The week started off not so well with my shoulder/arm hurting so much. You know how much I dislike taking medication, but the pain was so bad that I had to take something. I am definitely a wuss when it comes to pain and there were a number of tears shed in the first half of the week. I went to physiotherapy on Monday and he said to me that he thought it might have something to do with my rotator cuff or shoulder muscles (he used some long medical term). Anyway, he gave me some exercises to do (it is called 'the pendulum') and told me to take the pain medication as it would help with the inflammation. He also wanted me to continue to use the ice pack on it to help with that as well. I got a facial that afternoon and that really boosted my spirits.
On Tuesday, Dad and I drove up to Bundaberg (about 90 minutes away) to check out if they had any sales on their camping trailer being the week before Christmas. They didn't have any sales on, but we had another look at the 'Swan' which we want and had a sit down with one of the salesmen. We knew exactly what we wanted including all of the extras. He wrote everything down and went to his boss to get a quote. The boss actually did take some money off, but not that much. We told the salesman that we would think about it some more and call him back later this week.
On Wednesday, Dad and I went to visit with our friends, Faye and Bill, who just recently bought the same trailer as we are going to buy, to talk with them about what extras they added and why and to see how they felt about their purchase after using it to travel a long distance just recently. They gave us some good ideas and suggestions and advice. After talking with them and talking it over with each other, Dad and I decided that we wanted to add one more extra to our list - an outside shower and hot water system. That costs $1,700, so I asked Dad to write an email and ask the salesman, Kurt, to see what deal he could get for us if we added that to the list. He came back to say they could give it to us for an extra $1,500. I asked Dad to email back and ask for the extra cost to be only $1,000. (after all, we were spending a TON of money to buy this camping trailer). Kurt called Dad back and said it was a go and we put a ten percent downpayment on it right then and there. We are both really excited about getting it even though we have to wait until March to have it delivered as it won't be on the production line until then.
I went back to the physiotherapist again on Thursday, but hadn't taken any painkillers before the appointment as I didn't know if I should or if he would want to see what my shoulder/arm was like without the meds. It was so painful, though, so he couldn't work on me at all. We just talked about what was going on with my shoulder and he told me that it could take up to six weeks for it to heal. That was a bit of a disappointment since we are going on our cruise in two weeks. He told me that taking the pain meds was very important (even though I don't like taking them) as it would allow me to do the exercises without the same amount of pain I had been experiencing. So, I upped them to the max and it has been amazing how much it has helped along with the exercising. I am getting more movement in my arm and I am having to take less meds in just that short amount of time. So, I am feeling more positive about how much longer I will have to take the Advil and Tylenol and also about how long it might take to get this shoulder/arm back to normal.
I read something this week from President Monson about when we experience challenges - he said that "such difficulties allow us to change for the better, to become something different from what we were - more understanding than we were, more empathetic than we were...' which really helped me be less pessimistic about my 'challenge'. Although this shoulder/arm pain may not be a challenge for someone else, it has been a big one for me. When I read this quote, I thought about how I have more understanding now about what Grandma Martin has to go through living with constant pain every day and also how I feel more empathy for Dad now with what he has had to deal with in his back pain. I also feel grateful that, even though I have had to go through this now, it happened at a 'good' time in that it started on Dad's last day of work. See, there is always a silver lining in every cloud.
Dad picked up our kayaks today! We have been wanting to buy kayaks for ages and when we were down in Melbourne a big sale came on in the camping store in HB, so we ordered them online and the manager kept them for us in the back of the store until Dad could come and get them. They look fabulous and we can't wait to get out on them (once this shoulder of mine gets better). Mine is white and purple and Dad's is white and blue. We still have to buy life jackets, seats and paddles - we are waiting for a good sale to come on in the camping store since we are not in a rush to get them.
Today has been a really lovely and restful day. We started out going to church this morning - they just had Sacrament meeting and the talks were really good. It was nice to see everyone again and to catch up a little on what has been going on since we were last here in HB. After that, we came home and had a lovely Christmas lunch (barbecued lamb chops with salads); watched a church video about Jesus; made an advent calendar to start using next year; listened to Christmas music and watched a tv Christmas program with Andre Rieu. We finished off our wonderful Christmas Day with pavlova.😃
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