Hi Sweetie!
Surgery finally done!! Following their instructions to a T, I got up at 3:40, took a shower (again) and used their special soap, dressed in my scrubs, leashed up Lola, and sat out at the picnic table by 4:10 waiting for my ride. Jo was a little late (and a little cranky, obviously not a morning person! Love her anyway!) and arrived about 4:30. We had just enough time to drop off Lola at her house before heading to West Marion Hospital. We arrived at 5:25, so we made it by my 5:30 deadline, yay! Got signed in and proceeded with the prep, until they took me into surgery around 7:30, the first patient of the day apparently! I woke up in recovery, I think it was around 10:30, feeling a bit lightheaded but otherwise, in good shape. I did have some pain in my knee, which surprised me only because the last time when they did my right knee, the nerve block was so complete, I couldn't feel my leg at all for about 24 hours. Not the case this time, but I actually liked it better, I could feel my leg, and the pain was about the same as before the surgery, so it's only going to decrease from here, which will be great. During my pre-surgery interview, though, they discovered I lived alone, and apparently their protocol insists that I have someone with me for the first 24 hours. Since I hadn't planned on that, the best option was just to stay in the hospital overnight. I didn't really want to, but it really turned out for the best. I got the good drugs and had great room service, and they fed me more food than I would eat in three days, so I probably gained weight while I was there. The night nurse, Darlene, did a great job of combining overnight visits, so I ended up with only a few interruptions, and slept great in between, so I actually had a pretty good night sleep (with earplugs, of course). In the morning I had visits from the PA, the surgeon, occupational therapy, physical therapy where I got to take a walk with a walker and had to take some stairs to prove I knew how to get up and down them. Everyone was impressed with my progress, but really, it feels just about the same as what I've been dealing with for several months now, so no problem. I was finally discharged at 1:00, and DeDe arrived early, and we left just as soon as that was done. I packed up and then got wheeled downstairs while she got her truck. Stopped at Jo's to pick up Lola, who appeared nice and exhausted, then got a call that we had forgotten my packet of discharge papers! Fortunately, my other friend Michelle has offered to go pick them up for me tomorrow. I'm so grateful to have a circle of friends so willing to help! Ranger Rick is going to bring me a cooler full of ice tomorrow, which will help me get through the weekend. I took two walks around the camp loop this evening, have done a few of my exercises, and kept the ice machine on the whole time. I'm supposed to keep it on, so I have to refill it with ice and put it up in my bedroom somewhere. I don't recall doing that last time, but it certainly won't hurt. Took my last bunch of pills, no shower tonight, heading straight to bed! Good night, darlin'! Love you!
Archives for 2025
Sunday, May 4, 2025 – Laundry and Housekeeping
Hey Sweetie,
Had a terrible night sleep, couldn’t figure out why until I started researching the PowerAde drink I’ve been having lately, turns out there’s a lot of caffeine in it, even though a lot of websites claim there is NO caffeine in it. My knee was bother me a bit as well, so I was off and on dozing all night. Finally woke up to a bad thunderstorm around 4:00 a.m., when Lola insisted on crawlying into bed with me. I wouldn’t mind if she stayed over on one side or at the foot, but she insists on creeping all the way up to the spare pillow, which I use to rest my phone on when I’m reading, so it got a bit uncomfortable for awhile. It rained solidly until nearly 7:00, and I was very happy when I checked it later and didn’t find any leaks, thank goodness. Spent the day doing laundry and some housekeeping, following my pre-surgery regimen. Watched an incredible movie called Cosmos, incredible because it literally had a $7000 budget, took five years to make, and still looked very impressive. I found it intriguing because it was a male buddy film without the violence, which doesn’t happen very often. The best element of all was the score, which had a magnificent John Williams feel to it, and really kept the film moving along. The actors and crew all wrote, directed and did all the actually crew work, so it was obviously quite the labor of love. They still managed to capture an amazing amount of tension considering it was mostly filmed inside a car. Highly recommended! Anyway, it was a fairly relaxing day, trying to catch up on my rest before surgery on Wednesday, can’t wait! I mostly ignored it until this evening, when I decided to do another heat/ice treatment, and that actually is causing me more pain than I’ve had all day! Think I’m going to quit doing that! Almost done with tea, etc., so I’ll say good night, my darlin’! Love you!
Thursday, May 1, 2025 – Surgery Finally Approved! (Well, Sort Of) Roof Mostly Done
Monday, April 28, 2025 – One Good Thing, One Disaster
Hey Sweetie,
Sorry to say my premonition came true today. Lola and I spent almost the entire day at the mechanic’s shop, arriving before 10:00. They had the new AC control panel on hand and replaced it, only to find that it still didn’t work properly, which they didn’t confirm until after lunch, then had to find another part locally, which they did (and I don’t understand why they didn’t do that last week!), and finally, that one seems to be working correctly. Thankfully, they didn’t charge me anything, but it was a mostly wasted day. I stopped at Ace after that and picked up some coax ends, not the same as that’s in there, but I can’t seem to find those anywhere. Hopefully I can get it to work. When I got back home, they still hadn’t delivered my package, but then they must have snuck in after that, because it ended up being in my package box. They claim it was delivered at 2:30, but I know that can’t be true, because I didn’t get home until way after that. Too late to do anything with it by the time I found it, it was already threatening to rain, and rain it did! Despite putting the tarp on, it rained so hard that it pooled and rolled with gravity, and ended up spilling onto the ceiling, and once again coming out of light fixtures, this time right over my recliner while I was watching a movie. What a mess! Then the fixture next to it started leaking as well, so I spread towels everywhere, and brought out my little cleaning pail to catch some too. Now I’m going to have to take down a couple of these fixtures so I can monitor when it’s dry enough to do the sealant, I sure don’t want to trap all the moisture in there. I just hope it didn’t get into the walls. Sigh… All that work to avoid exactly what ended up happening, just because Amazon was late on my delivery. Not a happy camper from that! And I just checked the forecast and it’s supposed to rain again tomorrow afternoon, so now I have to decide whether to try to put the sealant on before it does. It needs four hours to be waterproof, and if I miss that mark, it will probably end up being all moldy like the last time. A decision for tomorrow. But still glad I have working AC in my truck now. Strangely, I found some tomato plants growing under my trailer by the water inlet, even though there was no soil there, only gravel. I had decided I would try to put them in a pot and maybe be able to have a little garden on the road. I had already started some herbs about a week ago and they’re coming in nicely. So of the three things I miss about not having a house, i.e. a garden, a hot tub, and chickens, I seem to have acquired two out of three! Overall, life is good, so I can’t complain when a get a little rain, literally. Well, not too much. Anyway, time for bed! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!