Home is Good

1st hip replacement. This hip replacement.

Okay. The blog &/or the internet and I have been having issues. I had a great entry yesterday, but I saved it and didn't post it. Then I couldn't figure out how to move it from saved to posted. So with a practice of patience I put it up and I am tackling it today! I am propped up in bed with the air wraps on my legs, the water pack on my hips, and the big red dog, Rusty comes and goes from my bedside depending on what he hears in the house.

I wanted to show the two incesion sites. This one has 24 staples as opposed to the 34 in the 1st one. More bruising in this one. I think the swelling is about the same. I also think this one is easier. The nurse came yesterday and changed the dressing. We determined she didn't need to come back. The pt should come today. Can't wait! Everything I do gets easier each day!

I stayed up all day yesterday. I watched all of the oscars, which is not something we usually watch. I enjoyed the time with my sister. She did some prep work for me on some hand embroidery that I will do to keep me busy during recovery. Heads up family, I am working on Christmas! She also picked out some other projects she wants done for Christmas too. I worked on Mom's computer getting Bob's E Reader set up. That took longer than I remembered when I set mine up. Janet and her sttandard poodle, Zeke, have left and we already miss her. Oh, she just called. Bad service, actually stupid service, at McD's in Davis. PT just called, he will be here in an hour. I will soon be busy.

I have been blessed by flowers, food, calls, cards from my kids at school, visits from family and friends. I talked to my granddaughter, Madison, who felt driven to make everyone a prayer bracelet in the family when we got my diagnosis. I told her I had bad news. When I went into surgery the surgeon cut off my prayer bracelet. But, it was time for it to come off because I am on the healing leg of my journey. I am better daily! Prayers and Blessings!

This hip replacement. First hip replacement.

The 1st hip replacement had 34 staples and this one has 24. The first one looks longer, this one is bruised more, and this one is easier. Today has been good. I have been so blessed with calls, flowers, food, and visits. My sister is here doing some prep work for me so I can do some hand embroidery while I am recovering and attending to evvery whim if Ken or Mom don't beat her. My Mom had me busy working on the E Reader for Bob today, I enjoyed doing that and time really flies when you are busy. Ken cooked a most delicious pot roast, potatoes, carrots, and gravy. I have felt good today. It is about time to put the icepack back on, then get in bed, take meds, and add the inflatable leg wraps. I am working hard to prevent blood clots. Everyone asks about the pain level, well I am not in pain actually, I am very sore. This too shall pass! (Sooner than later I hope!)

I talked to my granddaughter, Madison, and told her I had sad news. Last May when I was diagnosed with breast cancer, she was on a mission to make prayer bracelets for all the family. I put mine on my right ankle and have worn it since she gave it to me. It truely grounded me in what is important - prayer, faith, hope, and love. Well, my sad news was that the doctor cut off my prayer bracelet in surgery. Kayla, her momma, said hers feel off about 3 weeks ago. It was time for them to come off because I am at the end of my journal! Thanks and Praises!

I Am Home!

Okay, I know it has been quite a few days since I last posted. I do have a good reason. I went up to Bone and Joint Hospital Wednesday morning. I had surgery aound 8:30 it lasted a couple of hours and it went very well. My bones were healthly. HooRay! That was very good. I was tired all day Wednesday and Thursday. I didn't really have any desire or attention span to do anything. Friday came and I was ready to go home. I tried to get on the internet without any luck. I was thrilled for the visitor's and the calls. It is Saturday and I am home. My sister, Janet, and Ken came to the hospital and took me home. Yeah! I am at home Austin and his girlfriend, Holly, brought over lunch. Now we are watching Red awaiting the arrival of Mom and Bob. My children all made me cards and they were delivered to the house while I was gone. I am blessed by family, friends, and my students.
Did I mention our heat is out. I am sitting in the living room with two blankets on me and a fire in the fireplace. I am very sore. I hope to get a good night's rest tonight. A nurse will be here tomorrow to change the dressing.
More later!

Surgery Eve

Wow! I hope that I have covered everything. Getting ready for a sub is always stressful, but getting ready for 13 days is nerve racking! I have planned to the best of my ability and I have a wonderful retired teacher taking my class. Breath it will be alright.
Yesterday was the last day of radiation. Woo Hoo! I was given an engraved glass mug. I was surprised. My neck is starting to heal. The neosporin did a great job. The rest of the radiated skin is pink but not blistered. This has passed!
Ken got the call letting us know I need to be at the hospital by 6:00 am. I guess I am first. I have to be there 2 hours early, surgery last 1 1/2 hours, so by 10:00 I should be moving forward, slowly but nonetheless forward. Several calls have come in this evening wishing me well tomorrow and our preacher came by and prayed with us. Thank you to everyone, the support gives me strength. I am assured the hospital has wifi. So I will be connected. 2 good things about tomorrow. No catheter and no ted hose! Ken's dad will dust off the walker for me. A teacher at school has offered me the use of her mom's scooter when I go back. I was thinking no at first ten I asked "Does it have a horn?" That could be fun. Hmmm! The hall from the front of the building to my room is very long.
Our heater went out. It had holes in some tube things, which means carbon monoxide was leaking. I am glad we are upstairs. It will take about a week to get what we need in. One more thing to deal with. Do we really need another thing? Oh well, it is what it is.

Ken and I went to see Kayla, Austin, Janet, Holly, Madison, Macie Jane, Zachary, and Steve. We didn't think we would get to see Steve so we were pleased when he got home before we left. This is a picture of Kayla and Zachary. We spoke of his beginning vocabulary and all of the important words he knows when he said "Papa!" Music to Papa's ears.
The upstairs shower is still in progress. There has been a bit of progress since this picture. The sub floor is down. I don't know when Ken is going to find the time to finish.
The herceptin made me very tired. We drove home and arrived home around 10:30 last night. I am still tired, but I am feeling better. The burn on my neck is starting to heal. Tomorrow is the last day of radiation. This to shall pass and soon!
I plan to spend the afternoon getting plans and things ready for my absence in the classroom while I have my hip replaced. It will be hard to be gone so long. I will miss my kids.

A Nap Sounds Good

Okay, lots of information. I am still working on getting a previous EKG to the hip surgeon since the EKG on Wednesday was abnormal. I talked to the admitting nurse yesterday and she said she would call the hospital here since I had surgery in December. I called today to confirm that she called, got a copy of the EKG, and that surgery is a go. Well, she isn't in today. Somebody else asked me several questions like do I have or have I had chest pains and said she would call the hospital and follow up. It will be Monday before we get any further on that. Rats! Just minutes ago a nurse from the hip surgeon's office called to find out where we have our prescriptions go so she could call in a antibiotic because I had bacteria in my urine. So it sounds like I will have surgery. I am praying that I will be able to get relief from the pain.
I had a herceptin treatment today and then just for fun a radiation treatment also. I am very tired from the herceptin and very burned from the radiation. My neck is so blistered. It looks nasty. My skin has peeled so much off my breast that it is only one color now. (How was that for trying to not be graphic and give too much information.) I know it sounds weird, but true.
Last night was sorority night. We met at our house. We had a good turn out. We had a short business meeting, we ate, and we opened our valentine gifts from our secret sisters. We had lots of sweets for the sweet girls in our group. I am so fortunate to be a part of these wonderful ladies lives. It is so wonderful to know people who will laugh with you, cry with you, and leave you feeling better about everything!
I am going to nap a bit.

Full Day.

I had a busy day. Ken and I stopped to give blood so the results would be available for our afternoon appointments. We thought it would be walk in and get going. It was - 30 minutes later. We had enough time to get to OKC. It was a busy day at the Bone and Joint and parking was scarce. Paperwork! If you have ever had surgery when you are pre-admitting you sign a paper stating that you are aware of the possibilities up to and including death. As I read this the one that struck me as funny was the lose of a tooth. (Hmm I guess I better not back talk to the surgeon!) I got to give more blood. Interesting the blood taker (I know there is a word for this, but spell checker wouldn't give me any options) was male and he preceded to tell me males did this job better. I put that filter up and didn't tell him I had just had a woman take blood in Shawnee who was by far the best person I'd ever had take my blood. Back to the waiting room. Then the next test was collecting urine. I excelled. Back to the waiting room. Chest x-rays came next. Back to the waiting room. The last test was an EKG. It was abnormal. Right now, I am not sure if that will keep me from having surgery. Back to the waiting room. Not on the way to every test but almost I was asked do you want a wheelchair. My first answer was No thank you - later it just became No. Now I think I may see the doctor, but no I am on my way to a class with 5 other people going under the knife in the near future. Oh and by the way I am asked yet again did I want a wheelchair. We get ushered into a room and given a box lunch and drink. We get to listen to a physical therapist, pharmacist, account coordinator, and the head nurse about our experience and what to expect. Then we are off in just enough time to get to Shawnee for our yearly doctor appointments. They went well. Ken got medicine change, ear irrigated (without luck), and I have 6 months to lower my cholesterol. More incentive to heal fast so I can exercise! I don't want to take more medicine. Radiation. My neck is blistered and peeling. It sure burns! 3 left! Yaahoo!
I looked down at my legs and oh my goodness I have hair! And a lot of it! Oopsie! I hadn't realized how much it had grown. The shaving vacation is over. I have eyelashes too! My hair is getting nice and thick. My scalp is totally covered, you can't even see the hole in my head! This is great news. Well, tomorrow or Friday I will tell my kids about the surgery. I will miss them, but they will be well taken care of. Thank you Rebecca.

Blisters!

What a wonderful Valentine's Day! My day started with a dozen red roses and the loveliest card. Ken wrote the most romantic message in it. Ahh! Ohh! I felt like I did when we were dating. I came home to spaghetti, salad, garlic bread, and an angel food cake in the oven. All this was served on the china and linen napkins. Wow! So, we ate and Ken opened his gift. I shopped over the weekend and was thinking practicality not romance. Rats. Then I went to bunco with the girls. When I got back home Ken had chocolate dipped strawberries and chocolate peanut butter fudge waiting for me. The man has a way about him that I just can't resist. Woo! A Happy Valentine's Day to all! Love is wonderful!
I am gaining blisters on my neck now. Owie! I am really burned and blistered. The best news of all is I have four radiation treatments left. The concentration now is where the lumpectomy scar is. I will be done Monday with radiation. One step closer to being through with this journey.
Tomorrow is a busy day. Ken and I will go do labs first thing in the morning. We need to get to the pre-op appointment for the hip surgery by 9:30. Then Ken and I have our yearly good health check up and next is radiation. I will be tired of poking, testing, and getting radiated by the time I get home.

What a great weekend. We grabbed a pizza from a new place (the place isn't really new, but it is the first time we have tried it), and then we went to a movie. The movie "Just Go With It" was very good. We laughed and enjoyed it. Lots of fun.
Saturday was Ken's day to work, so I went to school and worked all day. I worked on my student's memory books, and I got them caught up. Yippee! It didn't help the day to day classroom stuff, but it takes a big weight off my shoulders to know it is caught up. I went home and sewed for a bit. Way more fun than memory books.
Today was a nice day. The weather was wonderful today. Melting is going on all over town. We have some mud issues where the snow is melting because the sun doesn't get to the north side. We went to church and then I went to school to work on classroom stuff. Ken went to the grocery store, bless his heart. He knows how hard it is for me to make it around Walmart. We have had a wonderful evening. The youth at our church had a valentine banquet. The menu was Italian, the youth put on a variety show, and then there was a concert after dinner. Now we are home watching The Bounty Hunter. Who could ask for more? I am rejoicing in the day!

Snow Day Again

Wednesday was spent at home watching the snow come down, trying to stay warm, and letting the dog out and letting the dog in. We got around 6 inches of snow on top of what we had. It was a cold day. When I went to radiation on Tuesday they said radiation would be closed on Wednesday.
Today was even colder. We started out at -6 degrees when Ken went to work. Radiation was open today. Yaa hoo! I went to radiation around 10:00 it was up to 9 degrees. My skin is staying dark pink.
I went to school after radiation to work on a few things. I copied everything for the week of March 7th-12th. Then I worked on the school directory. Thanks to help from Laura I was able to get it completed. I am blessed to have the best friends. I am glad to have that done!
I left school about 4:45 and it was 33 degrees. Heat wave. Hard to imagine we could start out below zero and end up above freezing. Who knew? Ken was making one of my favs - frito chili pie for dinner. His dad came over and we enjoyed his company. I talked to my mom, she wanted to know if we were staying warm. I assured her we are.

Back In School

Two good days in school. We celebrated 100 days of school today. We did some fun activities and counted out 100 snacks such as pretzels, marshmallows, goldfish, skittles, etc. When they got 100 counted out I gave them a bag with their name on it and they were could eat it whenever they wanted to. That was a special treat and oh so fun!
We are forecast to get 6-12 inches of snow. I am watching the school closings on TV. Shawnee has not been listed. The temperature has gone down from 31 to 18 in the last hour and a half. I went to radiation today. I have one area that is more than pink. I think there is even a blister. Owie! The radiation department is closed tomorrow. I hope they will be open on Thursday. Just eight more to go! Oh! Here is a big thank you to Nick, Debbie's husband. Nick is the one who cleared out my snow last Saturday.
Ohh! I just kind of noticed this morning, I have very scraggely eyebrows. Not real thick, but scraggely. When the weather is clearer and hopefully before surgery I want to get them waxed. I have a few eyelashes coming back in on the top and bottom. Woo Hoo! This to shall pass.

Melting Snow

The main roads are very drivable, from the plowing and the snow melting. The side roads are not. I am confident we will have school tomorrow. With another storm system coming in on Wednesday I have doubts about the end of the week. So far we have missed 5 days of school. I have missed two days of radiation. I will make those up on the 17th & 18th. I asked about what will happen if I miss more than the days between radiation and surgery and i was told they could give me radiation twice in a day to make me finish in time for surgery. My skin is still a bit pink even with the extra 2 days off. I am finding that wearing a bra is a bit uncomfortable, so I am not.
We went out with Jane and Mary Ann for lunch and a movie on Saturday. We saw the Kings Speech. It was good. Ken and I enjoyed getting out with the girls. When we got back from the movie we noticed the city had been by again and plowed our street. Yeah! Nice, but now Ken can't get the truck into the driveway. He spent quite a bit of time getting rid of the first ridge they left. But after they came by Charme's husband Donnie came by and plowed behind my van so I could get out. Yeah! Thank you Donnie!! I also got a little bit of sewing done. I am in the middle of designing a quilt for sorority. It is fun to put some of my favorite blocks together. I imagine I will be working on it for another week or two.
Church was well attended this morning. Some churches were canceled, but ours didn't. I enjoyed the sermon today. We have had a relaxing day some movies and some sewing. Thank you Jane for the delicious stew and cornbread. Good eating! Ken was able to get the truck back in where he parks and feels like the truck is safer. So all is better.

Snowing!

It is a winter wonderland here in Shawnee! I am still so thankful that we have indoor plumbing! It is still not above freezing. I have been out of school for four days. And it snowed all day again today! It is forecast to be above freezing tomorrow. We might melt enough to clear some roads and then I suppose it will refreeze.
Laura called this morning and offered to take me to radiation. What a blessing it is to be her friend! She came by and picked me up and we went to the hospital. She waited for me and then we decided to go to school for just a little bit. When we went down Airport Road and got to the entrance to the school it was blocked with snow the plow left when it went down the street. So we moved on. Our next stop was the grocery store. That was an exciting stop. There were a lot of people at the grocery store. Then she took me home. Thank you again Laura.
Ken, Jane, and I went out to eat and there were several snow piles that were 12 feet tall. They are going to be around for a long time. It was nice to go out. Today has been a good day. I did some sewing, watching some dvr shows, talking to my sister, Janet, my daughter, Haley, and messaging with my son, Austin. Thank you Austin for the consult. I've had a very comfortable day! I decided not to wear hair today and wore one of my lovely hats that Kayla crocheted for me.
I was in the dining room and all of a sudden Rusty, the big red dog, started barking in the living room. By the time I made it into the living room Rusty had the vent cover off and the carpet pulled away from the wall in the area around the wood box. Ken thinks a cat or some kind of critter has found a way to get under the house to get out of the weather and he must hear or smell it. You are wasting your time telling him no, so he goes in the crate. Right now he is sitting on Ken's lap. Where is the camera???

SNOW!!!

Same picture four days later. Notice there is no less snow! I am tired of snow. I did get out today for the first time since Monday. Laura and her family came by today and took me to the hospital for my radiation treatment. Thank you so much! Right now I only have to make up 2 days of radiation. My skin had turned fairly pink and it had faded quite a bit on Tuesday and Wednesday. When I got done with radiation today my skin was pinker than it was on Monday. I am keeping it moisturized.
I spent all day Tuesday on the computer working on SmartBoard activities, Wednesday I sewed most of the day, and today I worked on scrapbooking. No school again tomorrow. I have a couple of projects I think I will work on. Ken is busy dawn to dusk plowing at the mall.
I got a call from the OSOI (OK Sports Orthopedic Institute) today. My pre-op appointment is Feb. 16th. I will go for tests and some kind of class about the hip replacement. I hope to learn how to recover better, which really means faster. Patience in action!

February

February has come in white and cold! 10 degrees! I was awake flat on my back weighing the options early this morning. I could get up, I could try to get more comfortable, or I could just lay there and do nothing then it occurred to me how blessed we are. I thought how ecstatic I am that I don't have to go outside to go to the bathroom or get water. I am fortunate that I do not have to get out in this weather except dog out and dog in. Rusty, the big red dog, really feels the need to get out in it and play with and bark at the snow. However, my husband is not so lucky. He was up early getting ready and packing extra changes of clothes to go to work. He has called me and he did arrive safely. He will spend all day on the tractor plowing snow at the mall so people can park and shop. Retail, you've got to love it!
When I was at radiation yesterday, they had already canceled today. So I will have one day to make up. I am on a tight schedule. Now I will finish radiation on Thursday and will have surgery the following Wednesday. Lucky I have a few days between. My skin is staying pink between daily treatments. The radiation doctor is very happy with the way my skin looks, so I guess that is good.
So for now I am cuddled up in my chair in the living room with a great fire in the fireplace, something to drink, phones nearby, and plenty of things to do on the computer, dvr watching, scrapbooking, or sewing projects.
Oh I noticed yesterday that my sideburns have grown so much that they are getting hard to hide under my wig. I noticed them when I looked at myself in the mirror at school. I am not sure what I can do about the until they get a bit longer and I can move them back over my ear, but ... I don't have to go outside to go to the bathroom! Let's keep things in perspective. I plan to stay warm and busy, I hope everyone else does too. Take care and enjoy the indoor bathrooms of today.