It's beginning to look alot like Christmas

 

I recently had a plumber over to the house;

don't worry, turned out to be nothing major!

 

Anyway, as he was looking around the house, he said,

"Boy, my wife would LOVE your house. How do you get this look?"

 

My answer? 

"You go antiquing or junking part of every weekend for 50 years."

He laughed, saying "No, really, how?"

Sorry pal, I wasn't kidding.

 

And no season shows my love of all things vintage more than our current one.

Objects and memories come flooding back everywhere I look.

Recommend by those who have visited with me so far!

However you're getting through this Advent Season,

may you be surrounded by those you love

and the things that remind you of them!.

Time does, in fact, march on

 I'm back; 

doing what needs to be done,

even if more slowly and more gingerly than before.

The evolution of a Total Knee Replacement:

at 1, 3, 5 and 7 weeks post op.

I also have the addition of yet one more odd and rarely heard of diagnosis on my medical chart. 

 

I was officially diagnosed with SONK - Spontaneous Osteo-necrosis of the Knee.

This finding, combined with the misdiagnosed depressed tibia fracture - 

which carved a groove into the adjacent bone -

created some of the most intense pain I've ever had.

So much so that the pain of surgery didn't come close 

to what I'd experienced for the 6 months prior to surgery. 

2 hours after surgery, when I bore weight on my new knee joint,

it was such a significant improvement that I knew the procedure was the right thing to do.

Now, 8 weeks out, I'm going up and down steps,

slowly tackling yard work,

doing my own grocery shopping 

and looking forward to a more 'normal' existence.

 

Ice packs are still my best friends at night whle watching TV

and I won't be taking risks walking on icy sidewalks this winter

but progress is being made. 

During recovery,

a grandson turned 5 

and seasons changed.

                                   Best of all, my favorite holiday is just around the corner.

I thought it would take me longer to get the boxes and trees up from the basement

but it was so nice to be doing something and 'normal',

I got through it in 2 days.

Now, all I have to do is sit back and enjoy;

and don't worry;

I won't turn the lights on until closer to Thanksgiving.

 

Thanks for your concerns and emails -

and for being patient.

I'll be back soon.

So THIS happened on the way to the OR

 It was my surgery date.

I arrived and registered in admitting (8am),

received a blessing and anointing from my pastor

and was wheeled to the pre-op area

where I got an IV placed.

Consents were signed for surgery.

I was given 2 extra strength Tylenol

and Oxycontin,

"to help with uptake of the medication" during surgery.

Then I waited for my Surgeon to finish his first case.

He came in right at 10,

looking not great - 

and he was leaning against the door frame 

as he stood in the doorway.

When he started speaking, his voice was barely audible;

it was raspy and strained.

He stated he had only cancelled 2 previous surgeries in 39 years of practice;

I was to be the third.

 

He felt awful

"but it is not in your best interest to have me operate on you this morning".

He struggled through his first case -

although he assured me (and himself)? that that patient was going to be fine;

but he was too ill to do another surgery.

I was to go home, he was going home

 and his office would call and reschedule my surgery 

when he was feeling better.

 

Here's the thing.

I've worked in a hospital for 4 decades.

I know the physicians are as human as anyone else;

they get sick.

They deserve some grace while they get well.

 

I appreciated his honesty, even if disappointed with the outcome.

My IV was pulled and I was sent home.

The Oxycontin lasted long enough for me to do grocery shopping

(since I had nothing in the house - 

since church members were graciously supplying meals for the next 3+ weeks.) 

 

I've been gimping along waiting for surgery to be rescheduled.

I'm now back on the OR schedule for 9/8. 

Fingers and toes crossed -

we'll all try again.

 

I've had energy to sit on the deck and watch storm fronts roll in,

cheer this one on as he starts preschool

and wonder how in the world my house became inhabited by an old person??

Surgery next week ... we'll try again!

Missing In Action

DON"T put out any APB's on me,

although I expect to be gone from this site for several weeks.

 

I won't truly be missing,

just deeply immersed in the medical system,

including rehab, inpatient and outpatient,

while getting, and getting used to, bionic parts.

Getting older and dealing with the travails that go along with it

has become a full time job;

just trying to get my house ready for a stint of recuperating in it - 

with people coming and going to assist -

has been exhausting.

 

There ARE perks

and I WILL have help

                                                          and beauty and abundance to distract me

Not gonna lie;

I'm not a fan of pain and I know I've got some coming my way.

I can only hope its less than what I've been living with every day for 4 months!

 

To maximize a calm recovery, 

I'm going to be as 'disconnected' from social media as possible.

See you on the other side of surgery.

A MIchigan state of mind

Different cast of characters, 

completely different scenery,

(quieter, but no less beautiful)

different drama,

and same intention:

to see and spend time with folks I love,

get hugs from vaccinated family

and, in this case, say Goodbye to a beloved great nephew

leaving for Boston this week to start law school.

The trip started off smoothly enough ...

I left immediately after a doctors visit and lab work, 

expecting to be in Grand Rapids in the early evening.

Outside Chicago, however, I got a call from the doctor -

not his office, him - 

telling me I needed to go to an ER, get additional labwork

and I'd probably need to be given 2 bags of IV fluids;

my lab results showed a huge spike in numbers indicating some degree of renal failure.

I pulled over to remind him I was out of town and, after much discussion,

it was decided I'd continue to GR and seek care there, with family to help as needed.

A quick call to my niece and her husband 

and arrangements were made for me to head for Three Oaks, 

a small farming community between Chicago and Grand Rapids where extended family has a farm.

I was to wait there and my niece and nephew would come get me 

to relieve me from the rest of the drive.

Long story short, 

I spent from 10PM - 2:30AM in the ER of a hospital in Grand Rapids, 

having confirmatory labwork and receiving bags of IV fluids.

It was a great ER experience; the staff couldn't have been nicer and

THANK GOD FOR ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORDS.

I was able to pull up on my phone all of my lab work, 

tests and notes from previous MDs visits

and the doc in MI called the exhcnage and spoke direclty to my primary.

It was excellent coordination of care.

 

(Spoiler alert:

The upshot of this event is that I have now had a renal ultrasound, 

more lab work and am scheduled to see a Nephrologist next week.

My labs have, for the most part, returned to near normal - 'normal' being a relative term.

 Sometimes, you can't avoid drama; it finds you.)

We spent the rest of the weekend, sitting on  the front porch and back deck

exchanging stories and truths;

laughing and crying -

because that's what family is for.

It was just what I needed.

 

The window on the landing.

The medical saga continued once I was home:

Apparently my left knee decided that 71 years of service is enough.

(Which is surprising since that was my GOOD knee; 

my right knee was the one with the most changes related to RA.)

I had a consultation with a new Orthopedic Surgeon and he took additional xrays.

Yes, I did have a meniscal tear, 

but I also had a small depressed tibia fracture, right where the tibia joins the patella.

It wasn't caught on the first set of xrays due to the tremendous amount of swelling.

There would have been nothing they could do about it - 

couldn't cast it and wouldn't have done surgery to lift the small bone back into position,

based on risk vs benefit ratio-

however, the small jagged surface of the bone was enough 

to continue to shred the meniscus 

and completely obliterate the cushioning between  my knee/leg,

resulting in bone on bone contact and unrelenting pain for nearly 4 months. 

In the words of the Surgeon, "there's no coming back from this".

I'm scheduled for a total knee replacement at the end of August -

IF I can get clearance from my Rheumatologist, Oncologist, Primary and now Nephrologist.

There's concern that my kidney/liver may not be able to metabolize the drugs needed for surgery

and the Anesthesiologist might refuse to put me under.

 

Trying not to dwell on either the pain of getting a new knee

OR the pain of NOT getting a new knee.

Trying to stay in the moment -

and take it as it comes.

Prayers and overall good vibes would be greatly appreciated though.

Whirlwind

Where has the month gone?

Two road trips,

(New Mexico and Michigan -

states so different, yet each one containing people I love);

multiple trips to doctors, various diagnostic tests 

and even a trip to an ER in MI

to test the limits of both my insurance 

and my patience.

Just rolling with life over here,

trying to keep my head above water

and partying on.

The road trip to New Mexico had the required stop in Lucas, KS 

to see the Garden of Eden.

 

These concrete figures, representing both biblical and political figures,

as well as the concrete 'log home' he built and lived in 

were created by SP Dinsmore, a retired Civil war veteran.

He began working on his passion when he was 64 in 1907!

I can only begin to imagine what his neighbors thought of him back then.

 

My niece had never seen it 

and its a must see when you're in the middle of nowhere.

There just aren't enough 'art environments' 

created by eccentrics in the world today to suit me!

After the wide open plains of MO and KS,

vistas through southern CO and Northern NW changed dramatically

and population centers starting falling away.

I hadn't seen my oldest since Christmas 2019 - and you know

it did this mama's heart good to hug him fiercely

and check out where he landed during a Covid move.

Studio - for painting as well as making fly fishing lures -

his two passions.

I suspect both helped him survive the past years isolation.

The view from his back deck.

There's a stream right beyond the willow banks - 

and across the creek on the other side is another willow bank,

but immediately behind that is the Historic Pueblo of Taos, 

one of, if not the, oldest continously inhabitated communities in the United States.

It's also a designated World Heritage Site by UNESCO and a National  Historic Landmark.

There are still many concerns about the impact of Covid on indigenous population 

and we were consciously trying to avoid groups of people, so I have no pictures of the Pueblo to share this time.

We decided to concentrate on the natural beauty found outside

and New Mexico has that in abundance.

I loved soaking up the sun and watching my boy in his happy place.
The fish were biting that day and even though 12 were caught in a few hours,

they were all catch and release.

We had Mexican food for dinner instead.

 After long months of solitary fishing, 

which my son is very familiar and comfortable with,

he seemed to enjoy having company with him.

Anybody else see a sleeping dog in this rock?

 

 We did go into Taos, 

but mainly to admire murals and hollyhocks.

Despite storms over the Sangre de Cristo mountains,

we remained mainly dry

Did I mention that I would like to always live near fields of lupine?

It wouldn't be a proper vacation without bringing back a folk art doo dad;

in this case, a vintage santos of our Lady of Guadalupe,

carved by NM artist ,John Tollardo, in 1989.

It was a lovely trip -

even if my mobility was hampered and my energy limited.

If all goes well, there'll be a return trip this fall.

Fingers crossed.