2/8/2014 A great Day - Rain, and walking Baths - and LL ABOUT the Magic of Physical Therapy!

What a wonderful Saturday!!! 

7:00 pm

I slept until NOON!!! Glorious! Then up and about slowly, and my friend Mariam came to go shopping otgether at Trader Joe's - not because I need it - but because she's my friend, and it's more fun to shop with a friend! 

We shopped all around the store, and I pushed the basket for a little support - but I coudl walk over and pick up anything I needed without bothering with my cane - i LOVE this. A little pain, still - but less allll the time! 

And then I took Mariam home, and came home and brought up four bags of groceries by myself - easily! 

I still put them on the stairs and walk up a few steps, move the bags and repeat - but actually, I did carry one of them in one hand all the way! I LOVE progress! 

Then I relaxed, watched a wonderful PBS program on travel potography, made a delicious late brunch. 

Then I read ,my niece's blog post about taking her delightful 18 month-old Avery out for a walk in the rain, even though in LA during a recent drought time they were not well-prepared with rain gear. SO in a hoodie and fuzzy boots, knowing they'd get nice and drenched ,they went out on a rainy adventure and had a BLAST! Of course, science is proving that playing in the rain does NOT cause illness, and she pointed out that it probably puts hours ONTO your life! I agree! 

So-inspired, I put on a hoodie and my shoes and headed out in the early evening for a wonderful drenching walk myself! I am so stable on the lightweight cane now and I went a bit over FIVE blocks in the lovely, even pour - it was FANTASTIC! 

I have *ALWAYS* loved walking in the rain - it gives me an exhilaration and joy different from anything else. ANd it has been so, so VERY long since I could do it - and tonight was the NIGHT! It was GLORIOUS! I took some wonderful photos, and came home soaked and DELIGHTED!! 

I plan to take a bubble bath, too, though now it will have to wait until after dinner, but it has been SO long since I could get in and out of a tub safely and without terrible pain, I cannot wait! :) 

 11:28 pm

After come writing, preparing a song or two for an audition tomorrow, a lovely dinner of broiled lamb chop with mint, and brussels sprouts sauteed with a little minced pork belly and shallots) and watching some Olympic ice skating, 

I braved it. Did some stretches and exercises, and filled the tub. Tossed in a LUSH bath melt and let it get nice and full... and though I was a *little* stiff getting over the edge of the bathtub (very active day!)  - in I went, and gingerly lowered myself in. The tub grab bar is still very useful! 

I had a lovely, fragrant, long soaking back, and the only things that got be out was the water cooling down. So - I got myself sitting up right ,turn a bit to the side, got me left knee easily, painlessly under me - and for good safety measure, I put a hand towel in the bottom of the tub - 

and promptly got up onto my feet - not needing the towel (I have good non-skid strips on the bottom of the tub), and just got on up, easy as you please! Paying careful attention to everything all the way, of course. Out of the tub, dried off and smelling delicious, of vanilla and sandalwood notes. Glorious! 

Walking in the rain and a hot bath - two more wonders I have BACK in my life! 

Here is a Very Important Thing for you to consider and to know - and it may help a LOT if you are worried about this hip replacement thing. 

I reported to my friend what a good day it had been and the latest new abilities. 

he said, "See? Learn, do the work, raise the bar, improvement is inevitable."

My response: "I love it so! After years of believing what I was doing would help, and it would help- a little- and then it would recede and worsen, and it was so frustrating?? This- though of course I know why I wasn't actively improving, before - this feels like magic, as it works, because it DOES, indeed work! (When you're not walkin' around on bone stumps!!!) I tell you, because doing the work, even though I'm doing it correctly and not skipping pt, etc. -(ie, not slacking or being lazy) feels so comparatively easy - "suddenly" regaining an ability to the repertoire really is like magic! I really love the 'magic'. "

For SO many years I tried so many things to improve the increasing pain and stiffness of my hips - all of the helped *some* - Pilates physical therapy, chiropractic, acupuncture, massage, exercise bike, etc.

But they would help a little and then I would just get worse eventually. Because of course I had undiagnosed hip dysplasia and arthritis and NO cartilage left - and a goodly bit of bone was gone, too. 

Pain just increased, I gained weight for the inactivity, the pain hormones kept me from getting any weight off if I DID diet or find any way at all that I could move (THough at the end there was nothing I could do).

So - BEFORE your surgery, look up the Physical Therapy exercises you will have to do after surgery. Start doing them NOW to increase your strength! They are done prone on your bed, and you shoudl be able to do them. I was able to, as disabled as I was by then - only able to "walk with a walker, barely able to stand at all, and never for more than a few seconds at a time. SO start them NOW - at least twice a day! They take, maybe 10 minutes! 

You will have a wonderful head start on your recovery, with your stronger muscles - and your physical therapist will be impressed ;) and will really be able to work with you to get you moving immediately. Don't be afraid of that. It really is true, that when your wake up from surgery and they get you to your room, and then the PT comes in the afternoon to get you on your feet, you will be a little scared, but when youDO get up that first time, you'll think, "Hey - that surgery smarts!" and then. "Oh - my god... the PAIN IS GONE." And the stronger you can get those muscles, using those gentle bed physical therapy exercises, the better it will be! 

It will require some patience, particularly on days when it feels that you have *not* iproved. But then, do *another* set of the exercises! 

When you are done with surgery, you will see that magical thing - that doing your exercises, faithfully, without fail (and we are lucky, because this surgery carries SO much less post-op pain that many others do!) will show you improvement = almost every, single day. And the pain you might feel is going to be the muscles getting stronger and improving - it no longer means you are getting damaged, the way it was before surgery!! 

The daily improvements I experience - sometimes several in a day! - really do feel like magic, It realllly truly does work! 

After surgery, as time goes by, your physical therapist will give you more and more exercises as you are more and more able to do them. Add them to your routine, and do them, Write them down if you are having trouble remembering all of them - I have to! 

So, go - look up and start doing those exercises right now! If your medical group or doctor doesn't have videos available online, go look them up on youtube! "Anterior Hip Replacement physical Therapy exercises" 

Or, if you are not having the anterior approach, just "Hip Replacement physical Therapy exercises"

You are MOST welcome! 

2/7/2014 a Long Day, and a Great Conversation

2/7/2014

I worked hard at work today - the chaos is still swirling, but I got some things cleared up and moving forward.

Stopped at my pharmacist's - a Rite Aid - to pick up my refill of BP medication, and a one-dose anti=biotic to take for my dental cleaning net week. Two pills, taken an hour before any invasive procedure. For the rest of my life. Interesting. Having something that you need to do "for the rest of my life". 

Not a big deal - except one thing it warns again as is possible diarrhea. oh, joy. Because I haven't been experiencing THAT for the last week (But I have). 

Ah well. Probiotics and Metamucil are my friend. That's the last thing yu want when you;re sitting in the dentist's chair getting a cleaning. 

A Good Thing, though - there had been a spill of Moroccan Hair right in front of the Pharmacy window a few minutes before I arrived - they were cleaning it up, but it was still in progress... I was able to carefully, calmly navigate the still-slippery floor without any trouble. Mindfulness wins the day again! 

Spent the evening watching the Winter Olympic opening from Sochi. I strongly disagree with the hideous human rights violations of the regime, and it's pathetic how badly the spent far too much money and you've got dreadfully unfinished hotels for huge amounts of people... 

But the games themselves are a coming together, and a forgetting of conflict. The opening ceremony is beautiful and it was very well done. 

I am terribly tired - a lot of action this week, and not enough sleep - I am delighted to sleep in tomorrow - just need to run a few errands in the afternoon, and work on some music. 

I had a great conversation online with Jt, and I'll share it here. If you are undergoing this process, this might help you. Also, He;'s a pretty great guy. 

MK: "In Today's blog bost, I said, 'I feel like my own hero.'

And I do. I have a lot of heroes these days - people like you, who have been so kind and selfless in helping me through this epic journey. But I came to a lil' epiphany - It has really hit me that I was really, reallllly in bad shape, You can't really see it until you some back out of it, perhaps. But I'm my own hero, too. I love how well I'm taking care of myself, and how well my beloveds have taken care of me while I couldn't quite manage it alone. "

Jt: "... and keep it up! You can and should be in a constant state of improvement."

MK: "Yes! Thank you! (It isn't meant in and egotistic manner at all, by the way - but I suppose you already got that ).

I really am, and don't plan to stop when my hips have healed and the pain is gone. That's kind of the jumping- off point. I am feeling my ab muscles engage in a way that I have never felt before- in simple actions such as just driving the car. There's a deep strengthening happening, and it's pretty thrilling. Profound."

Jt: "Ab muscles may be the most important support muscles in the body."

MK: "As I am coming to understand! My carriage is ENTIRELY different - you may have noticed. part of that is from the new hips which rotate fully now, but a great deal of it is the infrastructure - abs, and those ever-lovin' iliopsoas groups!"

Jt: "There are consequences for improvement. Your carriage IS entirely different."

MK: "Isn't it amazing?? I catch myself in a mirror now and then and just - stare. It's like someone else in my reflection.

ANd I'm actually taller - only 1/4" - but - trippy!!!

OK - well I'm still avoiding tripping... but - well you know..."

Jt:"That kind of 'oops' moment? * Yes, I can imagine trying to avoid one of those."

MK: " YES. One "oops" moment was good for a lifetime!!!

(I don't think we could re-create that if we tried for a week!!) That one precaution for anterior H.R. - "Don't fall." I can do that. Only ONCE have I nearly tripped since surgery - the newly refurbished theatre at City College has BIG GIANT HUGE doors! VERY hard to open! So I gave the one going into the hall a BIG push, and as I was bringing my cane under to clear the door as it closed - hard to describe, that - but it caught the tip of hte cane and damned near sent me ass-over-tea-kettle! But I caught myself, and the adrenaline rush was gone in - oh - a hour! (Really, just five minutes, though). Good to know I can catch myself and correct, and also - I know I could get up from the floor if I had to! Still - no more 'oops'. " 

* There is a very funny story about this little joke of ours, involving my rolling walker and a trip up a bumpy sidewalk, and i thought I had posted it - apparently not, but I will soon!

This exchange kind of says everything I wanted to say for this day!

2/6/2014 My Own Hero

Very sleepy today - I'm getting this written a bit earlier instead of waiting until I dawdle to be - in hope that I might actually get to bed at a decent time. 

Letting myself get back to the habit of sleeping to few hours isn't great. It's kind of how I live because I am my best at night,  but it's not great. Particularly because I have a day job. 

But - today I got around pretty well - a little sore from the PT and walking around the school for rehearsal yesterday, but not bad - kept getting up to stretch - 

though for a few hours this afternoon, I was antsy at my desk - a little uncomfortable and squirmy. Just wanted to move around and was really sick of sitting at my desk staring at the computer. 

Currently with the turnover of new web platform and also the new year of events to be added to the web, it is a goodly bit more chaotic than I prefer. Once I get grooved into the process, I like hte flow of work, but when it is hitchy and jerky (OOPS We found this procedure we need to follow for each website - have to ga back and clean up the 15 sires we have already entered... this nusiness division needs this procedure, but this one doesn't, except when... " new rules to commit to memory, because haivng to look them up in the write-up is fairly miserable and very slow. 

Just a time of adjustment, which is made a little more irritating my fatigue and creakiness if I don't get up and MOVE, and frequently. 

Came home, had a lovely catch-up chat with my sister Toni on the phone- it looks more and more like she will likely move back to this coast from Colorado. We are happy about that, her three sibling who live here! 

Scarfed dinner, realizing at the last minute that I had scheduled a costume fitting with the costumer at 7 - moving up my rehearsal call by half an hour, I was late, but she was very patient. 

Rehearsal went well, if a little slowly. Sometimes it is a little like herding cats - but we get it done, and we are beginning to really come together and sound good! 

Not bad for a diverse band - 15 year old Tylen on violin, 19-or-20-something Nathan on guitar, grownup Luther on Bass, which he is just now learning, and doing beautifully! - and lil' ol' me on vocals. I've sort of fallen into the sort of Assistant Stage Manager -ish role, since I've done a lot of music/script coordinating, and I can have the script in front of me while they are reading the music and coordinate what will be happening onstage with approximately what our cues will be. I like how we all work together. 

I parked a little closer to the theatre than last night, and a walk was a little short into the theatre (Not all the way to the main auditorium), which was nice. 

I'm pretty beat - but I am always reminding myself now - a long walk or standing longer than I am used to makes me physically stronger - it doesn't break down or damage anything at all, now that I am repaired! It is such a freeing, strong and healthy mindset! 

I feel like my own hero. I was looking back today, thinking about having had to live my life with a walker - having had no choice. I just bit the bullet, sucked it up and went as many paces as I could, socially, to keep from feeling shut out or cut off from my own life and my friends and the theatre. The places I rolled that little thing - it really got me over some serious terrain (Some of which at the time I wasn't sure I'd have chosen had I know what it would be like, but nothin' killed me!). 

But looking back, now that I am standing tall (increased from 5' 2 3/4" to 5'3'!), walking pretty steadily - soon to get away from walking with a cane and I cannot wait for the day, whether it is weeks or months away - that I am free from the pain involved in this whole process - from hip to ankle in various and sundry places.. (I even broke one of the welds on it, and repaired it with epoxy and gorilla tape!) 

looking back on the days I was living in the world with the walker, I had kind of a back-reaction... almost like a mild PTSD reaction or something!! I never (well ,very rarely) let it hurt my pride or make me feel self-concious or humiliated to simply be in need of assistance to walk around in the world - then. 

But today, I was suddenly a little overcome by a feeling of - hmmmm... it's hard to describe - sort of "Good lord. I was hunched over in pain, rolling around the world with a grimace - thank god more people didn't express pity - I might have had to punch someone - or at least cried. And I did plenty of that anyway, but mostly because of pain and frustration or fear. 

I'm not sure *what* the feeling was... It may just sort of be delayed shock at realizing how really, REALLY terrible it was before my first surgery. I hear myself telling stories - the one where I was sitting talk to Jt the week before my show, "A Little Princess" - at a professional theatre company, no less  - and I realized I had NINE SHOWS to tdo in the next FIVE days... and I just sat and wept. I had NO idea how I was going to get through it, He suggested a cane - I admitted I really should get one... and without looking, he points to his right and follows his hand with his eyes and says, " There's one!" - I keep an umbrella stand full of prop umbrellas, parasols and - Canes! *whew*.  

But - I hear myself telling many stories like that, and I just think - that - is HORRIBLE!! but - it as my LIFE. 

Perhaps it's because, as much as my friends were careful not to let me see pity, or worry or such, now they are talking about 'Oh my god!! You look SO happy, healthy, and able - look how great you are moving, and how fast you're getting around! After so long being in such pain, you could see how bad it was." 

And it points up what a wreck I was and how very nearly I lost this really wonderful life I live. 

I know people cope with that all the time - I have more than one friend who lives with this - one of whom just died. But I get to get it back. I remember many, many times over several years, thinking, "I can barely walk from the bed to the bathroom, and it's so painful - how the hell am I going to LAST!? I plan on living a long life - how will I get by, how will I grow old and continue to live my life?!? It haunted me for a long time. 

I guess I'm trying to say how grateful I am that they soldiered up and helped me get around - no one ever seemed embarrassed to be with the gimp - and they were all so game to help byt hauling the walker out of the back of the car, drive and drop me at the door where we were going, park and fetch the car; to carry my groceries or mail up the stairs, and the trash down; to take all my laundry and wash it - loads and loads and loads of it! - to run a vacuum for me, and clean and fix things and go to the store for me... all the incredibly kind things they did for me while I was laid so low, and how they lifted my spirits. 

And here I am. The rolling walker is still in the back of my Rav, ready to return to the friend I borrowed it from... She had been caring for a friend who had needed it, but had died just a few weeks before I found out I'd need a walker for several months, and she just offered it to me as long as I'd need it. And now I will never need it again. 

The tubular walker is folded and parked at the end of my bed - I will put it away over the weekend. Unless I need a revision surgery ( VERY unlikely, but there are the little crevices between my acetabulae and new hip sockets which need to fill in with bone, even with two crews in the left one and three in the right!) I will never need THAT, either! 

I am deeply grateful for the progress I am making, incredibly touched and cheered by the support and happy encouragement from dear friends and family. 

and I am a tired girl who needs to get to bed in a bit. I'm not sure I made my full point above, but I will probably continue to explore all those feelings as the days progress, and I get better and better! 

I'll go watch a few minutes of Jay Leno's last tonight show - frankly I never have liked him as a comic r host of the Tonight show, and will e glad to see him hand it over to Jimmy Fallon - but it's historical. 

And then it's off to bed for me. 

February 5 and 6 - Fun and Pains - All Part of the Healing Process!

Yesterday, Feb 5, the work  day went pretty quickly - I was a little stiff from my Big Outing at the grocery store the night before - it was great! 

But a little stiff. 

Yet, I had a ticket for a marvelous Brazilian Dance troupe, Grupo Corpo - SO I was GOIN'! 

It was great - I had NO worries about where to park - I knew I could walk the distance from the parking garage to the theatre, past the entrance to WIll Call, and stand in line with no problems! Just as I got in the door, right there were my friends Jt and Nancy! 

Amazing timing! BIG hugs, and I could show off even a bit more progress than 8 days ago when last saw Jt! We were heading toward the loos, and I said "I'll beat ya there!"  - I was walking in front of them - and I just took off!!! They were wonderfully celebratory with me - that feels wonderful, when people you care about GET it. I haven't actually taken any running steps yet - That's the next big thing I look forward to!! 

 The program was FANTASTIC - two very distinctly different pieces, both full of style, energy - Jt (A Dancer- pointed out that they were classically trained - you could see that at the core - but then there was modern, and SO MUCH Brazil!! absolutely wonderful evening.

An easy walk back to the parking structure, and home! Slept pretty well, though I was awakened by the sound of a facebook post chime at 6 am - an hour early. oh well, who needs sleep? (Me - I do.) 

 

Today, Wednesday Feb 6, I had a sore day, certainly. 

But I'm knowing that when I push a bit and am sore - it's not DAMAGE. It's STRENGTHENING! 

Like a had workout where you're sore for the next couple of days - but more able! 

And that was confirmed and supported for me by my new Physical Therapist today! Ann - in the same building as my Primary Care doctor! Nice and convenient, though I do need to schedule at the end of the day, and that's a little hard right now with their busy schedule... still - it was a very good PT session! What was gret was how enthusiastic and impressed Ann was with my progress 9 weeks after hip surgery #2 - I was afraid I was too well-progressd for them to take me for long - and I only have three appointments including this one - not sure of there's be more after this... 

but this was very, very good for checking where I am since I last saw Shauna! I am doing absolutely great with my current PT - she gave me several more - 

laying down - she adjusted my bridges a little bit which helped, and then had me add the small ball squeezed between my knees for the bridges. 

Then added standing balance exercises - 

one foot in front of the other, balanced, turning head from side to side slowly, then crossing arms over heart with eyes closed, and then eyes open, arms alternately over head and switching. 

Also, standing on of foot and balancing as long as possible - I forgot the printout but she's sending them in the mail. 

She checked my gait and it all seems normal for what needs strengthening and stretching. 

Her assistant John also gave me some ultrasound on the right knee while we ices my hips and lower back. Great stuff! Very glad for her help! 

Yes another wonderful Sutter experience! 

Then I hurried home, made and ate dinner in 45 minutes and was off to rehearsal. 

I was unable to find a disabled spot, and finally found a  street parking spot about a block and a half walk from the theatre entrance - and it was pretty easy! 

It started raining, and I was glad for the good rubber tip on my cane, and for the fact that, if we *had* to have a drought here, it happened when I was most physically unstable, and I am s much better bale to deal with wet surfaces now! MINDFULLY, of course - always, mindfully. 

NO FALLING. 

OK - that's a good couple of days. 

2/3/2014 Things Are Accelerating! :)

This morning, though I was up late, I am feeling pretty bright and happy.

I walked around my apartment again with no cane - early, even after my morning PT, I am still a little stiff, and my right knee wants to cant outward at the joint - it looks kind of alarming as though my leg were bending to the side - but I think it's just about support. This is the main thing I will address with physical therapy Wednesday. BUT - it is still pretty manageable. If I concentrate on walking with one foot directly in front of the other and using that knee's bending function properly, and I don't revert back to the old habit of walking with feet wide apart for support  

I (still) have less and less pain - and there are those sea changes - moments where I will do something which has so automatically hurt for so long - sitting in a certain position, turning or bending a knee, etc., and then suddenly notice that that particular thing no longer causes pain.

These times are my best reward for the persistence and dedication on makes to the healing process.

Today, those are:

Sitting in my office chair at work. It used to be pain full to my right ham string and hip - even as recently as Friday(this is Monday).

Sitting down onto a toilet seat - being a harder surface that an upholstered chair(Even my padded toilet seat at home) and the weight distributed over a smaller area,  that particular action was very painful for a very brief time - I'd sit, feel the pain in the muscles, and it would settle in about two or three seconds - but it wasn't pleasant. Today, I anticipated the discomfort and it never came. Excellent!!

And even at that, I know I can still and must improve(for instance, my right knee is still pretty off-kilter - just residual radiated pain from the hip - and it is improving, but needs work), and I can do more, long after this particular physical healing process is complete.

A great friend who has superior health (he is of my same generation), puzzles his doctors often. Being so healthy and fit, for ANYONE, let alone "someone his age", he will have an issue with a foot(He works standing on his feet), or a back muscle, or such - and ask them how he can improve it. Because he is not 30, his doctors started with an attitude of, "Hey - you're way ahead of other people your age! Cut your losses and settle for it!". They don't know him very well - and why the hell SHOULD he settle?!  Should we not always be working toward our optimum health, no matter the time of our lives?

I have a coworker who had two knees replaced and one of her hips, which happened about three months before mine  - she was extremely helpful in preparing me for what to expect - and fast healing with a full recovery was one of them!

Later however, we talked a good bit about it, and I was shocked to discover that she had almost no physical therapy! Only the initial occupational therapy in the hospital for three or four days! I know she still has little discomfort with it, but it feels like 1- she's settling for "better than before" instead of "The best I can possibly be", and 2. She could be getting so much more fit and comfortable so much faster with PT! I cannot imagine what I would have done without it! I know that, being only one hip, it was pretty fast to rrecover(My first one was fast in and of itself, too but there was not a full recovery expected yet, as the other hip was still terribly damaged, and I wasn't going to be walking without a walker until after the second surgery.

Perhaps my point is, it seems that when we have a chance to get our lives back, we should take *every* opportunity to get them back and MORE. Rise to your fullest potential!

I am so happy that the amount of time I expected to be on the quad cane reduced from "I don't know - two weeks? A month?" to a few hours last Thursday - it was a fine surprise.

Now the next step is to get this knee good and solid and really have my gait in proper order.

After all-  there is Dahncing to be done!

-M

My Facebook Status around 7:45 PM as I left the Natural Foods Co-op :

"This innocuous looking little pic is actually a standing eye-level photo of my non- electric shopping cart at the Co-op after a 45 minute shopping trip. No cane. Kellie Yvonne Raines was there - I have a witness! Carried my own bags out, put away 3 errant carts at once. That's about 5 "Firsts Since... ", right there. Good day!!!"

And I got home, folded up my cane and put it in the grocery bag. SLung my purse strap over my shoulder, walked around the car, took out the two heavy grocery bags to the stairs, and did the good old, "Set 'em on a step, go up a couple, set 'em up higher, follow 'em up" routine  - no problem! My ham strings and calves were tight and I was a little tired - but not exhausted! Unloaded the groceries and prepared my work/lunch food bag, and got some dinner. Skipped the cycle tonight, which woudl have probably helped the tight muscles - but I'm off to be to do my usual PT.

Up ASAP tomorrow morning  - wash my hair and scoot off to work - I am seeing a fantastic Brazilian Dance Troup tomorrow night - friends will be there, too - looking very much forward to it! My first time to the Mondavi Center by myself, and it's a bit of a walk to the theatre from the parking lot - but I'l figure it out!

2/2/2014 Walking and improving.

My Facebook Status earlier today:
"This afternoon, Mariam and I went for a walk. I made it all the way around the block- so, 4 blocks, counting each side of the block... That's my current record, my friends.  Using only the lightweight cane, too - no more quad cane - and clippin' right along! indoors, it's off cane all day.  Feeling really good!"

Got around the house pretty well sans cane today, too! 

Spent a quiet evening watching the Sunday PBS lineup - Downton and Sherlock (Which season 3 ended tonight, but it was great to finally be able to share it with friends  online! GREAT, really exciting heart-pounder of an episode!) 

I did get in about 20 minutes on the exer-cycle - hurrah! 

Now I'm winding down enough to get to bed. 

I have some worries about one of my two cats. It seems she may have somethign nsaty - she's lots a lot of weight, and her blood work came back normal except for one thing. They want to so an ultrasound and that requires anesthesia... the woman I am fostering them for is helping me deal with it... we need to talk about what next to do. Meantime, after trying two major food changes, she eats and continues to lose weight. I would hate to lose her but it is quite alarming how thin she is... 


That's about all of the news for today. 

2/1/2014 A Fine day AND a Party!

Great day. I got up a little stiff, but shortly, I was warmed up and limbered - only used my cane a little bit today.

Slept in, listened to some NPR, made breakfast. 

Then, I did some housework!! Yet another "Haven't done in ---- years" item! I have great friends who have kindly come and helped me keep from being mired in utter house wreck - vacuuming, doing laundry, cleaning, sweeping, mopping, etc! 

I have never loved housework, but today, it was kind of great. I cleaned and swept the kitchen, cleaned the bathroom (toilet, floor sink), loaded and ran the dishwasher, cleared some counter space and put some things away. AND I repaired a blouse whose seams were coming apart! That is more housework than I have done(Been able to do) for myself in several years. 

 I only skipped vacuuming because I ran out of time, so I at least ran a broom across the carpet to picky up cat hair, and brushed the couch as well! 

AND - I got out the wooden folding table and 4 chairs and set them up in the living room by myself - including moving my Exercycle over a little bit to make more room. 

I was not over-tired, or in much pain. And when my friend Terry arrived for the appointed dinner party she offered to cook for me and some friends, I was able to come down the stairs and carry some of her items up to the kitchen! She was so happy for me, we both cried a bit - lots of hugs. 

We had a lovely time catching up while she cooked. Our friends Sam, Shelley and Dan arrived about 7om, and the party was ON!

They all showed quite the thrill and delight for me when I came to greet them sans cane, Sam saying "I was shocked to see you just bouncing up the step without even hesitating!!" I still have a little limp and some pain, but it just decreases daily. :) 

Terry is an incredible cook, and she shows her love by cooking for her friends. 

It was utterly amazing, and I am so grateful for her kindness!! 

She made: Hummus and salmon spread served with fresh veggies; Crisped Duck Confit with Pickled Sultana Sauce, Brussels Sprouts with Mushrooms and Lardons, New Potatoes roasted inDuck Fat, and for dessert, Hazelnut Meringues with Whipped Cream/Cream Fraiche and a little Vanilla, AND Affogati - Espresso with Vanilla Gelato. AND Wine to go with each course .

It was WONDERFUL  - lots of laughter and conversation and fun and love, and that astonishingly delicious meal. We all finished the evening full of warm fuzzies and deliciously crafted food. AND, my refrigerator is filled with great leftovers, now! I am so lucky for such friends. 

Happy First of February to Us!