The Agony & The Ecstacy...

For a while my life has revolved around PT for my shoulder. My dear friend asked how I was feeling. My answer was "The Agony & The Ecstasy". I had five PT sessions. These were necessary before the insurance would approve and MRI. These sessions were each about 1 1/2 hours and we done March 11, 14, 19, 22 and 26. Every day I had exercises to do at home during the morning and again in the evening. I tried to be diligent about doing these exercises. If I had PT in the morning, I didn't do the morning exercises. I had a Friday that I thought they would kill me. Other than exercises that day, I sat and held my arm and read books and experienced the Agony. The next day I only did exercises at home once. Bottom line for me was that I could feel some strength in my arm. However, when I hold my arm our straight in front of me and try to life it, there is nothing there that lifts. Just sharp running pains. If I hold my right arm straight out and lift it, the same reaction. There are other ways I turn it and experience this pain. None of that lessened with therapy. But the other muscles in my are were gaining some strength. I found that I could left my right arm with my left arm in the shower and keep it up to shampoo my hair. But I had to use my left arm to lower my right arm. If it falls, I would call out with pain. I knew therapy was doing some good but not any to the actual rotator cuff tear. 

At the session on the 26th, I requested they take measurements to compare with the measurements from my first session on March 11th. Tina would make a report and send it to Dr. Lyon. I had an appointment with Dr. Lyon on Thursday,March 28th. My hope was this report would allow him to request an MRI.  

Dr. Lyon asked me to hold my right arm out straight and lift it. It just won't lift and it hurts like heck to do that. Then he had me hold my right arm to the right and try to lift it. Same issues. He had believed all along it is a tear and the tear is probably bad enough I will have to have surgery. He was frustrated with having to wait to get this MRI. He mentioned something this visit about two tears. Not good. He did give me places to check for an MRI. He said to find the one that costs the least and use it. 

That afternoon I searched to find shoulder MRI's in Georgetown and Lexington. I made a list of six, three of which were recommended by Dr. Lyon. I called the first one. It was the Georgetown Hospital. They assured me that Medicare patients would have to pay nothing for the MRI. They needed a doctor's order to schedule. I called and left a message at Dr. Anchor's off that afternoon requesting and order be sent to Georgetown Hospital. 

Friday, March 29th, I called Dr. Lyon's office again in the afternoon. I explained that I wanted to be sure they received my voice message and ask what steps I should take next. They had received the message and sent the order to Georgetown Hospital on Thursday. Hallelujah.

I then called Georgetown Hospital. Yes, they had the order. They had to wait for authorization from the insurance company before they could schedule. I asked what insurance they were checking on. They were going to contact GEHA. I assured them Medicare was my Primary Insurance and they should be contacted first. GEHA is only to pick up the difference. When I said Medicare, she assured me thar should be an issue. She asked me to hold so she could do the authorization while I was on the phone. The request was authorized. We could then schedule the MRI. I asked for first available. She said the first available was Friday, April 5th in the afternoon. I was so grateful. I have been hearing other talk of waiting for a month or more to get it. This would only be one more week. 

So, I am set for my MRI. Dr. Lyon has recommended a surgeon who he says is excellent. Dr. Lyon has not steered me wrong yet. I trust his judgement. Once the MRI results are in, I will schedule an appointment with the surgeon to review the results. Then we determine if this will heal with only PT or if I need surgery. I feel like we are moving along now. 

My shoulder hurts a lot. Most of the time it is a dull ache. Often that ache feels like when they put the tourniquet on to draw blood and you have pressure in your hand. I have learned how to move and not move to avoid the sharp pains. Occasionally I don't get that right. I am learning to do things with my left arm to compensate. All is good. We'll get there.

My world has seemed to center around my shoulder. But other things have happened. I was able to complete putting buttons on the tops of the Christmas tree ornaments I made out of granny squares. These 50 ornaments are now all bagged and waiting to be given to the Relief Society sisters as Christmas gifts this December. These were finished Monday, March 25th. I could only do so many at a time before my arm was tired. Felt good to accomplish something.

Bailey and Patrick attended her Junior Prom. They are a cute couple. The prom was Saturday, March 23rd. Pictures were taken at Patrick's home and outside the hotel where the Prom was held. The one picture is Michael, Bailey and Andie. 

Claude and I have neither been able to work in our yard. We have neighbors who had cut their grass twice. Mulching has been done. We haven't been able to cut the grass, weed the flower beds, trim back plants, mulch or anything outside. Finally, Monday, March 25th, we decided it was warm and not windy and we would get the front flower bed cleaned out. Not anything else. Just that flower bed. I didn't take any pictures. Can you believe that? This bed has that very tall decorative grass. It mut be cut back to about a foot off the ground. Claude set to doing that and picking up the grass. I took the step stool out to sit on and cut back my liriope to the new green growth on it. I also pulled a few weeds. This is all very interesting with only my left hand. We were exhausted but that flower bed looks great. We now need to pick out something to be planted under the front window. The three bushes that were there died from the ice we had and were removed before last winter. Our lawn guy suggested we not plant until the spring. Little did we know we would be lame in the spring. 

Wednesday, March 27th, I was scanning 70+ pages of church history for the Lexington North Stake. This is Claude's calling at Church. He compiles it and I scan it. Then he creates a single document and sends that to Salt Lake City. As I was scanning for him, again using my left arm, I heard a faint sound of a lawn mower. I thought it was in another yard. Then I looked up and saw my honey go past my Sandiland window pushing a lawn mower. Bless his heart and his ankle. We had agreed the front yard would be the one that needed to be done. That is the one others see. Back yard is totally fenced in and only we see it. Claude cut that front and side yards and edged those areas. Then he came in and rested. I assured him the back could wait till another day. He couldn't leave it alone. After resting he went out and cut and edged the back yard. The back yard is the hardest to cut as it has the little hill. This was murder on his ankle. We have agreed it doesn't need to be done for a couple of weeks. Not sure how this happened. When we moved in all the yard was in poor shape. But front had mixed kinds of grasses and some I really didn't want out there. The back had been worn down by big dogs and no care and was practically non-existent with regard to grass. Now, the back yard has the best and thickest grass and the front is so much better. The front is still not as thick as we would like but it gets a little better each year. I still need to weed flower beds and we have peonies to move to another location. But that will come after our Easter visitors leave.

I am reading "The Grapes of Wrath" in preparation for our Route 66 trip this fall. It has been an eye-opening experience. As we chose the Route 66 trip, it seemed like so much fun, huge statues, interesting cafes, a few museums, Cadillac Ranch, side trips to the Grand Canyon and Solvang, California. It all seems cheerful and fun. Then I started to read "The Grapes of Wrath". I knew Route 66 was an exodus highway. I have seen documentaries of Hooverville's in the country. As I read, I became keenly aware of how horrible all of that bit of history really is. People run off their farms as the banks took them over. Good people who were willing to work a plot of ground and make a living for themselves and their families. People who were always willing to share what little they had with those who needed something. Now they had NOTHING except a car that was made over to haul them and their lives to California in hopes of a new start. They wanted to work and make their own way. Upon arrival, they found people in California didn't want that influx of people. They didn't have all the jobs that were advertized. They lived in ramshackle communities called Hooverville. These were often burned down to get the people to move on. Because the people were poor and not clean from all their struggle to get to California, they were looked on an unintelligent and worthless. Ugh!! I have more to read, but my view of Route 66 and its purpose will be a bit more realistic this fall. Glad I am reading this account. It is crude in language, but I am sure it is accurate for the time. 

My father tells of his family loading everything into a truck and making their way west from Louisiana. He always thought they were headed to the temple in Mesa, Arizona. I am now not so sure but that they were part of this migration toward California to find work. The stories he told fit this storyline to the T. 

Tuesday morning, March 26th, I went to take my shower before going to PT. When I got out, I told Claude the water didn't ever get really hot. Usually, I turn the water up as hot as it will go. Once it heats up, I have to turn it down a bit cooler before getting in. This time it never got that hot. I always like that hot water running over my sore shoulder. Claude took his shower a little later and the water only was lukewarm. Hmmmm...

Claude tried all the water on Wednesday, March 27th and we had NO hot water. Time to call for help. We had used a plumber when we first moved in. Claude called them and they said they could come Friday afternoon. We had a funeral Friday morning and really wanted a nice warm shower before going to the funeral. What to do? How to handle this? I used my points and got us a hotel room for one night. I then got us tickets to see the new Ghostbusters movie. We left our home and had dinner at Culver's, saw the Ghostbusters movie, and went to a nice hotel room for the night. That shower the next morning was great!!

Well, our hot water heater is fixed, then didn't quite heat up the water, the owner of the company came out and got us working this morning, Saturday, March 30th.

Friday, March 29th, we attended the funeral of Carolyn Noe. She was the youngest of 16 children!! Imagine that! We know three of her children, Adam and his wife Marissa, Suzanne Reeves and her hubby Drew, and Nora Collett and her hubby, Doug. It was a very sweet funeral. It is always nice to support families during these times. 

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday. We anticipate company and a full house for a few days. More on those adventures with my next Blog.

Boyfriends, Music and Birthdays...

Monday, March 11th, let me go back in time a bit. Monday evening, March 11th, I recieved a text from our Bailey. She wanted to know if we were back in town from our Italy trip. I sent her a text and assured her we were and that we planned on attending her concert the next evening. She was so happy. Then I told her we would also be at her concert on Sunday and we planned to take her and her parents to dinner after to celebrate her mother's birthday. This her mother already told her. Then Bailey texted, "Guess who is coming along with us?" My response: "Hmmm...is it male or female?" Bailey assured me it was male. I responded with "Oh dear Bailey. Do you have a new special friend we need to meet?" Bailey's lovely reply was, "Why yes, we do grandmother. Would you like a photo?" I assured Miss B I really wante a photo. Quickly came these three picture of Bailey and Patrick. 

Patrick is a senior and attends a different high school than our Miss B. We would meet him Sunday. He is very polite and treats our Miss B very well. We were pleased with this new beau. I shall always cherish Bailey's "Why yes, we do grandmother." 

Thursday, March 14th, was my second physical therapy appointment. This time Jaime ran me through my paces and then gave me a thorough massage on my shoulder. While this hurts, I think it does the most good for my ailing arm. I told her I had an appointment with Dr. Lyon in a couple of weeks and was wondering about timeline to reassess to possibly get an MRI. She thinks we might can take other measurements the appointment I have the beginning of the week I see Dr. Lyon. Then he can assess from those measurements. It is a process. It teaches one patience. Rome wasn't built in a day. My arm will not heal in a day. Viva Italy!!

In the evening, Claude baked chocolate chip cookies. He had a little bag of mix that made twelve cookies. They were a delight!

Friday, March 15th, was probably my worst day with my arm. I did my exercises morning and evening as instructed. I took my Advil morning and evening as usual. I gave up on trying to do anything and simply read books. 

In the afternoon I received a welcome call from Betty Dixon. Our friend is officially 89 years old! She had made her decision to move to Iowa. I shall offer many prayers for her as she goes through this process. Two moves and the death of your son in one year is a lot of someone who is 89 years old. But Betty has 'pluck' and I am sure she will get through this just fine. 

The other call I got was from Alan McKay. He was our tour guide in Italy. He and his wife, Ida Mae were in the Dallas Airport awaiting a flight to Salt Lake City. He was catching up on the three of us that left Italy with medical issues. Mindy, who we thought had a sprain or stress fracture actually has a broken tibia. Her doctor was amazed she walked through the rest of that trip with the crutches. We attribute that ability to priesthood blessings. I told Alan I was in physical therapy before they will do an MRI. Claude has seen his doctor and appears to be slowly healing from a bad sprain. No PT for Claude yet. Watch for a few weeks and then go from there. I was very touched that Alan called to check on us. 

Saturday, March 16th, I got a little sleep during the night, but it was not good at all. I still managed to stay up all day on Saturday. I was able to get a good start on the April Newsletter for Relief Society. 

Jake posted a potential new recipe that looked good to me. I shared the picture with Claude and we decided to try it. We settled in to watch Psych again. I got up and found the three can needed: one of whole kernel corn, one of black beans and one of diced tomatoes. We rinsed these off and mixed together. Claude added some green onion we had on hand, and he tried some lime juice on it. We each tried this as a dip with chips. It was originally called 3 Can Burritos. Claude has now purchased tortillas and we will try eating it that way. It is yummy.

Sunday, March 17th, was St. Patrick's Day. I am amazed at the number of people I know who have a birthday on St. Patrick's Day. Our Andie is one of them.

We attended Sacrament Meeting and then came home. My arm hurt. Claude ankle hurt. We had a drive to Indiana to do that afternoon. So, we came home, and Claude took a little nap while I curled up on the sofa to rest and read. 

In the afternoon we headed to Indiana. Specifically, the Ogle Center at Indiana State University Southeast in New Albany, Indiana. We would attend Bailey's second Louisville Youth Orchestra performance. The title of this program was "Come Fly with Me" and featured a lot of music with birds and things in the title. Claude and I are always amazed at the quality of this music. We marvel how polished and advanced it sounds compared to our high school age experience. Bailey performs in the Repertory Orchestra and Ian Elmore is the conductor. Bailey plays the French Horn. 

Just before the performance, I gave Bailey a treasure of mine. Bailey loves wearing jewelry she got form her great grandmothers. She is wearing Bea's earrings in these pictures. Bailey likes wearing a string of pearls when she is wearing her black outfits for these performances. I gave Bailey the pearls Mr. Gertshel (spelling may be wrong) gave me when I graduated from high school. The Gertshel's lived next door in Shreveport, Louisiana. Mr. Gertshel owned a jewelry store in Shreveport. These were real pearls. My Aunt Margaret assured me they were quality as the string on which they were strung had a knot between each pearl. This way, if the string broke, you only possibly lost one pearl. I have cherished these and Bailey was ecstatic to get this treasure. 

After this excellent concert, we all went to Culver's. Patrick was at the concert and came with us. He has several food allergies and Culver's is a place he can find things that don't trigger those allergies. We really enjoyed this time with family. We gave Andie her birthday t-shirt that said, "Gogh With It" and had a picture of Van Gogh's sunflowers on the front. She was happy with it.

But Michael, Michael outdid himself with this gift. I was very impressed with his thoughtfulness. Andie received an envelope with this one the front. Michael let me see if I could figure it out. It reads "To Andie from Penny Man". This is what we called Michael when he and Andie were in high school and dating. 

Inside was a note that needed further decoding. Michael had put lines under each picture and gave Andie a pen so she could record her answers as they came to her. It was delightful to watch her brain work. Evidently, Michael had shared his pictures with Bailey for input as he created this masterpiece. Bailey was concerned about he potato picture. But it only took Andie a bit to get that one too. Michael purchased tickets to see Sting and Billy Joel at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Andie was over-the-moon happy with this gift from her honey. So much fun.

In the morning I posted this on our family Facebook page for Andie's birthday: "March has 4 family birthdays. Today we celebrate the 2nd of these. A few faces of Andie Christensen Marx, our middle-born child. She loves her family fiercely, is a super teacher with fun stories, she loves a good recipe and naps. The nap part is genetic from her dad! Happy Birthday to you, Andie!! Let's enjoy Bailey's concert and dinner tonight to celebrate. Love Ya Bunches!!

Monday, March 18th, I actually was up until noon. Then I took a nap. I do not usually nap. This day I did and it felt very good. I started reading Grapes of Wrath in preparation for our trip on Route 66 this fall. And, I did the wash. 

We received this post from Andie on our family Facebook page. It seems Patrick has asked Bailey to prom and she said yes!! They are cute.

Tuesday, March 19th, was my third PT appointment. This time Tina was the therapist to get me through my paces and then give me a thorough shoulder massage. I really do believe they do the best for my shoulder. Some of it hurst like Billy-rip but the end results are good. I am now a very big fan of the ice pack after the workout. 

I am also grateful for online shopping. I was able to order all the presents for April birthdays from the comfort of Sandiland. How great is that?!

Wednesday, March 20th, my arm is sore but I did get the morning exercises done. I even went out and broke off the dead flower stems from the four plants in the backyard flower bed. My poor flower beds are atrocious. With the Moh's surgery on my nose last fall, I was not wanting to get out in the dirt to do these things before winter. Figured I could do them in the spring. Little did I know Pompeii would render me useless in a lot of ways. It felt good to do that little bit. 

This evening were at North Oldham County High School for Bailey's KMEA Assessment. I sent her a text and asked if she needed a ride home from the assessment. She said the bus would take them back to the high school but she needed a ride from the high school home and we could do that. So, we went to Oldham County High School after the assessment, picked up Miss B and took her home. Nice to be helpful. The Oldham County High School Concert Band received all 1's. The Oldham County High School Symphonic Band (Bailey) received all I's. Excellent!! I spent the rest of the evening trying to create a Goggle Photo Album to share with Michael and Andie. It takes forever to download video when driving. 

I must confess that made an oops when recording their music. Their first number I decided to try taking a still shot while recording the number. Alas, my lame arm didn't reach high enough and I touched the off button for the video. It took me three tried to get it back recording. So, I have 4 little clips to make up their first number. Geez!! 

Our grandson, Paul, and his wife, Rachel, are due to have their first baby soon. It will be a little girl and they will name her Phoebe. This will be our sixth great grandmonster. A friend took pictures of Paul and Rachel.

Returning and Catching Up on this Blog...

Tuesday, May 5th, Returning to Kentucky. I love the Flight Tracker on these long flights. This Delta flight had the best Flight Tracker ever. It would show the map where we were and the countries we were over in a very detailed manner. I was able to look out the window and see the land. Then watch the tracker and know what I was looking at. 

Pictures of leaving Italy. 

France-Italy Border.

Swiss Alps. 

When we got to New York's JFK Airport, Claude had already hiked from the outer parking lot at the Rome airport, through that airport and down the forever long hallways to the gate. Once in JFK, we had to walk forever to get to Customs. Then to baggage claim and from there we were directed upstairs where we had to go through security again. Then down the forever long halls to the gate. I assured Claude this was enough walking for him. We had almost a four-hour layover at JFK. I told Claude when the counter people for the gate appeared, I was going to request a wheelchair for him in Cincinnati. 

When the counter person arrived, I went up to him and explained our situation and requested him to see if we could get a wheelchair to get Claude to baggage claim in Cincinnati. Love this man's heart. He quickly looked to move us to seats closer to the front of the aircraft, so Claude didn't have to walk to the back of the plane. He put in the request for the wheelchair in Cincinnati. I was so very happy with this service. 

Sure enough, we had a very thoughtful young man in Cincinnati who pushed Claude to the baggage claim. Had a delightful conversation with him. We would walk from baggage claim to the bus to get us to the lot where the Jeep was parked. The bus dropped us right by the Jeep. All that went very smoothly, and we made it to the Jeep, paid the King's Ransom to get the Jeep out of the lot, and made our way home. Arrived home about 11:30pm.

Wednesday, March 8th, Claude generously suggested that we start our time home with a breakfast biscuit run. We were awake by 7am. We got up and headed to Bojangles. After our breakfast, we went to Kroger for groceries, then the cleaners and left some of Claude's clothes. Then home for the remainder of the day. When I got home, my tummy started to churn. I hurled all of my breakfast. This seems to be happening more often than I like. Laundry was done. Pictures were uploaded to the laptop and the process of labeling them began. As I would finish labeling a day, I would post those pictures to Facebook.

Thursday, March 7th, I had my appointment with Dr. Lyon for my annual physical. I also used this time to explain our injuries. He tested my arm and was very sure the rotator cuff was torn. He referred me to Physical Therapy in an office across from his office. Claude has used them before. He also took blood work and increased one of the blood pressure medications. We stopped by Scott County Physical Therapy on the way home and made an appointment for Monday to start physical therapy on my arm. Evidently, I must do this first to qualify for an MRI. Claude would go to the pharmacy in the later afternoon and pick up the prescriptions. 

Friday, March 8th, Dr. Lyons office called to let me know all of my blood work was normal. No issues with any of it. Hallelujah!!

Saturday, March 9th, I finished labeling pictures and posted them all to Facebook. Then I started my Blog entries for each day. 

Sunday, March 10th, Daylight Savings Time reared its ugly head. We are just getting close to making the 6-hour adjustment from Italy and they toss another hour difference on us. Ugh!!

We had Relief Society presidency meeting at our home after church. Heidi Barney brought two of her kids, Laynie and Silas, with her. They have been to our home before. Heidi brought them lunch. They ate and then headed back to Sandiland after finding a movie in the guest bedroom. They couldn't get the movie to work in Sandiland. We took the movie to the guest bedroom television, and it worked perfectly. I told them they could curl up on the bed and watch the movie and that would be just fine. After our presidency meeting, Heidi and I went back to check on the kids. They were curled up on the bed and covered with the patriotic quilt Claude was given for his service in the Air Force. It just melted my heart. Heidi took this picture and sent it to me. I just love this so much.

Monday, March 11th, my first physical therapy appointment was at 9:30am. Claude drove me. I have not tried driving yet. My right arm will not raise by itself when I hold it out straight in front of me. Not feeling safe about putting it on a steering wheel yet. Everyone at Scott County PT seems very friendly and eager to help. Their office runs so that anyone can pick up your file and see where you are in treatment and move you along to the next thing you should do for treatment. I liked that. It is all directed by one man, but all the employees can follow the instructions on your chart and help you keep flowing through the treatment process. I was sent home with three pages of pictured instructions for exercises to do twice a day at home. 

Tuesday, March 12th, Claude was up REALLY early to go the the Governor's Prayer Breakfast in Frankfort. 

I got up not long after he left and started my day. I did my exercises for my shoulder. Sure leaves it sore but I know how important these exercises are to healing. I shall be diligent in doing them. I did the ironing except for one really tricky piece. It is a shirt Claude only uses when we travel so it can wait until I am much better. Then I spent my time working Blog entries.

In the evening, we drove to Frankfort for dinner at Staxx BBQ. Then to LaGrange for Bailey's LEPA Preview Concert. It was excellent as usual. Bailey is in the Symphonic Band. They played three numbers. This helps them prepare for their assessment next week. 

Wednesday, March 13th, we visited Vicky Drakeford and took her chocolate from Italy. Vicky was married to our realtor. She worked right with him when we sold our Sadieville home and bought our home in Georgetown. Wendell passed away from cancer while we were in Italy. Vickie told us before we left for Italy to please bring her chocolate. We were following up with her on that sweet request. We had such a nice visit. She shared Wendell's last few days, his request to be cremated and not to have a funeral, and how she will buy two flowering trees and plant them in two different places in her yard. Under them she will put Wendell's ashes. He loved flowering trees and this will be the perfect way for her to have and remember him in the future. 

My afternoon was spent catching up and finishing my Blog. I would do my exercises for my shoulder. Then have a quiet evening at home.