday and there haven't been any signs of infection. At this point it's just a waiting game to see if I continue to feel well. Everything looks good, I feel good, and my white blood cell count suggests that there are no active infections! Also, my PT appointment went great and Renee feels that there's a lot of room for improvement in regards to the flexibility of my hip. Meaning the tendons and muscles are just contracted, instead of blocked! I have a lot of stretching to do between now and the day that Dr. Ertl writes a prescription for a new socket (approx. 4 weeks from now).

Since the accident I haven't been able to enjoy my back yard. There's always been a small 6'x10' deck directly off the house that had three narrow rickety steps that really prevented me from using my yard on a regular basis. For a long time now I've been thinking of extending my deck so that I could once again have functional space outside my house. I also wanted to be able to make use of my hammock again. I used to spend hours laying in the hammock, reading, on my days off. However, for the past two and a half years my hammock has hung empty in my garage.

I designed the new deck before I went into surgery on May 30th, intending to see it come to life during the month of June. Then the infection came and the month of June went down the toilet! However, between all of these surgeries I continued to think of the deck and refined the design. On July 5th a group of friends and family members began to make my dream into a reality.

I originally felt it could be finished after two days of hard work. That goal was a bit aggressive and we only had the frame work finished on Sunday evening. To my surprise several people contacted me throughout the week to see if they could come by and work on it in their spare time! My roommate and I also spent all of our spare time working on it. I can't express how great it made me feel to use power tools again and actually take part in the work instead of just supervise the volunteers. Last weekend we almost finished it and then my cousin Bruce Miller came over on Monday and completed the final finishing touches. (namely attaching all of the crosspieces on the 9ft tall pergolas!) When I'm not stretching I've spent most of my week out there. I can't wait till the weather cools off a little and I can enjoy it even more!

The pictures show the old deck after it's railing and steps had come off, and then multip[le shots of my new sanctuary! Let me know what you think! (Yes, that's me in the hammock...at last!)