Mostly about Me this Time!

So this week has been a lot-more-than-normal-about-me.  The girls both got through their first quarter of school quite well academically.  Physically both are currently in PT -- Maggie for a stress injury to her foot.  Abby wore a boot for 3 weeks for a stress injury to her ankle.  I'm thankful they're progressing in recovery and became resigned to missing the bulk of cross-country season.  Both were running strongly and continuing to improve their times when injury hit.  They should be back in the game for track season.

We also enjoyed a visit with Tom's step-mom Kay.  She came over from Houston for a visit and to attend Grandparent's Day at the high school both girls now attend.  It was a good visit.  She ended up "having" to stay an extra day as there were no flights available -- we made the best of it.  We'd planned to go see a movie, but Abby fell ill at school with a headache and nausea so we ended up watching her most of the day.  Kay continued her trip to California where my sister-in-law just welcomed her fourth child -- a boy!  Exciting news and he's both cute and big!  Plans in place to visit with them over Christmas.

Now to about me.  November 5 was my scheduled surgery for hip replacement after about 3 years of steadily increasing pain and an attempt to further delay the replacement with arthroscopic surgery last October.  I had pre-op on October 31 and was able to meet with all the necessary players as required.  Sunday morning the 3rd the girls and I attended the mother-daughter luncheon-fashion show sponsored by their school.  It was quite fun and we all enjoyed it.  Later that evening my mom arrived to help us all out.  She and I had a fun day Monday -- attending my regular yoga class, grocery shopping, and passing on the few instructions that I had.  

So Tuesday morning I was to be at the hospital for 8am.  The girls left for school normal time and Tom, mom and I headed to the hospital for the typical check-in-then-wait-a-long-time.  They took me away around lunch and I saw on the clock that I was wheeled into surgery at 1ish.  Next thing I recall is being rolled to my hospital room with Mom and Tom welcoming me at the end of the hall.  All had gone well, no scary surprises.  Tom went home to get the girls and they came back for a visit.  Great to see my babies!  Mom spent the night with me as Tom had early calls Wednesday morning.

Wednesday didn't start off too well -- the PT folks came and I was extremely dizzy and seeing stars and my blood pressure was horribly low (80/38) even for me who tends to run low.  They were able to get me standing and moved out of bed onto a chair in the morning.  A blood count was taken and I ate, drank, and rested the bulk of the day.  In the afternoon after the second PT session (which went much better!) a couple friends came by for a short visit bearing chocolate.  Mom went home to be with the girls and Tom spent the night.

Thursday was a great day -- I came home!  So nice to be home, even though is was a somewhat rough night with back discomfort and an inability to get comfortable.

Friday was BUSY.  The home-care nurse came in the morning for assessment (basically, I really don't need a regular nurse to come daily as the stitches are all the dissolving kind and I'm pretty mobile all things considered).  In the afternoon the PT gal came for her assessment -- I'm getting around pretty well, she gave me some exercises and showed me how to safely climb the stairs if I have to (my bedroom is downstairs so I don't have to).  PT will come three times a week.  Then the Occupational Therapist came (the girls were home from school by this time and Maggie's comment about there being health care folks in the house was that I was "old").  My main question for her was how to wash my hair as I'm not to shower for 2 weeks (don't worry, I am washing!).  Answer -- carefully lean over the sink with help.  She left her number but again, I'm pretty mobile and she won't come regularly.

Today's been a great day.  I'm swollen and that's uncomfortable but my hip doesn't hurt at all.  Both babies went to a homecoming dance this evening and looked lovely all dressed up.  I was "allowed" to help Abby with straightening her hair and doing her nails -- not a bad job if I say so myself!

Overall, I'm happy with the procedure -- my hip pain (aside from swelling and some around the incision) is lower than it's been in well over a year.  My incision is in the front which is a newer technique and results in a faster recovery and fewer long-term restrictions on movement.  My only "complaint" is the side-effects of the medications and that kind of stuff.  Frustrating but typical.  

And I'm so thrilled my mom is here!  We knew she'd take care of the grocery, cooking, laundry, etc. but she's really stepped up and even washed my hair (though I did have to teach her proper technique for washing long hair).  She's just happy that she can load my dishwasher without me complaining about her (lack of) skill in that area.  Yep, I'm picky about my dishwasher.

In any even, I hope and pray that any surgery you EVER have is as successful on day-4 as mine has been!

Couple pics:

my walker -- the one in the background was temporary as it was marginally too tall for me.  The one I'd borrowed from my aunt was too short.

My leg-wear for the first two weeks -- compression hose.  Sure to impress all the guys!

Radio Silence is Over....

I'm a horrible blogger -- not enough photos and certainly not enough posts!  At least here's a brief update:

Tom continues working for Shell.  He enjoyed some holiday time this summer with his brother and then a road-trip with his mom.  We've been going to the gym weekly together and enjoying the time together.

Maggie has started her junior year (well, since they're currently in first quarter exams I suppose technically she's 1/4 way thru it!).  She went on a college tour this summer (offered thru the school) and fell in love with George Washington University.  I'm hopeful she continues to be a successful student and earn a great scholarship wherever she ends up going.  She volunteered at the JCC summer camp again this past summer and participated in a running camp for one week.  She was enjoying cross country season and has improved immensely but unfortunately is currently suffering from a foot injury.  We're back to the orthopedist today.  Sigh.

Abby began 8th grade at high school this year.  She's also been running cross country but she too has an injury -- stress injury to her ankle -- and is currently serving her second week in a lovely boot.  She's made a really smooth transition to a large all-girls school from a small co-ed grammar school and is enjoying what it has to offer.  She spent three weeks this summer at an academic camp at Southern Miss studying anatomy and physiology.  I'm thankful that I was welcomed to visit her on each of the Sundays!  Well worth the drive to spend time with her.  Besides the learning it was a great experience in independence for her -- especially learning to do her own laundry!

I went no where this summer BUT I scored a week at home alone (perfect vacation!).  Enjoyed having my friends over for a gab-fest party as well.  I continue to keep up with the exercises to keep my leg/hip/"core" muscles strong and am preparing for surgery 4 weeks from today (yikes!).  My Bible study started up again with the school year and we are studying Mark the first half of the year.  I haven't spent much time in this Gospel before and am enjoying the details in the short book -- the first time Jesus tamed the sea Mark notes that he'd been asleep in the back of the boat with his head on a "pillow" before the apostle awoke him in fright.  I'd never noted that detail before!

Mom and dad came down soon after school started for Abby's induction ceremony into the high school.  Nice to have them here for a quick visit!

So there's the quickest update ever -- 6 months in just a few paragraphs!

a wonderful day

Today has been an entirely wonderful day.  Started somewhat early for a vacation day (Mardi Gras holidays -- school off all week!), as Maggie and I headed to the post office at 7:45 to renew her passport.  We got there just before they opened and succeeded in being the first in line.  Thankfully we had everything we needed (well, the photo taken at Walgreen's wasn't correctly formatted so they took another one there), and we were done and back in the car at 8:10.  So we headed to get some coffee.  Made it home about the time I'd suggested Abby get up so that we could continue our "girls' day".  The three of us headed to the gym about 9:45 and completed our respective work-outs.  Showered there and headed to Walgreen's to get my refund for the photos (yea! I'd tossed the receipt and now have a $12.99 gift card).  Next stop to get our nails done.  I love getting my toes done and have sparkly ones.  Abby got alternate teal/seafoam green on her toes and a bridal color for her hands so she doesn't have to take it off for school.  Maggie has gold nails -- and by that I mean it looks almost as though she put gold leaf on them.  Maggie's friend met her there and they headed to the mall.  Abby and I grabbed some food and headed home where we were greeted by a clean house -- like I said, a wonderful day!

somewhat back to normal

Both daughters are back in school, husband is on business trip thru next week and i'm driving everywhere.  Seems to be pretty much back to normal!  I "failed" my PT re-evaluation on the 3rd, so I've got three more weeks lined up with appointments.  Despite my diligence at doing the exercises, the strength isn't quite back to where it should be.  Sigh.  More one-legged squats.  I have determined that I don't yet have the strength to do forward lunge-walks unassisted (I use two sticks at PT to walk back and forth across the room), but I can now to the lunges where you put your leg behind you about 4-5 feet and squat down, then push off to return to the start.  Next step will be to do that forward, then to add the "walking" part.  Longer recovery than I'd anticipated, but I'm continuing to learn patience.

Both girls performed very well for their second quarter grades and are moving forward.  Maggie's determining her classes for next year, Abby will do so later this year.  Abby has her placement test for high school on Saturday morning -- this is used to determine and scholarship availability and if she'll be recommended to take honors classes.  Marks the start of a really busy weekend -- after that Abby's having lunch with fellow grammar school friends who are taking the same test, Maggie's playing bingo at a retirement home, then perhaps doing something in the evening.  Sunday morning is church followed by lunch with friends.  Then Maggie has a Girl Scout event followed by dinner with a friend.  Guess what I'll be doing this weekend?????

So all is well with us -- hope you're having a safe and happy new year.

2012 Summary

For those of you who received my Christmas letter, most of this is a repeat.  I did manage to forget one of the "major" milestones in that letter which has been added here -- our Isaac hurricane event.  And I've finished up with the end-of-year events as well.  Hope you and yours have a wonderful 2013.

This year has really flown by!  We are all well and looking forward to yet another year to enjoy life in this world.

Tom was able to enjoy a “boy’s week” with his brothers and one brother-in-law at Big Bend in Texas.  His brothers met him on AMTRAK in Houston and continued onto Alpine where they drove the rest of the way.  Beautiful country and I understand they hope to make a return trip.  Tom began yet another role within Shell this year and is back doing what he enjoys and does best – technology forecasting.  He celebrated a “big” anniversary with the company as well in October. 

Aside from the “normal” activities of driving children, exercise, and Bible Study, I’ve had more than my share of health-related issues this year.  An MRI in January created a need for fluid drainage from my hip which was followed by the realization while (thankfully!) the joint isn’t septic, it no longer has any cartilage.  In October I underwent an arthroscopic procedure to remove bone spurs and clean it up a bit, but it’s looking like a new hip is in my near future.  The joys of aging.

Maggie completed her freshman year and is half-way thru the sophomore one.  She again ran track in the spring and cross country this fall, this year participating in a couple of the varsity-level races.  She volunteered at the JCC summer camp (100 hours are required for high school graduation) and really enjoyed the kiddos.

Abby’s now in 7^th grade and will be joining Maggie at high school in the fall.  Hard to believe I’ll no longer have any children in grammar school!  Abby continues to play the violin and once again participated in the JCC swim team.  She also enjoyed her 12-year-old trip with gramma and granddad – choosing to enjoy Chicago for a week with them.

We all enjoyed a visit to Houston over Easter to visit with Tom’s family (especially our newest nephew!).  The girls and I drove over and met Tom (who had been on a business trip and flew in).  Over the summer the 4 of us went to North Carolina where my mom’s family gathered for a week together playing in the lake, going to the amusement park, and hanging out.  Tom and I were then able to get away for a week together while the girls continued to enjoy time at mom and dad’s house.  In August we had an at-home “hurri-cation” due to hurricane Isaac which hi7 years to the date after Katrina.  Thankfully we suffered only minor damage (dad and Tom just finished fixing the fence and Tom replaces some shingles) though the week without power was a bit long, particularly when it got to be hot again!  Tom was very effective in using our generator and we lost almost no food from the refrigerator and were able to charge electronics and by the end of the week had a wall unit running AC in one room.  Finally, we spent Thanksgiving with Tom’s family in Concan, TX where we rented a house and enjoyed a few days of eating heavily and each others’ company.

Christmas was spent at home with my parents.  We were treated to a REALLY nice dinner at Brennan's on the 26th as well.  The girls, mom, and I hit the outlet mall for early b-day shopping one day as well.  I'm not so sure I'm well-rested for this time of the year, but it certainly has been fun and I wouldn't change anything.

Hope 2013 brings out the best in all of us.

so far

As usual it's been a crazy few weeks here.  We're giving our master bathroom a facelift (new tile, paint, vanity, sink, mirror, lighting, etc.), adding built-ins to the tv room, quarter finals as school for the girls, and my surgery.  As with any home-remodel project, something always comes up as an unexpected issue.  The lighting for the bathroom had consisted of two canned lights from the ceiling over the mirror. Tom was able to move those around so that there will be one light above the mirror.  He also had to raise the outlet as the countertops will be higher.  And when he started peeling off the wallpaper he discovered that there was this strange other paper under it -- not a true wallpaper, but more of like a base-paper.  Which is a dickens to get off (trust me -- I helped with this part!).  The dry-wall underneath in places had the white paper coating scraped off (NOT due to our removal of any of the paper) and any remaining glue created a nightmare when he was re-mudding the walls.  ACH!

And then the dishwasher had a leak.  We started smelling a musty odor under the kitchen sink and Tom noticed some water seeping out the wall opposite the dishwasher.  I believe that during our efforts to get the dishwasher to clean the dishes again we inadvertently (perhaps?) created some leak or so.  So the repairman comes out but the part is not in stock so another week later, it's finally fixed.  Unfortunately it seems the musty odor remains so perhaps now there's a leak somewhere else in the kitchen sink area.  Sigh.

I believe the quarter finals were perhaps the least stressful of events, at least from mine and Tom's perspectives.  The girls performed well first quarter and are again inundated with homework for the second quarter.

As for the surgery, that's another story!  First there was a one-week delay due to the fact that the surgeon's father-in-law died and he was out of town.  Mom changed her flights at a large expense (mom's the best!) to come in a week later and stay through the 31st.  Then the various home-improvement projects were all coming together, so we went to "plan B" and mom took me to the hospital in the morning (well, I drove) and stayed with me there which allowed Tom to do some of the various work before the cabinet install people came the following day.  So mom and I sat and they got me all ready and we sat some more and some more.....Finally about 2:30 they took me back and sent her on to the waiting area.  As they gave me my "relaxing shot" at that point things started to get fuzzy.  I remember talking with the PA as she marked the appropriate hip for surgery and being wheeled into the OR and then the hook-up of the IV and the beginning of the nothingness.  Then I was a bit more aware in a hospital room, being told I'd be spending the night.  Tom was there -- apparently the surgery started late, ran quite a bit longer than anticipated (guess that hip was in rather bad shape) and they hadn't yest established that all my systems were working well enough to send me home so I was to spend the night.  I was able to chat with Abby on the phone and was so thankful that mom and Maggie were there to keep everything running while Tom was with me until visiting hours were over.  I FINALLY got to go home at about 4:30 Wednesday afternoon and, as the girls noticed, still a bit foggy.  I went to bed at 7 rather sore.  Each day has been an improvement in range of motion and less pain.  Right now it seems to me that the achiness is different than pre-op -- more from the surgery and the ways they had to move my hip around than anything else.  It's confirmed that there's little/no cartilage left in the hip and there were more/larger bone spurs than anticipated.  I've had one PT session and have to do my exercises regularly.  I'm allowed to put no weight on it at all for 2 weeks.  Sigh.  Then I'll gradually add weight.  Meanwhile I'm figuring out a lot of ways to get things done and every day is a bit better.  Hopefully I'll be even more capable before mom has to leave for home.....

Mom's taken Maggie to her cross country meet this morning -- I didn't think crutching all over city park was such a grand idea, especially as the ground is still rather wet.  Tom should be taking Abby to her ensemble practice and my goal for the day is to sponge-bathe and do my exercises and watch the OSU game......good enough for me!

Enjoy the rest of October!

things i like and dislike about hurricanes

So first off is the disclaimer -- I have absolutely no right to complain at all -- we had the means and the ability to evacuate and CHOSE to stay in town for Isaac.  That said, here are the things I liked:

1. Listening to the wind and rain (cat 1, so not horrific!)
2. Reading by candlelight (the first 2 days)
3. Remembering how to get around in the dark (before I had LASIK I had this sort of inner-radar thing going on and was able to navigate the house in the dark without my glasses/contacts)
4. Tom's ingenuity -- he'd purchased a HUGE generator after Katrina -- we lost NOTHING in the refrigerator due to melting or being off temperature (we lost a head of broccoli from lack of use!). He enabled us to charge phones and other devices, rigged up the TV, washer and dryer and strong fans to make the house bearable -- he'd just about finished rigging up a window a/c when the power came back on
5. Playing card-games with my girls
6. Finished ALL my library books -- especially after remembering and finding the book-lights we had
7. Just being at home
8. Going to church Sunday
9. Celebrating Tom's b-day 

Things I disliked:

1. Showering in the dark (actually it was rather funny this morning -- the power came on while I was in the shower and Abby came to tell me it was on.  I let out a "whoop!" and had her call Tom and Maggie who were out buying MORE gas for the generator.  Then I realized I could turn on the light and did so.  THEN I realized I could also turn on the exhaust fan).  Bliss.
2. Cooking in the dark -- made spaghetti on Wednesday, the day it made landfall
3. Doing laundry in a serial fashion as only one big appliance could be run at a time -- wash clothes, dry clothes, then wash/dry second load.
4. House smelling like a locker room due to the fact that it got hot and humid and towels and bathmats weren't able to dry out
5. Having what seemed like EVERYONE else getting power on faster than we did
6. Trying to figure out what to do considering the fact that Tom's leaving for Holland tomorrow and we didn't have power yet this morning AND the girls go back to school tomorrow (plan was to get a hotel room for the three of us)
7. Not being able to enjoy my coffee
8. Feeling slightly "sticky" all the time

Considering there are more things I liked (also see previous post), I suppose it wasn't so bad.  Today was the first day I really felt like crying from frustration and everything.  All things considered I'll stay again for a cat-1 (maybe cat-2) and the biggest lesson I've learned is to include in the supply list PAPER PLATES (doing dishes is NOT one of my likes!).

Hope your Labor Day is wonderful -- I enjoyed a "normal" day including going to my yoga class and going to the grocery.......