Recovery

 I knew before I had this knee replacement surgery that the recovery was hard.  And painful.   

I am a month out from getting my new knee.   The first weeks the pain was terrible.  I was taking pain medications every time I was eligible.   I have been sleeping in a recliner eversince gettinghome from the hospital with one exception.  The first night home I slept in the bed with Nick.  That night I woke up in pain and needing to go to the bathroom.  I wet the bed and myself.  

It was really unbelievable how much my bladder holds.   The first two plus weeks I had to sleep with a depends and on top of a water proof pad.   Now all is well and I am sleeping better and rarely wetting myself!  

I wake up with a stiff knee. I have to move slow to avoid too much pain.   I wonder when I will be alright to drive again?

Nick is heading out tomorrow to go to the UK and then take a transatlantic cruise.   He will be gone for two weeks.   The plan is fop Austin to join him in England, so, fingers crossed they will connect and cruise back together.

Carol is staying with me while Nick is away.   So my 77 year old sister will be babysitting 70 year old me!

The plan is to watch a lot of TV!    Carol can drive me to my physical therapy twice a week while Nick is away.

Then, 🎅 Christmas!   We will have a full house!  More on that later.

One month out!

Let us give thanks

  Let Us Give Thanks

By the Rev. Max Coots

Let us give thanks for the bounty of people:

For children who are our second planting, and, though they grow like weeds and the wind too soon blows them away, may they forgive us our cultivation and fondly remember where their roots are.

Let us give thanks:

For generous friends....with hearts...and smiles as bright as their blossoms.

For feisty friends as tart as apples.

For continuous friends, who like scallions and cucumbers, keep reminding us that we've had them;

For crotchety friends, as sour as rhubarb and as indestructible;

For handsome friends, who are as silly as Brussels sprouts and as amusing as Jerusalem artichokes, and serious friends as complex as cauliflower and as intricate as onions;

For friends as unpretentious as cabbages. as subtle as summer squash, as persistent as parsley, as delightful as dill, as endless as zucchini and who, like parsnips , can be counted on to see you through the winter;

For old friends, nodding like sunflowers in the evening time, and young friends coming on as fast as radishes;

For loving friends, who wind around us like tendrils and hold us, despite our blights, wilts and witherings;

And finally , for those friends now gone, like gardens past that have been harvested, and who fed us in their times that we might have life  thereafter.

For all these we give thanks.

Something I wrote on Facebook today

 

La Leche League has been a huge part of my life since I became a LLL Leader in 1979.

My husband is retired from the US Foreign Service, so we have moved and live in a lot of different places. In 1983 we bought a house in Reston, Virginia that would be our home base when we were back in the States.

In 1986 we moved back to Virginia and I got involved in Leading the LLL Group in Sterling, VA. Over time, two of the Group moms became LLL Leaders and one mom stayed close to the rest of us.

These are the moms who took care of me when I came home from China with my sick, preemie and my three year old. One of these moms was a milk donor for my (now 33 year old) baby.

Fast forward. I am the only one who is still a Leader, but we zoom together on a regular basis.

On Saturday we got a great text from Joanne Kyreakakis Simeon announcing the birth of her granddaughter. Shortly after that we got a text from Mariellen McCarthy Hagy announcing the birth of her grandson almost 12 hours earlier.

Thank you La Leche League for bringing these wonderful friends into my life!

PS my first grandchild was born 5 months ago!

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Progress

I got my staples removed.  Don't really feel a lot different but I guess it's progress.

I am feeling more mobile though I still need pain medication and I still need to use my walker.   And I am still sleeping in the recliner.  I tried lying down in the bed this evening but the potential for really hurting my knee/ leg is too scary.

I am feeling very discombobulated about the election.  I was so sure Kamala would win.  I am blown away that she didn't.  Trump is a creep and an all together bad guy.   Enough said.

*************************

I am feeling very sad about my dear sweet, wonderful friend Shannon.   Shannon was diagnosed with lymphoma more than two years ago. She's gone though so much.  Chemo, surgeries of a variety of types.  Strokes.   She has not been about to walk for most of the time she has been sick.

And now, it looks like the end is getting closer. Her cancer has become very aggressive and is in her brain.   She might live another 2 months.

I have tried to visit Shannon as much as possible- which is not enough in my opinion.  Friends have gone with me to visit her with me as has my sister.

While I am recovering from my knee surgery I cannot make the long drive to visit Shannon.   I don't think she would know if I was there, but I wold like to sit a while with her.  

 

  Shannon and other La Leche League Friends 2006

 

Coming Out the Other Side

 I am a week an a half  out from my knee replacement surgery.  It's every bit as awful and painful as I remembered it!

 I started physical therapy before my surgery which is what I did last time. Then, when I had to go to my first post op PT, I was afraid I couldn't make it.  Nick went in and got a wheel chair for me so I was able to get into the place.     Geeze, getting into and out of the car is so hard!

 My doctor prescribed this exercise bike that is programed to give me an optimal PT session in my house.   I'll have it for a couple of weeks and then the company will pick it up.

    I signed up to do a knitting for cancer fundraiser.   I am not sure how to post the info here, but this is what I am currently working on. A little red hat for my grandson.

 

I am very disappointing in the outcome of the election.  I was so sure Kamala would win and when she didn't I just was stunned.

I find it uncomfortable to sit in my office chair for long because my leg hurts.  So that's all for now.