It's Raining!

It's raining; it's pouring, it's been raining off and on for two days. And I am so pleased! Why? Because I cannot hear the sump pump running all night long.

One of the last rehab things we've done to the house is have the Basement Doctor replace the old open sump pump with an enclosed one that also has a battery back up, fix the pipes that take the water out of the basement and out into the ditch, and repair all the cracks that have occurred due to water pressure because it wasn't draining properly. We have actually had it fixed before by other people but never successfully . In the past the sump pump ran almost all the time as it pumped the same water out that just poured back in. So it burned itself out. We've also had the basement flood several times due to power outages. The battery back up should stop that.

Of course, Joe didn't want to do this because he thought it was a waste of money. The Basement Doctor is a national franchise, but our niece works at the local office. So although he was very obstinate about having this done, he talks like it was all his idea when he's on the phone with his sister. That's fine. I got it done and I love it.

Getting Out!

Last night I left the house without Joe. My friends Denise and Sue picked me up at my house; we took my van so I could get in and out easily, and we went to the shop for the monthly meeting of the BFG's (Bodacious Fabric Goddesses). Five members sat around the tables and chatted and laughed and thought about sewing -- only Rosie really got anything done as she traced a pattern for a purse.

What I did get done was feel like I could get back out into the real world. Free for All will be this Friday from 4:30 to 9 or 10 pm and I hope to actually get some sewing done. It's time for this. It's like these carrots are dangling in front of me -- time to get out, time to go to outpatient rehab, time to drive (?)-- ok, maybe not drive, but the rest, yes.

Joe has been so helpful, but I know from experience that he'll be glad when I can get out on my own again.

Paranoia?

This morning I reminded Joe that I write a blog and mentioned that I had been writing more often since I was home. I told him a bit about my 3 am blog on being sick and in pain and now feeling more empathetic with him.

His reaction? Blogs are dangerous. There are probably stalkers out there who want to learn about us through my blog. They will break in and steal our valuables. What valuables? These must be the same people who will peer into the windows if I leave the blinds open during the day or who will steal his 1999 Chevy if he leaves it unlocked.

Joe and I are opposites. I am the optomist who wants the blinds open, lots of light pouring into the house, light and bright colors, and no worries until an actual event forces it. Joe is the pessimist who wants every window blocked with blinds and heavy drapes so all rooms are cave-like and who worries about all possible ills before they ever happen. Not that he does any thing about these dark possibilities, he just agonizes over them. Most of the time we balance , but sometimes he just makes me laugh. If any stalkers from my blog show up (which I believe is read by no more than 10 people), I'll just throw my laptop at them.

Adventures at Krogers

I finally had to go to the grocery store for myself. Other people have sweetly volunteered and picked up this or that from my list but I still don't end up with all that we need. So Joe and I trekked down to Krogers in Hebron. I am still using the walker so I had Joe drop me off at the entrance and went in and revved up one of the electric carts with the folded walker strapped to the top of the cart basket. Joe parked and came in as well and decided that he would also use one of the electric carts so he could follow me around and help. Not a bad idea as we ended up filling both carts.

We looked a bit like two kids let loose on go carts as neither of us had ever used one before. After we figured out the logistics of the steering, we were off. It took us over an hour, even on wheels. I think Joe was surprised at how many people he ran into (not literally) and how long it takes to shop.

Maneuvering the walker through the lane made check out a bit tricky but once through there, the really nice Kroger people helped us load the van and we were off for home. Joe backed the van part way into the garage. He carried the groceries to the doorway and I carried them into the kitchen. A half hour later all was put away and there's actually food for several meals now.

The hardest part about the trip or any trip so far is getting into the vehicle and the way the trip itself jars my knee. The other difficulty to the trip is it was another old fart day.

3 AM

It's 3 am and I can't go back to sleep after 4 solid hours of slumber so I am trying to wear my self out so that I'll get another 2 hours or so, or until it's time that I can take another pain pill which usually will also put me back into slumber.

I've emptied the dishwasher, straightened a shelf in the kitchen, and now I'm blogging. I am not whining; I am just sharing some observations. I had never had an operation before or any serious illness, very lucky I know. But on the other hand, I was not in the best of physical condition, not exercising much especially the last 5 years as my knees became worse and worse. I didn't realize how bad it had become until I rejoined Weight Watchers and found that although following the plan was very helpful and I was losing weight, I was losing it very slowly because I couldn't find an excercise that I could do or a gym that I could go to.

Now after the surgery, I am paying the price as my rehabbing is going very slowly as well. The important muscles are not in shape and so I'm having trouble getting the leg straight when it needs to be straight and bent when it needs to be bent. At night I wake with muscle pains in my operated on leg because my muscles are so out of shape. The surgery itself had something to do with it.

My point is, how do people stand this over and over -- like Joe with multiple heart attacks, my mom with her multiple sclerosis, other friends who have chronic diseases. I know now that I was never sympathetic enough with my mom -- she was a very brave lady who put up with a huge amount of pain her entire adult life. And although I think "tough love" is still the way to go with Joe, I have far more empathy for him now.

It's almost time for a pain pill and the passive exercise machine; both of which will guarantee another two hours sleep. No whining, just thinking.

Sleep

I can't sleep but I also can't stay awake.

It's simple. I am so tired in the evenings that I am going to bed by nine o'clock. I wake twice for about one hour or more each time. When I can't go back to sleep I try to find something to do. Like write in my blog.

Having gone to bed early, I am up for good by 5 or 6 am. I make coffee and have breakfast and then usually put my leg on the CPM (Continuous Passive Motion Machine) which immediately puts me to sleep. Since I am to use the CPM 6 hours a day, I am getting six hours of napping each day. I even use the CPM at night during one of those I can't go back to sleep times.

So I can't sleep at night as I'd wish, but I can't stay awake during the day. I'm getting enough sleep just not when I wish.

Big Truck, Little Truck

In one of our manic moments earlier this month, Joe and I decided we needed a new dishwasher and ordered one from Sears. It will match the refrigerator. That leaves the stove the odd man out -- I always have one appliance that matches in color but isn't the same brand.

Anyway I requested that the dishwasher be delivered and installed on the same day, not wanting to have a large appliance sitting in the middle of my small kitchen for several days. I also ordered a kit recommended by the website for installation.

Joe and Sears have a personal relationship now as he has talked to them on the phone many times with updates on arrival and install times. When I agreed to the 24th as the arrival date, I wasn't thinking of it as the day before Thanksgiving, but that date meant there were several delays and it wasn't until 5:45 pm that a pickup truck pulled into the driveway with several dishwashers in the back. After all his phone calls, Joe had just left to pick up carry out Chinese from Yummy! Yummy! so he missed the grand arrival. I was expecting a much larger truck but out hopped two guys who began to unload ours. They brought it into the house and dove right into the job. One man asked me if I had ordered an installation kit but when I said I had, he had no paper work for it but had extra kits anyway. Just then a large white truck pulled up in front of the house and began beeping. The installers watched as a young man jumped down from his cab and brought us the installation kit, about the size of a notebook. He commented that it wasn't the first time that the only thing he had to deliver was the install kit with no dishwasher attached. At least, his timing was perfect.

By the time Joe got home with our dinner, the install was done, the water connection was being tested and the guys were ready to leave, taking the old dishwasher with them. No more will Joe and I open the door to have all the silverware fall out!

Old Farts

One of Quinn's favorite nicknames for Joe and me is that we are old farts. I don't know where she heard this or where she picked it up, but she will call us old farts and then giggle madly.

Well, today I have to admit she may be right as I feel like one. Joe drove me to my orthopaedic doctor's office today which is the first I've been out of the house since November 10th. He legally parked in the handicapped spots and then came around to help me out of the car. Between my walker and his cane, we obviously qualified for his handicapped sticker. I carefully made my way to the door of the doctor's offices and almost rolled up a rug on my way in. I haven't quite got the hang of this walker thing and am hoping I'll get rid of it before I become proficient with it.

My knee and I signed in and I left Joe in the waiting room so I could go to the bathroom. I came back, he handed me my pink purse and took his turn in the bathroom. Of course, the nurse immediately called my name as the next appointment. We waited for Joe as she said he'd never find me. Of course, the dad-blamed, newfangled x-ray machine was down, so I waited for 20 minutes but never got an x-ray. Oh, well, next appointment.

The actual appointment went ok, Dr. Taylor says knee looks good and it's time for staples to come out--all 18 of them. After the doctor leaves to tell the nurse, Joe says don't worry that doesn't hurt at all. OUCH! I felt everyone leave my leg and it was not pleasant. However, now they're out and I do think the knee feels less itchy.

On the way home, Joe wants lunch at Denny's. I say fine although all I really want to do is go home and take a nap. We both order a "senior slam" and have breakfast for lunch.

Joe gets me home; I get myleg on the machine for its passive exercising and take my nap! Yep, old farts!

Manic Joe

Usually Joe is pretty slow moving but ever since I have been home 24-7, he seems to want to get a lot done. Today we bought a new dishwasher on line, he called the Basement Dr. to come give us an estimate on some repair work, he made an appt with the garage door guy to come again. And he made breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Admittedly after dinner was prepared I was in a cold sweat from all my direction giving but it turned out great. But only because I insisted that he cook the steak my way and let it rest. I wouldn't mind that he was so inspired if I weren't laid up and unable to be involved with anything. Often my way is the right way and maybe that's not fair but I hate for us to invest money into a project that will not turn out well and that I would have caught that possibility.

I'm done whining!

Good Friends

Two weeks before my surgery, there was a knock at the shop door. If anyone knocks rather than just walking on in, I know they're either a new customer or they want to rent one of the storage units attached to my shop. Going to answer the door and seeing an older gentleman with no bags of quilt tops, I assumed he wanted to rent a space and was ready with my, "I don't have anything to do with that," spiel.

Instead he handed me a small wooden plaque, obviously home made, and said, "I found this for a quarter at a yard sale this morning and thought you should have it." On the plaque was written "Good friends are like fine quilts, they never lose their warmth." Flabbergasted, I thanked him as he turned away and climbed into his truck. I called after him that I knew just the place for it and he nodded and said he thought I would.

Looking back on it, it must have happened right after the article published in the Newark Advocate about my shop in Hebron and being the Featured Artist of the Guild for 2010-11. Hebron is a small town and many of the men gather at the post office to chat each morning so he probably knew who I was even though I have no idea of his identity.

What a nice thing to do! I immediately hung the plaque by the entry door in the shop and each evening I give it a pat when I leave. And I reflect on the truth of the statement, especially while I'm recuperating.

New Priorities

Ten things I now look forward to--



1. Breakfast is over and I can go back to bed.

2. Percocet makes you fall asleep.

3. Lunch is over and I can go back to bed.

4. Using my laptop in my bed.

5. Dinner is over and I can go back to bed.

6. Vaguely hearing Joe say, "She's asleep and can't talk right now."

7. Getting updates from my sister-in-law Anita who is 10 days ahead of me in this whole procedure. It gives me hope I will be feeling much better soon. She's already using a cane.

8. E-mails, Facebook, and Phone calls from friends who catch me when I am awake.

9. The biggest thing on my agenda today is washing my hair.

10.The biggest things on Joe's agenda are the new garage door is being installed, the Junk 2B guys are coming back to empty the basement, and Water's Edge tutoring in Buckeye Lake. Many of my priorities have leaked over onto his agenda.

11. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Chicken 1, Joe 0

Our first Sunday dinner home alone with Joe as chef was a winner for the chicken but not so much for Joe. He is not a cook and rarely makes anything other than frozen pizza and frozen dinners.

Saturday night Laura came over and cooked cheesy pasta with meatballs and sauce, made a salad, and heated up an apple pie donated to our feast by my friend Rose Mary. Although my appetite is minimal, it all tasted good and I ate small amounts of everything.

Sunday afternoon before she and Jack left for home, Lisa put a whole seasoned chicken into the roasting pan, ready for Joe to pop it into the oven. I had him check it several times with the instant read thermometer as he thought it should be done sooner that it was. When it was "finally" done, I told him to put the lid on the pan and set the timer for ten minutes and not put it back into the oven. He thought I was nuts. Then we put a can of sweet potatoes on in a pan on the top of the stove which he wanted to just walk away from and was a little frustrated when I made him stay in the kitchen area. "Why?" is his new favorite question.

I told him to take the chicken out and just cut out the breast as a whole piece because that's our favorite part. He couldn't do it and when I got up to check, I realized he had put the chicken upside down on the platter and was trying to get at the breast through the back. We finally got the chicken cut and the sweet potatoes on the side and sat down to dinner. It was really good. So the chicken may have gotten the best of Joe but it was a good dinner.

He even managed to pick the rest of the chicken and put it in a container for leftovers tomorrow!

OUCH!

Surgery on Wednesday went well and I remember very little of the entire day from the first injection until Thursday morning. According to the girls I was wacky and used words like "flasharino" when sharing a view of my backside, "It'll be ok baby." to Lisa while she was holding on to me so I would not fall off the bed, and "sh*t" when I was describing how I felt. This last word was evidently my favorite, as in "I feel like sh*t." Not really my favorite cuss word so I am glad it was the one that surfaced through the fog of the medicines.

Anaesthesia side effects were all over me. I was very nauseated and evidently hurt quite a bit. This is all hearsay as I really don't remember it. Joe said I was just lying there like a slug. I am not sure what he expected me to do but this is his first time as the visitor, not the patient.

On Thursday I woke with no knowledge of the previous day's antics. I recognized none of the people that came in saying "you look much better today" and that's probably just as well. I had slight nausea and moderate pain that once I learned to push the buttons was taken care of. I walked twice up and down the hall to great praise from the physical therapist. I walked back and forth to be bathroom several times. I was way overconfident at that point. One of the reasons my pain was under control was that I had a nerve block pump inserted in my right leg and if I pushed the right button, it numbed my incision site. It worked great but it made the right leg very unstable as I couldn't feel it. So left alone in my room, sitting in the chair, I decided I could go to the bathroom on my own if I could just reach the walker. In spite of the many signs saying "Call . Don't Fall." I leaned too far forward, the right leg went out and I fell out of the chair. I managed to sit up and reached the call button and used the famous line "I've fallen and I can't get up." Thankfully I only bruised my leg and nobody yelled at me except my husband whose last words when he left that day were "Don't fall!" Thursday evening one of my pain killers was changed from a pumped intravenous to oral percocet. The pumped one had been making me itch like mad. The percocet made me take naps immediately after I took it. ''

Friday, I was very chastened and called for someone every time I had to pee which was a lot. My GP, Dr. Giersch, stopped in to say she had noticed that my white cell count was high and since I am prone to Urinary Tract Infections, she thought I had better go home with an antibiotic if the tests confirmed which they did her suspicion. It was really nice of her to come into the hospital.

Friday, the nerve block pump was stopped about 2 and I was able to go home after it had been disconnected about 3 hours so Joe and I were leaving in the middle of rush hour on Friday night with Joe driving my van which he hates but I can't get into his sedan as easily. The hospital made me eat dinner before I left so I am sure Joe was starving. Trip took about an hour with a stop at Krogers to ask for the meds to be filled. Laura and Jason met us at the house and walked me up the five steps to the front door where I sat in the nearest chair and asked when I could take my percocet. Jason went to pick up the meds, Laura set up the potty chair and my sick room and two grandkids got lots of hugs. I was in bed by 8:30 and asleep by 9.

A Typical Day!

It's a typical day at the Whyte's. A request for a letter of recommendation stat, a sick grandchild that needed to hang out with us, a husband who probably has the same stomach virus that the grandchild has, and I have surgery tomorrow and don't want to be close to either one of them.

The good thing about it was I didn't have to cook dinner for Joe as heating up a can of chicken noodle soup and finding the sleeve of crackers doesn't count.

The bad thing is if I get up sick tomorrow, I will be very angry. I usually do not get stomach flu so here's hoping.

I finished my absolutely last quilt before surgery today and straightened up the shop. I brought home some goodies to keep me occupied and now am figuring out where to put it all. Also, if Joe is still ill tomorrow, I will be driving myself to Mt. Carmel East for surgery. I can just park the car and let Laura bring him over on Thursday to pick it up. Yahoo! A typical day!

Pre-Surgery

I'm really not nervous about this surgery on Wednesday and I think I've figured out why. Both daughters are also very relaxed about my going under the knife. And it's because we have had such adrenalin-filled events with Joe that this just doesn't seem too scary. Almost every time Joe has had surgery it has been preceded by a stressed drive to OSU Ross Heart Hospital, wondering if I would get there before the helicopter carrying him from Licking County. Almost all of his procedures have been life-threatening and life-determining. If the procedure didn't succeed, he'd die one way or the other -- either during the surgery as a consequence of it or afterwards because the problem wasn't fixed. Nothing was ever planned and certainly not relaxed as this has been. I have visited the unit, chatted with my doctor, and am very comfortable with the whole thing. Probably the only person stressed about this knee replacement surgery is Joe.

Arggh! Time Change!

Five-year-old Quinn and I have been up since 5:30 am. I hate the time change no matter whether we fall forward or spring back. It always plays havoc with my sleep schedule. Since we were up, Quinn and I made pancakes for breakfast, plain and chocolate chip. We took our time getting ready for church as Kai and Joe had to leave earlier since Kai was serving at mass. We strolled in right at 8:30 and Joe was panicking because we weren't 10 minutes early.

I really don't get what good it does to play with the time so for me I wish the proverbial "they" would have just left it alone.

Birthday Bash Update!

It was a smash!

Both sons in law stepped up to the plate and installed new baseboards all around the living room, dining area, and hallways. It looks great and Jeremy and Jason didn't whine at all. It took getting a power miter saw, a nail gun, some adhesive, and divvying up the cutting and nailing responsibilities and they did it all! I just love those men.


Laura and Lisa worked on putting up blinds and cleaning the basement. They dragged out all the garbage I had bagged up and at least 10 bags more. Unfortunately, there is still more down there (due to having flooded three times and the last time was when Joe was really ill and I just couldn't get down there to clean it up), but it was a great start. Lisa only insisted on rescuing one box of stuff which she added to her ten boxes out in the garage. That's my next goal as we are getting a new garage door installed as one of our last outside improvements.


Kai and Quinn swept the decks and entertained Jack and Joe. Joe was probably harder to keep happy than Jack. Jack checked out the old high chair that I cleaned up and liked being able to see everyone and pound on the tray.

It all went well and Jeremy has discovered a new favorite food. Since it was my birthday and I had offerred to cook in repayment for their labor, I decided to make one of my favorite things -- shrimp and cheesy grits. Everyone but Joe enjoyed them, and Jeremy wanted to know why he had never had this before!

Prep

The last quilt that I will do for a customer before knee surgery is on. I have scheduled time for myself to clean the shop and take home things to keep me busy for the four weeks I cannot drive and will not get into the shop much. I am sure I am taking way too much home -- keep thinking of this as a retreat where I can work on projects for Christmas and forgetting about the pain and rehab part. It's kind of like when Laura had her first baby on December 1st, she keep saying she would do all this Christmas baking and decorating. I still have the picture of the undecorated live tree leaning in the corner of their living room that year.

Of course, Joe says he is willing to help me out but I know he'll get tired of driving me around. I certainly got tired of doing it for him in the past when our situations were reversed. He has no idea how hard it is to have someone so dependent on you. It shouldn't be for long though.

My sister-in-law came through the same surgery last week with no issues so I am hoping for the same results! My house is all on one floor and I will have lots of help from everyone. I am as prepared as I can be!