ahhhhhhhh 5 weeks gone

well...I don't know why when i send this pic to the blog site ,,it darkens back up when I lightened it up with the photo editor..have to ask the wizard ...ok..sis how come..

Golly gee,,I cant believe that I haven't blogged since last Wednesday...Where have all the days gone...I'm trying to think what I've been doing that I haven't been on here...last Thursday

is definitely too far back to think what I was doing...I know Friday was a nasty rainy all day rain that lasted til sunset and we decided to take a little trip down the ol highway to the big ol gambling place..needless to say after three hours had gone by we were happy to leave after donating our money once again.One of these days we will figure out that the 79 mile trip to Charleston is just not worth all the time and gas..We don't go with the thought that we are gone to win big.((although it would be nice)))).we just know how much we want to lose and that's it....I only play penny machines cause I love to just play and my money goes further as far as losing it...of course I didn't win nothing big but I did come back with more then I went with...now the man in the house ,,that's a different story ....he plays to win..so naturally he comes home at at loss...a limited loss...cause he only takes so much to lose with.

I'm moving up...My gr-baby says my knee doesn't look like a pancake anymore...It looks like a cut pancake...Don't know whether that is good or bad,,,I just know its been 5 weeks...and its sucks....the sucky part is the pt and the not been able to bend it like you want...I still walk kind of stiff legged and that's my part for not taking my time and bend it when i walk..of course if the swelling would go down it would be a lot easier for my walking and pt...I'm already dreading the trip to pt in the morning,,,especially since it is still swollen and you cant even do the exercises you are suppose to because it hurts so bad...poor poor pitiful me....I guess it could be worse.....but to make things worse...I have a tooth that's been bothering me since last Friday so now I am taking an antibiotic until i can get to the dentist on Thursday....I'm just having a great ol time...

The weekend zoomed by,I guess because I stayed so busy .Sat..I got the great idea of cleaning out the hallway closet..I decided I was going to pull the winter coats and clothes out of the hallway closet and put away all the kids summer and my summer clothes...bad choice on my part...My knee only lets me do so much so here it is Tuesday and I still have things spread everywhere.....Oh well...Sunday was spent at the boys football playoffs then my son and gr-girls came down and spent the latter part of Sunday evening and we were in and out and in and out again playing around...Then comes Monday ..no school..so I had to take the 7 yr old with me to pt and then we went running around in the stores....big mistake on my part..overworking my poor knee...today its sore...ok,,,its going on 8 o'clock...I'm outta here til another post..........toodle loo..........

THEY'RE BACK

Finally,,,,I've got my pj's on ,,,my cold ice pack on my knee and kicked back on the couch....I was on the go from the time my feet hit the floor this morning til almost 8p.m..My poor pancake knee is feeling it now....I'm ready to take a percoset ,,and a ambien and call it a night...I may wait a little while before doing so...got to watching a movie with Michael Douglas and Demi Moore ...Disclosure,,and right now it looks pretty interesting.

And tomorrow I plan on doing little or nothing and staying home.....so I can sleep in after the man in the house goes to work, so I can stay up a little later tonight...SIS...

First stop was PT ((patient torture))which as bad as I thought it was going to be ,,,it was'nt that bad....The bending of the knee to flex it is the worst...painnnnnnnn,,,,,,or maybe because I took two percosets before I started.....and it dulled the pain..not that I didn't feel it.........they say my knee is almost at 90 flex....and that has been since Monday....so just maybe I will make it thru this therapy as they want me to..

After all this time of using my cane to walk around the stores ,,,I was like a baby taking its first steps when I realized I could actually walk behind and use a shopping cart..as long as I used it to lean on...whoopee......I dont feel as helpless now..except by the time i got home my poor pancake knee was ready to be put to bed,,I hurridly threw on a pot of chili for supper..ran out and fed all my animals...cleaned the kitchen up and headed for the couch where I am at now...and then they struck....well actually they were here last night ..they just multiplied by the hundreds tonight....the seven year old told me the other night that there was flying spiders...well...they arent spiders..they are the dratted ladybugs.and I would rather have flying lady bugs then flying spiders.yuk. an overhead light attracts them like a magnet...so I'm sitting here in near darkness except for a small light on a nearby stand and the tv screen flickering on and off...

I just hit the remote to see how much time is on the movie and I realized it is on til midnite...well.. thats just great..my two hour movie just turned into a three hour movie...so I am going to hold off taking my pills...

OK..another hour to go before my movie goes off....so I am outta here....as for the ladybugs..go shoo...get outta here....fly away home...

4 weeks...unbelievable

Hye hey hey,,,,,,cant beleive that it has been a whopping 4 weeks since this god forsaken surgery.....Now...yesterday was my first outpatient day of PT...another glorious hour of enduring pain while they wrench,,twist, probe,prod and do everything but tear your knee back out of its original socket....and they call this therapy.....well...the whole meaning of PT just went to hell......
To me,,,PT is in reality patient torture..what else could pt stand for....its physical and its therapy but its patient torture in the worst form...I just grit my teeth and think ,,,well..how much more can you manage to put me thru in one hour,,they do their damnest....to work everything in they can think of....soon its time to leave the torture chamber...a little relief for at least 32 hours...3 times a week I'm to enter this chamber of horror with all its little machines..I scour the room thinking ..which agonizing machine are they going to put me on next....then at the end ..before you leave ..they hook you up to this thing that sends little shock waves thru you....In my version it is little like an electric fence..or maybe I watch too many horror shows and keep waiting for that jolt that will end up throwing you off the table..I just hope the machine doesn't go haywire while I am hooked up to it and give me a never ending jolt..yikes......I know or at least I hope I can say in 4-5 weeks it was worth it to have the pt but at this stage I CAN'T SEE IT..DEFINITELY NOT..
My pancake knee still looks like a pancake..I guess,,It looks a little rough after surviving pt,,,,
I took the little one home today... a beautiful day...Right around 70.We were headed east to the town of Athens but somehow ended up going west to the town of Parkersburg....where I had promised him a toy for him to pick out when we went to town....He chose three $3.00 toys at Walmart...or he could have had a $10.00 one..I guess getting three toys was better then getting one big one...and of all toys..these little things that were about 5 inches long and resembled a skateboard with little stickers to put on them....He probably had them lost as soon as the cardboard was peeled away....It was just too pretty to stay inside all day and they say after Thursday our Indian summer days are gone...the weekend is suppose to be cold and wet....for football playoffs....ok..
I need to jump off here and finish taking some pills....and get ready for bed....I now walk around the stores except Walmart when i am getting groceries..then i latch on to one of those little motorized carts....and then by the time I get home my leg is itching ,,burning and hurting...my back even hurts..I think I may call it a night....goodnight alllllllllllllll.

I've never done this before,,experimental

I want to see if i can download a video...never done it before.....

This was a video camera i found that had these little short videos shot on it...I wanted to see if i could upload one...sis,,show carrie her cousins and my piggy.....

pancakes little helpers

It is without a doubt the ugliest thing I have seen....sitting on the floor alongside where my makeshift bed is for the time being...It looks like some sea creature, preferably an eel or something close....This little contraption was sent home with me from the hospital...Its name is ICEMAN....a cooler like thing with a motor that you fill with crushed ice..then pour water over , plug it in...put the eel looking thing across your knee cap,has a Velcro strap to hold it tight and there you go..No more running to the freezer every couple hours for an ice pack....I don't have crushed ice for mine so I put 4 bottles of frozen water in it covered with water and hot dog ,,instant ice pack....you always keep an extra 4 bottles in the freezer to switch out when you start it up again..


And then theres that little bottle sitting on top called pain relief..alias percoset...that goes along with the ice pack...

My home nurse just left a half hour ago and released me from home health care...so now I am out the door to PT Monday.

ok..short little post..got to go get a few things done....later...
ps...in case you have forgotton ,,,pancake is my knee..

the heat is on

Ahhhhhhhhhhh......I feel the heat,,,,I smell the scent of wood being burnt,the wood stove has been fired up...It won't be for long as the temps are suppose to be in the 60's by Tuesday...but for now...the house is damp and a little heat is needed to get the chill out of it..It manages to drift upstairs thru the vents and I can turn the thermostat down on the upper floor as I can feel the heat rising .....
I had a restless night sleeping last night...I had a ice pack on my knee and sometime in the middle of the night I awoke chilled to the bone...Not wanting to get up I cowered under my afghan and debated on turning off my little electric ice box...Tonight I will elect not to use it as it is going to be even colder...I managed to lie awake,,in what seemed an endless hour, as I listened to the grandfather clock ticking and chiming on each quarter of the hour....Finally I decided at 5;30 I had squirmed and wiggled enough so I crawled out from under neath my cover to a chilling room as I had turned down the thermostat down last night and forgot to turn it back up.
I had my breakfast fixed by the man in the house as he doesn't miss a breakfast..he insists that you have to start out the day with a good breakfast.......Only thing is he gets two eggs, toast ,bacon sausage and a bowl of cereal..and my breakfast consist of a meager slice of bacon cut in two which is two pieces to him but in reality one slice..and I always have a piece of toast ..I was getting an egg, but the past couple of mornings I have declined the egg........my choice..so my breakfast got skimpier.Oh well...All this laying around and I don't need to be gorging myself anyways.At my age I can gain weight too easily.Since the surgery I have managed to lose around 13 lb. and I'd like to continue that direction and strive to lose around 15 more...Doesn't seem like much til you try to shed it....And even worse its going into the holiday season,,which I'd like to get out into a store and pick up a few things for the grandbabies..the four year old wants a baby alive boy doll....She has a room full of doll babies but she always sees another she wants..so maybe in a couple weeks I will attempt to start picking up a few gifts at a time.maybe..Gift cards might be a bigger part of Christmas if shopping is limited..In this day and time I guess everyone would rather have cash and it seems like its a lot easier then trying to pick out gifts..that they don't or wont like anyways...
I do remember last night having my pickle and peanut butter and this time I do remember eating it.two pickles at that...How's that for progress after the night before....
We have the 7 year old here and he has a bug of some sorts..the dr..said a strain of flu..when asked about swine flu ,,he said the swine flu is just a more severe form of the regular flu...so now if some doctors are saying that it is no big deal ,,then what is all the fuss about how bad the swine flu is....I ..along with many others I have talked to cannot figure it out...Doctors orders are to keep them in the house ..not to be outdoors..no milk or pop and drink plenty of juices and water...so I made him a bed on the opposite end of this big ol wrap around couch and I am on the other..This couch must be 15 or 16 foot long but it sure takes up my whole living room...This one end has been my command post since I have had surgery...I hate furniture you cant move and this would definitely be considered one of those pieces...As far as I am concerned I would like to have wheels on EVERYTHING,,,,so I can move it when I want...
Well...it is daylight...dreary dark day...suppose to be rain mixed with snow..in the 30's....Our WV mountaineers from Morgantown play their rival college...Marshall University out of Huntington...They say it should be a good game starting at 3;30 although it is suppose to be cold...
My nurse that was coming into the home and monitoring my blood work is suppose to come today to release me from their care to start outpatient PT Monday.I can't believe that it will be 4 weeks Tuesday ,,that will be almost a month....Unbelievable that I have that much time behind me..I called my brother last night and he had a knee replacement two years ago...He said after his 6 weeks of Pt was over that he never really had any more problems and he has no pain at all now unless he does something to turn it the wrong way....and the best part is,,,,he said he never did have to do any more exercises but I guess everyone is different as to how their knee mends.....have to just wait and see...I can really get around a lot better as each day goes by...I mostly use my cane now if I feel unsteady or in the morning when I get up....or after I do my exercises...when my leg feels a little weak...I went to town with the man in the house yesterday and he took his diesel truck with no side step to get into it..So I had a milk crate I had to step up on to get in..but man oh man ..the truck seat was perfect for the amount of bend I have in my knee or maybe its just getting a little easier with the more PT I do....The Pt told me that my extension is almost zero and when I started pt my flex was 63 and its almost up to 80 now...I'm hoping that sounds good to my outpatient PT because they want you to get your flex to 110 but 120 is really the top number.
ok...I took a pill and I need to sit and exercise my knee...so I'm outta here for the time being.............later........

the last thing i remember

was talking to the la cajun sister and her saying,,now be sure and take you a sleeping pill..right now ,,while i am talking to you....so naturally like a good patient that i can be (sometimes) I followed orders and downed that pill...remembering the last thing I said to her was that I had to fill up my ice man((((little electric ice pack they sent home with you from the hospital,,which is really neat,,its like an electric ice pack)))..
By this time I staggered to the kitchen within a matter of the next 10 minutes ,,,,switched out frozen bottles for my ice man...and spied the big dill pickles in the frig...ahhhh...I thought ,,pickle slices topped with peanut butter,,yum ,,yum..
fixed a plate ,,toddled back to the living room where my makeshift bedroom is set up for the time being while i am crippling around....easy access to kitchen and bathroom from here..centralized location...
And that is my last recollection of last night...At some point in the middle of the night the man in the house entered the room...and i can remember him saying ''How can you sleep with this overhead light on...???Well...i guess if that sleeping pill hadn't have caught up with me so fast ,,i would have turned off the light....Now,,its morning,,I am awake,,,I turn on the little bedside light and see a empty plate and a butter knife...I carry it to the kitchen.....the sad part is ...I don't remember eating pickle and peanut butter...for all I know the little night fairies could have played a trick on me,,,,,when i went to the kitchen for a shot of coffee,,,I did see the peanut butter jar sitting on the counter........so with no recollection whatsoever,,i must have eaten pickle slices with peanut butter....that ticks me off...I ate a food I like and didn't get the pleasure of tasting it...ok...no more sleeping pills for me til I'm ready for the night to end...one other thing,,,before this surgery ,,I had these sleeping pills..actually they are about a 3 year old perscripton that I had earlier and never worked before...Don't know whether its a combination of taking them with these pain pills or what but everything sure has changed since I have had this surgery..They seem to be working different now..ok..I'm up..early post...and I'll be baccccccccck,,,,

fall is here

scenes of fall...................

ROADSIDE COLORS

A COUNTRY PIC PRETTY COLORED TREES

It's here.....we have slowly made the change from those warm

days to the slightly chilly ones that call for long sleeves and maybe a sweater....tonight..the temps are suppose to dip

into the 40's....tomorrow rain is forecast.

On a Sunday drive two days ago we wandered down country

roads we had never ventured onto knowing all roads come out somewhere...you just have to figure out which way is the way home...Anyways,,,I tried to take pics out my dirty windshield...and some did come out pretty good...the trees at their peak were all golden yellow,,orange , brown and green...as if some one magically took their paint brush and painted from the ground to the tops of the trees....The sun shining on the vivid bright colors made them even more pleasant to look at.

After tomorrow they should be even more colorful and then they will all be gone.....leaving behind all the pine trees with bright green branches to brave the winter on their own....

Almost home..we stopped at a little roadside stand that sells veggies all summer long....I was wanting a tomato but peppers. pumpkins and the fall veggies are on the racks now...What is so unusual about this little stand is that it sits along side the main road...in front of a little farm house....and no one mans this stand...It is purely a stand for the honest people to stop at...

Prices are labeled above everything and there is a little bucket where you drop your money into....no cameras ..no person anywhere in sight......just buy,,,deposit your money and you

are on your way...

Soon we were at the crossroads to our house...and I am soon to be back in the house snuggled up on my cozy little couch..next time.....

3 weeks but who's counting

THREE WEEKS BEHIND ME

MY PANCAKE KNEE

I AM,,,,It has been a long , drawn out,nasty,hurting,itching

burning,no relief in sight,whining, bitching,slow,agonizing three

weeks with lots more ahead...Aren't I the lucky one..Oh well..I keep telling myself ,,it could be worse...I'm just feeling a wee bit sorry for myself..no I take that back,,I'm feeling a whole hell of a lot more sorry for myself..You see,,,I hate being confined...to a bed,,a house,,and on top of that limited to what you can do ...which is not much at all.....for me....My poor pancake leg...Will you ever be halfway back to normal...maybe,sometime

in the near future..or so i hope.....right now...my poor pancake

knee needs to get some rest...zz--z---z--later

a beautiful fall day........

I HAVE TWO GOOD REASONS TO WATCH THE BALL GAMES..THE FIRST IS MY GRAND-DAUGHTER HANNAH....ON THE RIGHT.

Sunday morning, a crisp cool day is in store...with temps not rising above 60......I had to make a decision on whether I wanted to ride about 30 mile down the road to the last of the little ones ball games for the season...til playoffs start or whether i wanted to stay under my warm toasty blanket and get even more lazier then what i am now.... So, after much thinking about it ,,i elected to go.....

THE SECOND IS PETEY..TURNED AROUND ,,WAITING TO GO IN.
NUMBER 6......THAT'S OUR BOY......AREN'T THEY CUTE.....

Getting into the vehicle and getting comfy is the hardest part,,After much squirming on a previous trip I finally had to sit on a cushion to put my foot at a better angle..It manages to help for a couple hours then you finally have to go for the agony of defeat and find a bed to stretch your leg out on......Needless to say I made it thru the ball game with no problem,

a winning game at that...so this little team is in second place right now,,till playoffs...................actually for me to watch the game is hard..

I don't know why they elect to put such old looking cheer outfits on these girls........all the other teams have the little flared outfits..
my granddaughter Hannah....

I try to sit up front ..close down where the gr-daughter is a cheerleader..

then to still be able to see when the boy goes out to play...then there is the four year old...I always have a treat bag for her and we have 4-5 more little ones we have to share with....always the same little ones of the parents we sit with..then I take wipe off books to amuse mine but they all try to write on the same book...wipe off books...another neat invention for the smaller age....anyways...by the time the game is over I really don't know whether i got to watch any or not...oh well...I just love being around the wee ones....

MY BABY GIRL...............HALEY

OK.games over...We are headed home...We see a sign that says Pumpkin patch and tell the boy we will stop and let him get a pumpkin or two...The day is gorgeous...The trees are almost at their peak of turning...Another few more days and they will be there...I tried to take pics as we were driving along...some did alright..some didn't......The weather was just right sitting in the sun....a long sleeve shirt day.Only thing I hate is,,,,I know winter is not far behind,,,,,

As soon as my sagging butt got home,,,I crossed into the twilight zone,,took my clothes off and put on some pj's and headed for the couch.

between dozing and lying still ,i never got up til after dark...its amazing ..how DOING NOTHING can tire you out..

Its Monday morning ,,the PT has already come and gone and I'm ready for another nap,,,,whew ,,Ive never been so ragged out in my life..Hope how soon all this is behind me..tomorrow will be three weeks the surgery nightmare will be behind me...I've done made up my mind that when I go back to the doctor and when he does the x-ray to see if everything is lined up alright,,,it had dang better be,,cause I'm not going back for a corrective surgery ....

Ok..it almost noon...already....I am going to lie back for a while...a gloomy day outside ..cold ,,nippy and suppose to rain....catch you later.

pancake knee

Today was a fun filled day and a tiring one by the time 6p.m.got here.

My son called and said he was bringing the gr-babies down and they are my pride and joy...won't ever say they are a problem..because they are not in any way....They arrived a little after noon.And of course at Grand-ma's house you always have to be on top to have something for them to do..The 4 year old and I played with the single doll baby that i could find..dressing and undressing her ,,then we had to dress any other toy from elmo to little bear plus anything else we could get an outfit on...so needless to say ..any-thing that had arms and legs got an outfit...my living room is nothing but an array of toys now ...some were picked up but most are still in there own little huddle...at this point they are going to stay there til I muster up enough energy to pick them up..

Now,,,the four year old casually looks at my knee and says ,"Can I feel it?

Sure I said....One quick swipe across with her hand and she looks at me and says ...Grand-ma ,,your knee looks like a pancake....I said ...a pancake....no....She said uhhuh...And I guess the squiggly line running down it looked like the syrup....so.now I have a pancake knee...............Its amazing..how these little ones look at things in their own way..

My son is a die hard WV mountaineer fan so he watched their run away game today which I hope the brother in law in la..rooting for LSU tonight has a little more action in his game..right now,,,Florida is giving them a run for it...

Right about time the game went off ..around 4ish....the electric for no blooming reason at all went out...the girls were hungry and we were going to have pizza but no oven or microwave to cook in any way..so we ate summer sausage and ice cream...right before they were getting ready to leave the electric came back on so we threw on a pizza and they left with pizza and their get away bags....

I had given them Ty beanie babies and the 7 year old was busy putting them on her web site on the computer all afternoon...while I played with the four year old....

Upon leaving I have to help gather up their goodies....the little one likes cotton candy,,tootsie rolls,Cheetos's,,little thin chocolate cookies,jerky and always manages to talk me into letting her take a toy home....

The older one gets jerky,,,Doritos, pretzels,smarties, p-nut butter buddy bars...(me Too). choc..granola bars,,and iced choc and white snack cakes.

She is a picky eater so she takes her lunch to school and I usually give her enough to take in her lunch..

What else are gr-ma's for ...to spoil them more then what they are and send them home...and with that I am outta here....I'm ready for a long sit down--lay down break....nite all.

I'm wondering what my knee will look like the next time..mmm pancake knee.....who would have thought that but my precious 4 year old.

went to the doctor and the doctor said

you're two weeks out of that hospital bed.

The knee looks good where it was stitched and sewn

And Pt therapy ,you do most on your own.

He wants me to start PT outpatient as soon as i can get

Behind the wheel of my ford.....alias my corvette.

I return in a month ,,an x-ray he will take

To see if everything is intact and in place.

Went to the first appt..an ecchocardigram they did,

Wasn't really painful,,but i squirmed like a kid.

Couldn't quite get my leg in a comfy spot

So had to grin and bear it...like it or not.

After that we left ..went to Sam's and shopped,

An hour we had til our next appointment stop.

The first time I have ever been wheeled around the store

Now if that doesn't make you feel like a vegetable for sure.

It's amazing how you take the things in life for real

Until you lose what you have,it seems like no big deal.

Having to rely on someone to help you all the time

Would not be an ideal life of mine.

The leg doctor's office was full and packed

And these were new patients,not ones returning back.

I cant believe how many knees and hips are replaced

Why,I can only think, the weak kneed rule the race.

And speaking of knees ,,the bandage was removed by me

While sitting in the waiting room,my name called soon to be.

To my amazement the knee was clean and the stitches in a row

Down across the top of the knee,about 8 inches or so.

Now, here's a pic of the bandage being off the knee

Its really not as bad as I thought that it would be....

I do believe in all honestly my doctors cut was great

It was just the method of the way the ortho floor medicates.

Now whose to blame for the way the meds are passed out

I think they need to reevaluate and turn some things about.

If this is a major surgery as to us they did explain

Then why didn't the meds they use not control the pain.

Alas,,its over and I can only think of moving ahead,

Theres no use looking backwards,its over ..enough said...

Improvising

Ok...another object that is my extra hand.......as you can see it is one of the older baby walkers...bless the poor little baby...he hasn't been here since i have had surgery but he didn't like his walker anyway..by the time he gets back,,he will probably be toddling everywhere on his own..I love to watch the first steps...anyways,,,i scarfed up his walker for my carrier...

It is rather hard to carry a glass ,,dish , etc. when you are trying to maneuver a walker but this works great..the extending bar on the walker lets me push or pull it....I used it within the last 2o minutes to carry my ice for my iceman and a bowl of chicken noodle soup...for me.I got a hungry spell.....anyways....at this stage you have to make any improvisations you can to make it easier....to get around...

Tomorrow is the first visit back to my doctor...I just hope everything looks alright...All I see is a dried up bloody mess.

I spoke to one of the patients that had her leg done the same day as mine and she is doing about the same as me with PT and all...Her leg hurts about the same as mine ..and we expect that...Major Surgery is what everyone calls this..well...at this point we are tending to believe it..Like she said we just never grasped what an overtaking this would be..The detailing of explaining all of this beforehand should have been a little more graphic ,,,she used the word misleading....We are glad we are going into two weeks behind us instead of two ahead of us.We shall continue to talk to each other throughout the next year or so to see how each is progressing on a weekly basis..Its good to have someone to talk to to see if our symptoms are the same or if something strange is beginning to happen....Like she said,,,there is no way you can get through this without the doctor writing a new prescription when you need it..Since this is a narcotic ,,it cant be renewed ,,has to be a new written prescription..My friend didn't know this,,,and called the office expecting her meds to be called in to her local drug store...soon realizing after the office had already closed that she couldn't get a refill without picking up the written prescription first...so she said she said she spent an agonizing evening in pure pain....heat or cold ..nothing helped...I told her to watch her pills and just make sure she had enough to not run out over the weekend or the other alternative would be to go to the ER. if she did...Pills are monitored more closely now....As for me,,I try to not take them til i need them..If I sleep 3 or more hours past the time i last took them,,,that's ok.I would rather try stretching my pills as I hate to take pills anyways..I did learn not to leave home without them which I learned from doing just that..

Went to town and thought I would be back before my pills wore off..well..2 hours stretched to 7 hours and this was the second day I was home...so I am making sure I have extra pills with me on this trip to town tomorrow....JUST IN CASE..as I have two office calls before noon..

Right now I will hop off of here,,try to get some sleep as I don't know how this trip to town will be....I know it will be tiring as I am right now..I will update again tomorrow on doctors visit...goodnight all..

a blanket of warmth

I have a little blanket that always lies with me..
It often gives me comfort whenever the need may be.
It covers me and takes away the cold that chills my bone,
I like my little blanket , her home is my own.
Because you see,,this blanket is really a afghan crocheted with love
From Doris who left this world to unknown realms above.
Doris loved to cook,sew, make quilts and afghans galore,
I only wish I had taken one or two more...
The one I chose is colorful,white with colors through
And when the days are gloomy..the colors cheer me too.
I think about all the time with needles in her hand..

Each weaving back and forth became a colorful strand.

My little warm blanket covers me from head to toe,

I can't help but think of Doris each time I draw it close.

I think of how she may be gone but would be pleased to know,

How her lovely little afghan gives me comfort so.

Occasionally a tear may fall when I think of one so dear,

That is no longer with us but yet she lingers near..

She's in my blanket,,in my pics ,inside my house and out,

Theres not one place that I can see that Doris is'nt about.

I call my blanket ,,my Doris blanket ,by her hands it was made,

It covers me..It warms me,and its like she is with me thru the day.

Thank you Doris , for making these beautiful blankets...for which i truly love....They are a source of comfort crocheted with hands of love...

14 days behind me

well....ones too dark and the other too light...but basically this is the way my leg looks two weeks out.................................................................

well...I can recall too vividly of what i was doing at this precise time two weeks ago...waiting in a Little teeny white hospital room getting ready to be hooked up to iv's and routine blood work being done for(((((puke))))) surgery and the spare hand talking to my la sis....Its funny how time crawls when you dont want it too and goes fast when you dont want it too..as soon as said phone was whisked away from me....i think i must have been taken to the bates motel...or their psycho ward...from going to the chopping block and returning to a white bedroom was where my journey began....Everything appeared to go as i assumed was normal...But dont ask me what normal is suppose to be in a hospital..whatever the nurses want it to be as they are in control of the meds...I do remember that first night of surgery at somewheres around 9 p.m. or after..memory foggy on time.....that i called my la sis ..squalling and saying "I thought you said this didnt hurt...well mine sure did....She was livid and from there on out I was probably the orthopedic floor nightmare for that week,,til my release....I still think as soon as they got my wheelchair on the ground floor as i was leaving i could see all the fireworks going off on that floor now that they got their worst patient OUT OF THERE.Day 2 and day 3 seemed to get a little better as i kept repeating i did not want another night like day 1....

between my la (nurse) sister calling them all the time about my meds and anything else they weren't doing right..and my EX..i have to capitalize that one...sister in law spending the next nite to make sure i got that extra push which was extra pain allowed in between the 4 hour percoset if you so needed it..the only problem was if you slept through that time allowance you missed it..so she made sure i was awake and made them give it to me in between the pills...which is the way it was suppose to be..whether i was alert enough to ask for it or not..i got it...PT wasnt too happy...I couldnt stand up on the floor to walk..couldnt keep my eyes open for all the drugs the EX was making sure i was getting..Actually if i had had a little bit more of controlled pain i wouldnt have been seen or heard out of......oh well....i'm just glad that is all behind me..i go back to the knee doctor tomorrow and hope the surgical site looks alright..the nurse yesterday said it looks a lot brownish but maybe that is the way its suppose to be doing....well..lets hope so..dont want this knee re-opened,,,,

and thank goodness the left one is suppose to be alright...

Anyways ,,just getting home from the hospital was controlled pain for me..noone checking on you..up when you want...pills every 4 hrs.when you felt like it....A few obstacles you had to get cleared at first ...and the worst one of all was ((((gross as this may sound))))was getting the back end to work back in a routine.....pain there til you got it back into working right....ol med..called mag=citrus had to do its death defying act on this one....

All in all..I feel a lot better since i've gotten home..I still get winded at times...and fatigue will not allow you to stand no more then what you can..The nurse and PT told me to just get up and do what i had to do then lay back down....so now i try to do a lot of sit down work.My little pink lady..my walker treks around with me and i have a pouch for my phone and glasses , another mesh bag to carry things from one spot to the other hangs on the opposite side so im ready to rock and roll.......I have a cane and crutches if i so need them for a step -down...

Anyhow...I got out of the hospital on Saturday following my surgery...groggy and sleepy ..par to the procedures of what i had done..

No appetite you had...just thirst....so it took me 3- 4 days of munching crackers with my pills and that was enough for me...

ahhhh...then the appetite started to return....now my cook has me 1 egg,,i slice of bacon , 1 toast and coffee for breakfast...its a morning ritual..hey i cant complain...the he in the house has taken over about everything...I feel bad at times....and I try not to ask him to do too much.He has all the outside work to do before winter gets here...firewood...fixing everything that needs to be done before it gets too cold..has to feed my animals...winterize the pool....plus he alternates between trying to paint a whole house and repair whatever needs to be repaired to get it ready to rent....so i try to do what i can for myself....he has a lot to do..

Yes..Now that i am home ,,i try not to think about whats behind me....I'm just hoping said dr. visit goes alright tomorrow and everything is still aligned up with the surgical knee....hey im two weeks out....and i know its going to be a long drawn out process but ive never sat this long at any given time and at times the rest part feels good....

Not that i dont have pain...If i go past my 4 hours depending on what i am doing then ive overworked my leg and id better grab a pain pill..sometimes it takes its own notion to want to burn,itch or whatever to keep me alert.ahh,,,the sad part is...my knee controls me now...what it wants it gets.....and that will probably be the way it will be the rest of my life.

PT is the most important part for knee therapy now...being able to work my knee properly will be weeks down the road...so now i am just content to be home ..to regulate my own pain...and i know with each slow passing day that my knee will have to be getting better....i'm waiting.What choices do i have...I am at my knees beck and call....
"and it calling me now...............later guys................

no more wondering??????????

this is the before picture ,,,before i had surgery...............

the next one are shadows of the after ...Is there really any difference??danged if i knowI guess when all the swelling goes down they may match a little more....maybe not.

thirteen days ago was a wondering about my journey into the other world of bionic knee ,,surgery,,,what to be and what to come...

one word describes it all....IT SUCKED...and still does...the only thing i can say is at least it is behind me but not all the pain that came with it...thank goodness ...percoset seems to be my best friend right now along with my little flowered pink walker that gets me around.At first i tried to stretch my meds out so i would be taking fewer and fewer and from two to one but that doesn't seem to work at this point...cause when Mrs.Knee wants to hurt..she does...and if i have waited too long to give her a hit of pain killer then it takes me that much longer to get settled down also,so I'll keep feeding her for the time being....I have learnt thru this little process....no more hurrying doing anything.....at all...you'd better start a little bit earlier to get where you are going cause timing is your worst enemy at this stage...so far ,it is working.....

The nurse and PT have already been here for the morning and gone..one just draws blood to monitor my coumadin and the other gets paid for watching me exercise...thats ok....They check vitals .etc...while they are here.....and answer the few questions i may have...One in particular was ..why did the back of my legs and knee hurt so bad yesterday..of which after finding i was up on them for too long of times was the answer...they told me to get up..do what i had to do then lie back down..everything has its drawbacks and overextending my time up would be one of them...and be too much on my knee...like with exercising....not over two sets a day...cause then you can overexercise the leg.....

gee..so may things to have to watch for..then this medicine at this time ..this one at that time....this one with food...this one not...so needless to say,,i keep a giant notebook and pencil close by.....and sometimes i have to make that la phone call to see just what i have done....or didn't do..

Thank God ,,there is a nurse in the family,,or at least she says she is...no way could i be a nurse..my brain couldn't survive remembering all those vital things you have to know....

Thanks ever so much for being here with me thru surgery..hospital stay, home recovery and now rehab sis....I really couldn't have done it without your knowledge of what was to be done....or what was going to happen as you went thru it first..I'm glad you went into nursing instead of venturing...It paid off.....Again....to say thank you is not enough....love you a lot.......

and this is the best pic i could find of us....me following in your footsteps...heyyyyyyy.dont complain....at least you are the pretty pink one....