COMMENTS

i know i sound as dumb as a bag of bricks, but i did not realize that there were comments for me to read!  OKAY, stop laughing!  i just didn't realize!  i thought nobody read this shit but me! i'm sooooo sorry i haven't acknowledged them before!  thanks guys!  i'll do better in the future, i swear i will! LOL

so anyway, i actually posted something on my birthday.  i  don't usually post stuff, cause i don't really think i have anything worthwhile to say, but i said something to the effect of what the year was like for me ... kind of musing to myself about the pros and cons of the past year (believe me...there were more cons than pros) but at the same time, i wanted to send good vibes out to the universe and so i flipped the script and said basically the same things that i was thankful for for the year.  I couldn't believe the number of responses i got!  it was amazing!  people i know from playing games, but have never met in person, folks i haven't talked to in YEARS..okay i'll say it.. DECADES contacted me!  it was wonderful!  thanks to everyone who posted on my wall!

i am all wrapped up in trying to get my mom's permanent resident visa completed.  when we brought her over they said at the tunnel it would take about 6 months... it's been 4 years and we're still going through the process.
more later,

next...

so, i know i haven't been on in a while, but i have had these two new hips to get used to...not to mention the other crap that has happened...i am SOOOOOO glad 2011 is over.  worst year EVER!  besides my hips being replaced, my mon had her right hip replaced and it almost killed her.  as it is she will be on oral antibiotics or the rest of her life.  she has been in the hospital at least three times and on an IV pick line antibiotic twice for 8 weeks each time.  each infection knocked her down to the point of not being able to sit up, eat or anything else.  she was basically living off of Ensure and activia for months at a time!  on top of that, Jr., the hubby's job collapsed and in moving to a new job the annual income went down $37,000.  we are hanging on to the house by our fingernails.  but the kids are doing great, and on top of that, my brother dale, whom we haven't seen in 23 years came to detroit to see my mom.  problem?  he didn't bring enough money to eat or stay for the month he designated for the visit.  there is REALLY bad blood between the brothers... what was he thinking?  at the tender age of 61, who would take a trip across country ( he lives in LA) with no return ticket and no money to live on while you're here?  WHO DOES THAT?  anyway, he's on his way back to la now and finally got to eat. ...anyway, my hips are getting better, even though i get the "weebil wobble" when they are tired and i can feel myself walking like frankenstein.  i don't have a lot of stamina yet, cause i went for around 12 years no being able to work my core muscles at all, and the last thing the dr said was to give it time cause you didn't get his way over night, so don't think you can start doing sit ups and get back to the way you were over night.
getting better all the time though... i can go up and down the basement stairs, and do not kick the dog in the head if he is in my way anymore! LOL  the problem is... now that i can step over him, the "slug in a suit" now lifts his head when i'm going by so now i'm "high stepping" to get over him.  i guess it's all good though, he's physio therapy in a furry suit!  
more later

April 7,2011

so i am now beginning my 6th week.  i don't really need the walker anymore, but after about 25 steps, i'm walking like quasimodo, so i use the cane all the time.  i'm up to 30 reps of the exercises.  i'n not in constant pain anymore, and a motrin in the day and one at night seems to be enough.  when walking unassisted, it kind of feels like i'm walking on stilts, or i'm walking on something precariously wobbly.  it gets a little better everyday, but i feel like a weeble! except where weebles wobble but don't fall down, i feel like i could easily do a face plant at any moment! LOL  anyway, when out in public, i keep the cane with me and also keep jr close.
i must admit, after the first week when i wanted to kill him, jr has been an invaluable help.  he's learned to load the dishwasher and unload it and grocery shop and has even kind of figured out where everything goes in the kitchen!  amazing!  who knew?  anyway, big test today... going with hin to the grocery store today and will be riding on one of those cart things!   i'll try real hard not to run into things or knock things over.
anyway, i exfoliate my legs everyday and have to put a TON of lotion on cause a month with ted stockings and not being able to lotion (bad for the fabric of the stockings) there was dead skin flying everywhere!  when we took them off, there was dry skin EVERYWHERE!  my legs looked like someone threw flour on me or something.  Yuck!  i don't know whether to have a ritual TED stocking burning or keep them just to remember once in a while.  i don't want to take having working hips for granted at any time in this lifetime, and i had totally forgotten how it felt to be virtually pain free!  WHEW!
more later

MARCH 27,2011

okay, it's sunday, nothing is on tv, i've read everything i feel like reading, and i am BORED and have cabin fever.  yesterday i got out to get jrs eyes checked and to go to shoppers and hobble around and get a few things i needed.  it wasn't enough!  it's cold but sunny, the hip is getting better, the exercises kill me everyday, but i'm up to 20 reps  and then 5 more later in the day.  my schedule or lack thereof, is affording me more freedom than i have had in my adult life.  But since i can't drive and have to walk in public with a crutch, it is all for naught!  and i must be left legged, cause using the crutch the first time was a piece of  cake, but with the right hip, having the crutch on the left side is a trip! i expect to do a face plant at any moment! LOL  i'm having trouble getting used to it.  i'd better practise with a cane cause that will be awkward too.    Now if  jrs job would just get back on track before we end up in the poor house for real, it will all even out.  trying to get better fast so mom can come back home. she will be out of the rehab in about a week, but will have to go to blairs till i can get around better.  i can't take care of her when i can't cook for my self.  oh well, back to my second set of reps...maybe 10 more tomorrow!

Mach 22, 2011

okay, so we're in the third week, and i'm still using the walker.  it's getting easier, i can get in and out of bed like a pro now, but getting around monster can still be a chore. when he's feeling his cheerios, he likes to make a game of me trying to get by!  At first i humored him, but or course, he took it to the extreme.  so i ran right over him.  i think he's got the message now.
however, this morning, he did one for the books.  for some strange reason, jr didn't let him out before he went to work, and of course, he had to go not ten minutes after he left.  this is 6:30 am and it's still dark.  and muddy. and kind of cold.  after about 15 minutes i hear him bark, but he's not on the deck.  so i turn on the outside light and see him wrapped around the back of the hot tub, and stuck.  about 30 feet from the bottom step of the deck. so i had to get dressed, grab a crutch and hobble down the steps, through the mud and unhook him from the tarp.  the things i called that dog!  after i unhooked him he went up on the deck waiting to go in the house, but it took me a full 15 minutes to get there myself!  he sure ain't no Lassie, that's for sure.  he's had enough sense to stay out of my way since then but i'm still mad.  it took 10 more minutes to scrape the mud off my crutch!  damn dog!
so...i figured since i was mad anyway, i might as well do my exercises.  so there's more swearing while i get that done!  i think now that it's 10:00 am and i've foraged for food already,  and pretty much invented a new language of swear words, there's nothing left to do but go take a nap!        Damn dog!

andaluzian flu

february 22, 2011


i know i'ts been a while, but the hip is healing fine.  i am to have the second hip done on march 3.  meanwhile, saturday last, i got the flu.  for all the stand off i've had against flu shots (and there have been many) and not getting one for years,,.. thinking, (i'll take my chances)  i now say GET THE DAMN SHOT!  this is AWFUL! it's like on the bill cosby show when the parents got the andaluzian flu! my eyelashes hurt!  non functioning for days!  but i did cut it short, but i'ts not for the feint of heart.
it takes 4 hot toddys every 24 hours and eating and sleeping in between.  it cut it short for me.  i did it cause i need to get over it by the time of surgery.  and i ain't got time for this mess!  my advice, GET THE DAMN SHOT!  this is hell warmed over! LOL  but i am getting better and i will get caught up in a few days.
more later,

february 6, 2011

okay, so it's been a while,... but a lot of stuff has happened.  my mom got out of rehab too early, she had her hip done  Jan 7, and went to rehab facility for a week and a half, and then she came home against doctors wishes.  so she was home, and were exercising and icing and stuff and then on feb 3rd she fell while i was in the shower.  hurt her knee a bit and couldn't put weight on the left knee.  so she had to get that checked out and then realized she came out of rehab too early and went back.  she is doing good, and hopefully she will be home soon and can function.

meanwhile i go back in march 3, for my right hip.  prayers are welcome, and i think it will all be fine.  my plan... salsa by july! :-)

January 16, 2011

Well, sadya is gone to toronto, and gammie is in the rehab center after her surgery, which was on the 7th. she is doing, i guess, as well as any 88 year old would be doing who has been in constant pain for the last 5 years and who was unable to walk toward the end of the wait.  she just doesn't want to do the physio. she finally got a physio therapist that she likes so she is finally doing the exercises. nikki, comes everyday, and warren and blair alternate during the evening.  i call about three times a day.
Meanwhile, i can do steps now, and walk unassisted totally.  still using the handicapped sticker cause the hip gets tired after a trip to the grocery store.  gotta see the football game, so more, hopefully, tomorrow.

January 2, 2011

well, new year.  christmas was very quiet cause none of the kids could come home.  sadya is soooo popular now that she's leaving it will be a wonder if she gets packed in time to go!  gammie had a couple of really bad weeks where jr was picking her up every night... she was on some pain medication that made her loopy as hell and she couldn't function.  talked to maria about it and we took her off everything.  just motrin and tylenol.  she is much better but i have to take her to the bathroom which is wrecking my nights!  warren brought over a baby monitor and that is making it easier.  her surgery is friday and neither one of us can wait.  i am hoping she is a lot better when she comes home and can get her self to the bathroom. 

Today marks 2 months from my surgery, and all is going well.  doctor said i can drive and i can break the 90 degree angle, so that is good.  it of course snowed when i went for my checkup but i made it.   the doctor sent a note to physio for them to start range of motion exercises, but they haven't yet, so i went on the internet and got 4 exercises that i am now incorporating into my exercises.   i have kamau  trying to find me a small tens machine and with that i can eliminate physio for the most part. 

sadya leaves teusday and gammie has her surgery on friday.  it will be a very strange break, and will be strange for a while.  we'll have to get sadya a webcam so we can skype on a regular basis.

 more later...

DECEMBER 20, 2010

i know, it's been a while.   been busy, had a snow storm last week, and didn't make to physio at all.  instead i did it at home and went up and down the basement stairs a few times a day.  14 steps.  thought i was doing good, but found out today when i went back to physio that i should have done the stairs, maybe twice  a day, not 3 or 4 times... and i wondered why i was sore last week!  i fell over the dog, today, and for once, it was not his fault!  i knew where he was, had walked past him already this morning, and  on the way this time, i looked out the window to see if the recycle bins were out there, and completely forgot that he was in the same place he had been in for hours!  tripped up, of course it was the bad leg ( the one not yet replaced) and couldn't lift it over him and fell with a serious thud!  at least i thought it was a serious thud, but neither gammie nor sadya woke up!  luckily i was able to fall on my right side, and it took me at least 15 minutes to gather myself and get up off the floor.  after apologizing to monster (the dog) i went on about my business. 

i did mention it at physio, and was told that i should really feel it in the morning... great! i go for my check-up with the orthopedic surgeon tomorrow morning.  i was planning on driving myself until i heard that we are supposed to get 1-3 inches of snow in the early morning hours.  I'm hoping Jr can drive me, but he will probably have to work... anyway,  i' hoping to get the okay to drive and maybe break the 90 degree angle (which i have to do every day to put some socks on) on a regular basis... i also want to establish the date of the other hip surgery and stuff like that.  anyway, i have to be there at 8:10 am, so that combined with the eclipse, = little to no sleep!  but that's alright... i still have 2 weeks with sadya home, so I'll just nap a little! HA!  and put the turkey breasts and legs in the crock pot and dinner will be done!  more later,

oh yeah, me

so okay, i'm doint great, by the way, but i have this stinging along the incision....and it is very random!  anytime i get comfortable i get this stinging that feels like bees stinging me and it stops when it wants to!  physio therapist tells me that is the nerves meshing together and it should be over soon!  other than that, it's great! more later...

stuff

okay, so i haven't been here in a little while.  what you've missed is sadya getting into baking school in toronto beginning January 6.... and gammies surgery getting postponed cause the doctor got sick!  the depression was heavy!  and i don't just mean gammies..... when they called to cancel, i started to ask... "Don't you have a substitute?"  only cause i wanted a slight break! anyway, then we thought it was december 17, cause that was on of the open dates in the beginning, but sickness backed everything up, and now the surgery is on janary 7th!  at least she has some pain medication so she is in better spirits...now the problem will be that warren is scheduled to be out of town the first of the year and so is blair!  i can't do it, i will have just been cleared to drive, let alone handle a wheelchair and assist her into and out of the car!    i'm  sure we'll work it out, but i don't have too much sympathy when i haven't had a vacation since 2007!  let's hope for the best!

DECEMBER 2, 2010

Okay, the stockings are off, and i DO NOT miss them at all! it has turned cold and windy, and Gammies surgery is tomorrow at the DMC.  i'm helping her pack her little bag, and i'll get back to you tomorrow!

NOVEMBER 30, 2010

okay, Now!
finally took the compression stockings off today and it took me 15 minutes to exfoliate and 20 more minutes to pretty much bathe in lotion, and we ain't there yet!  as sadya says,... this will definitely be a WORK in PROGRESS! LOL i added lotion this evening and i am STILL FLAKING! :-) 
i thought that maybe with winter coming i would miss the stockings (warmth), but it ain't happening yet!
 now im trying to get my mom ready for her hip replacement!
i keep telling ma that this will make it so she can lift her right leg, and she just sighs and says that she is tired of it all!  anyway i think she has forgotten what it feels like to not feel that bone on bone pain.  i know for me, i still have trouble believing that that pain isn't coming back to that hip! it is AMAZING!

anyway, with gammies surgery days away, i am answering phone calls from the dmc and warren and blair and susan are doin the grunt work (finally).  anyway, between that and sadya going to school in toronto in january, i've got enough on my plate to where physio is a welome escape! LOL is this a case of identifying with the enemy? LOL anyway, more tomorrow.
i realize that legitimate blogs are a lot longer, but i just wanted to document the process and my memory is VERY VERY GOOD!  it's just VERY VERY SHORT!    i'll probably add and edit later.

NOVEMBER 24, 2010

DAY 16

okay, so, it's been three weeks and 2 days and i feel pretty good.  the TED stockings are driving me crazy.  they come off next tuesday and i CANNOT WAIT!  i can't use lotion during the time i have to wear them, which is a month, they are supposed to be on all the time, (which means you take them off, try to exfoliate your legs) and put the other pair on. ) no lotion, in november.... can you imagine what the skin on my legs looks like?  well don't try, cause it ain't pretty! 

its not snowing outside, but my legs are in the middle of an avalanche! flaky skin everywhere!

physio says i'm doing real well, and am trying to put more and more weight on the leg for longer and longer periods of time...  incision sight itches and i'm keeping polysporin cream on it. 

sadya and i went to the grocery store yesterday and i finally used the in-store cart and got to park in a handicapped spot.  the cart is pretty cool, once you get the hang of it.  i won't cringe anymore at the thought of going to the grocery store anymore.  i only ran over 1 display (while i was getting the hang of the cart) and there was no glass involved...just about 40 magazines! LOL

so today at physio, i'm standing there against the wall doing my torturous exercises, and somebody says,  "JAN?"  so i looked next to me and it was an old baseball buddy of jrs, who i thought was in oshawa but apparently moved back to windsor!  anyway, i asked what he was in for and he said he broke his hip! i said, "how did you do that?" and he said...." changing a light bulb." 
i told him he was going to need a better story than that... was he at least on a ladder?  "Nope" he said,  "i was on a computer chair." 
i told him i couldn't even try to spin that in any direction!  i told him if i were him i'd go with fell down the well while being chased by a bear!

DAY 17

haven't written in a few days... been busy with physio therapy (otherwise known as my torture session). actually it is going very well, but after doing the set of 5 and 6 exercises twice a day,  at the end of the week, which is now, my hip is some kind of sore!  but it's the good sore i used to get after a serious master dance class or roller skating through two sessions at the roller rink!  the whole no pain no gain thing. 

and still, the pain is nothing comparatively speaking.  the second set of exercises that i do at home, i can split up to not get so tired.  but i refuse to slack off even the tiniest bit.  this is serious.  i want my mobility back to the way it was 10 years ago.  and i am determined to get it.

my mom goes to the doctor in the Michigan today to find out what can be done for her hip.  pray for good news!  I'll post as soon as i know!

DAY 13

well, i went to physio today... 5 used to be regarded as little exercises... liked to killed me!  my hip was PEEELENTY tired in like a half hour!  this is gonna be work, i tells ya!  all good, but because the left hip has been compromised for a few years, it's gonna take some work to bring it back to where it originally was and then make it good enough to support the other one when i'ts done.... i definitely have my work cut out for me!  3 times a week for roughly 16-17 weeks!  gotta hit it like rambo...but now.... nap time! LOL  and after jann goes home on wednesday,  the help is gone, so i have to get back into some sort of swing cause i can't put it all on sadya.. she's got enough on her plate already.  so, time to turn into a ninja! HIYA!

DAY 12-SUnday

okay, i missed yesterday,  but jann came down and she'll be here for a few days... weather has been beautiful, but i think the good stuff is over.  rain and cold and snow are forecast.  trying to get a rolling walker, but don't want to spend the money.  maybe i'll just deal with one crutch in stead.  i'll try that today.  more later, maybe...

DAY10

well, it's day 10, i've got the formula for regularity, and it's killing me trying not to do stuff!  i have to talk to myself ALL DAY LONG!  "don't reach for that~" "don't pick that up!"  "MOVE YOUR ASS MONSTER" ( well, that ones not for me) but if also keep telling myself, if this is as bad as it gets... this ain't nuthin!  i would really, REALLY like to sleep on my left side though, but i'm sure that's mostly cause i can't.  it's like when they want to take blood and they say," Don't eat anything after midnight."  it sounds good on paper, and i normally don't eat anything after about 7:00 PM anyway, but tell me that, and I am STARVING from around 8:00 on!  i have to take my self to bed to stop eating stuff i don't even want, just cause it's there!
i remember once in oldcastle when the kids were little, a water main broke and they shut off the water for a few hours... who got the trots, and had a bursting bladder the entire time?  not the kids... they were fine.  only ME! 

DAY 9

well, i need to switch to a walker with wheels, cause this one is definitely slowing me up!  blair and susan came over today and david and janet yesterday, christine is coming over on saturday.  i am able to put quite a bit of weight on the leg now, but not enough to walk without some aid of some kind., but it is feeleing better everyday.  i don't think i'm doing miraculously, but when i compare the pain with the 4 c-sections and the hysterectomy, this just ain't that bad.  as i've been saying the hardest thing of all is that damn potty chair and trying not to break the 90 degree angle.  if anything is going to do me in, meaning drive me crazy, it will be those two things!

so i guess, all in all, i ain't go it too bad.