Week 1 & 2 of Recovery...

Claude says I should label these entries Day 1 - Pain, Day 2 - Pain, etc. We got a good laugh out of that accurate description.

First, let me say I refer a lot to my calendar, eMails and texts, and my Gratitude Journal when it has been a while since I updated my Blog. I have tried to write in my Gratitude Journal every day. Since my surgery, I have very little use of my right hand and arm. With it being encased in this sling, holding a pen is difficult. My handwriting is almost legible! We set a small spiral notebook on the kitchen counter to record when I did PT and when and what meds were taken. The first week Nissa and Claude dispensed meds and did all recording. The second week, I started doing this for myself sometimes. I have used my left hand for this writing. It is hilarious to try and read. With that background and the few pictures I have taken, I will try and record my first two weeks of recovery.

Monday, May 13th, was surgery day. I recorded that in my previous Blog post. Our sweet Daughter, Nissa, brought me a treasure of a gift. This turtle has solar powered lights in the center of each flower. I love turtles. This would be a welcome treasure in our backyard.

Tuesday, May 14th, we realized my right hand was green. Later we learned my entire right arm and shoulder were green. I am sure it is was something to with fighting infection. I took this picture but the green really only shows well around my thumb nail. 

This day we started with a biscuit run. We wanted Nissa to experience some of the things her aging parents enjoy. I purchased a box with four 500-piece puzzles in it. I invited Nissa to help. I was able to be up and work for a few minutes and then rest. Nissa was hooked. She stayed with the puzzle and finished it. She kept apologizing for keeping at it when I was resting. I kept telling her if anyone understood the compulsive need to finish a puzzle, it was her mother! We both agreed there were 3 other puzzles for after she left!

We started this week with an oxycodoin every night before bed. I was given plenty to also take through the day, but I do not like taking narcotics. Through the day I had the pain pump and Tylenol. 

Wednesday, May 15th, was a pain day for the records. 

Thursday, May 16th, would be Nissa's last day with us. She did the laundry and cut Claude's hair. Bless his heart, the last time he had a haircut was just before we went to Italy. We were getting close to a ponytail or man-bun! I felt a little better this day.

Friday, May 17th, Nissa left for the long drive home. Claude went to Dan Cummins to get an oil change and tires rotated on the Jeep. This was my first time alone since surgery. I spent this precious time sleeping in my chair! Claude came home in the Courtesy Car from Dan Cummins. It seems that oil change and tire rotation was not all the Jeep needed. Our cars are now 7-years old. The Jeep has over 100,000 miles on it. Time to expect some extra service. The expense was WAY over what Claude was expecting for the oil change and tire rotation. He waited till Dan Cummins came back to pick him up to get his Jeep. 

In the afternoon, I found the Hobbits on TV and started to watch that. Claude would join me for a Hobbit-fest.

My Kindle decided it was full of humidity again. Ugh! It was to be a major form of entertainment during recuperation. I can't charge it when it thinks there is moisture in it. I played on it till the battery was in the 20's. Then it took a charge as long as I played. It was good to have my Kindle back.

Saturday, May 18th, I started the second puzzle. Claude and I watched some movies and I took naps.

Sunday, May 19th, was Stake Conference. We had a Zoom link so we could watch from home. That is definitely a blessing of technology. It was very soothing to curl up in my chair, watch conference and the trees outside blowing in the breeze.

This day the pain pump ran out of fluid. It was supposed to have lasted about three days. It lasted from Monday till Sunday morning. Claude pulled the catheter out of my neck and boxed it up to be returned. Now I would experience that 60% of pain it had been relieving me of! 

With the pain pump catherter out of my shoulder, I could finally take a real shower. My last real shower was Monday morning of my surgery. Cleansing with baby wipes was helpful. But nothing feels as good as standing under a shower head sending warm water over an aching body. I must give accolades to my good Hubby and caregiver. Without the use of my right arm and the need to support that arm with my left hand most of the time, showering would be impossible. Just having his strong arm to get in and out to assure I would not fall and ruin this surgery, was a huge blessing. Being clean was like a gift from heaven.

This night I finished my puzzle.

Monday, May 20th, I was itching in earnest. It started a bit Sunday evening. By Monday I was in search of cortizone cream. By the afternoon, I was covered in a rash everywhere the sling covered my arm. I thought I was allergic to the fabric inside the sling. We got one of Claude's white handkerchiefs and wrapped it around my arm so it was not touching the sleeve anywhere. I took antihistime to help with the itching and to knock me out so I could sleep that night.

Claude cut the grass during the morning. Then we got smoothies to cool off. We would spend the afternoon and evening watching the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. 

During the day, I moved my solar turtle out to get its first rays of sun.

Tuesday, May 21st, would bw the most full day since surgery. My recliner was delivered by 9am. Hallelujah!! 

Then Claude headed back to Dan Cummins. This time he took my Buick for an oil change and tire rotation. Fortunately, that was all the Buick required.

At 3:30, we were sitting in Dr. Sajadi's office for my 1 week checkup. Dr. Cowan is who we would see. He removed the bandage over the incision. This was so much less painful than Claude trying to remove the pain pack catheter bandage which was attached to the hair on my neck. Dr. Cowan said everything looked good and I was progressing well. He deyermined I had a heat rash. We decided we would cut the sleeves out of one of Claude's old white long-sleeved shirts. I would pull his sleeve up over my shoulder and then only wear cotton t-shirts. This has worked wonderfully. Cool washcloths a couple of times each day and air drying have complimented Claude's long sleeve. So happy it wasn't an allergy. X-rays of my shoulder were taken to ensure all was healing as it should. I will go back in 3 weeks where it is anticipated the sling will come off for the final time and I will be referred to physical therapy.

In the evening, I took this picture of my incision. It is not as long as Claude and I thought it would be. 

My turtle lite up with the sun it got this day. I took this picture for Nissa to see the turtle and my puzzle.

Wednesday, May 22nd, was a very itchy day. The only entry in my gratitude journal was 'antihistimine for itching'.

Thursday, May 23rd, I finally returned to my laptop to begin catching up on picture labeling and blogging. I couldn't do it all at once. It would be a slow process using only my left hand and no mouse. Patience is a virtue!

Claude went to see Dr. Lyon for his annual physical. He got a good report. Dr. Lyon and Claude spoke about my shoulder. Claude wanted to be sure he knew about the surgery. Dr. Lyon did know and described my shoulder before surgery as 'trashed'. He was happy we chose the surgery.

In the evening, we started to watch the Third Rock television series. 

Friday, May 24th, I tried sitting on the patio in the afternoon. While I found it perfectly delightful, my Kindle decided it had moisture inside it...again. Oh bother!

In the evening, I noticed a lump in my arm at the base of the incision. This area had a big bruise there after the surgery. 

Saturday, May 25th, I taught Claude how to do laundry. He did great. 

I had Claude take this picture of me and my best friend, The Sling. We are together 24/7. Yes, it is cumbersome. But, on this day I was almost to the halfway point!

Sunday, May 26th, was a quiet day at home. I would spend most of my day in my comfortable recliner. In the evening we experienced a very powerful storm. Horrible winds. Lots of damage to homes in the area but our little home stood firm.

Monday, May 27th, is Memorial Day. Claude smoked a pork butt yesterday and baked beans today for a combined ward picnic. We would not attend. Not interested in doing anything to encourage the return of the heat rash. Claude we make bacon burgers for us tonight. We will watch a little more Third Rock after Claude finishes watching Patton. We will have had a good day.

This finishes the first two weeks of recovery. We are officially at the halfway point. Yeah!!

The Surgery...

This will be the most difficult Blog post ever. Only because I have no right hand to use after surgery. Doing everything with only my left hand is cumbersome and slow. But I will get there. 

On February 27th, I fell in Pompeii, Italy. I knew, as soon as I tried to use my arm to stand, that my right rotator cuff was in a very bad way. Thanks to the kindness of several strong men in our tour group, I was lifted from between the rocks to a standing position. It sure felt good to be upright. 

Claude fell a few days prior in Rome. His ankle was very bad. Our decision was to complete our Italy trip with the understanding we would miss out on some things if we needed to rest. We completed our tour and loved all we saw and did.

Upon returning home on a Tuesday, I determined to wait till Thursday, when I already had an appointment with my doctor for my annual physical, to have him look at my arm. Dr. Lyon had me try a few things with my arm to assess the damage. After his check, he confirmed his belief that it was a very bad tear and would ultimately require surgery. The insurance would require a period of physical therapy before paying for an MRI. Dr. Lyon referred me to Scott County Physical Therapy. They are in the same medical office park as Dr. Lyon. I went directly there and scheduled myself for PT the following Monday. 

I had a follow-up appointment with Dr. Lyon 3-weeks after his initial assessment. During this 3-weeks, I had 5 PT appointments with twice daily exercises at home. At that 5th PT appointment, I requested they take new measurements of my mobility in my right arm. They did this and sent those numbers to Dr. Lyon. Armed with those numbers, Dr. Lyon referred me to the radiology department of Georgetown Hospital for an MRI. The MRI results were sent to Dr. Lyon. They confirmed a double tear in my rotator cuff. Dr. Lyon referred me to Dr. Sajadi. 

At my consult, Dr. Sajadi asked several times if my arm was okay when we went to Italy. I assured him it was and Claude confirmed I was having no trouble before the fall in Pompeii. It seems the MRI confirmed an old tear. When I fell in Pompeii, it created two new tears over the old one creating what Dr. Sajadi called a massive tear. Dr. Sajadi then told us we had three options.

The first was to continue with PT in the hopes the area would strengthen so I could use my right arm again. I told Dr. Sajadi I tore my left rotator cuff and this was how we treated it and it did heal. That was when Dr. Sajadi infirmed Claude and I that PT doesn't heal the tear. It only strengthens muscles around it so you can use the arm again. The tear is still there. This tear in my right shoulder would probably not be effectively healed with PT. However, the option was there is I chose that.

The second option was standard rotator cuff surgery. 6 weeks in the sling followed by PT. This would work for a while with a fairly high likelihood of failure over time given the massiveness of my tear. Hmmmm...

The third option was Reverse Shoulder Replacement. My first question was did the use of the word reverse mean my arm would be put on backwards. This elicited a chuckle from the good doctor. He explained a rod would be placed in my humerus. The ball of this joint is naturally on the top of the humerus. The reverse part is that the top of the humerus will now have the socket on it and a metal ball will be put where the socket used to be in the shoulder. 4-weeks in a sling followed by PT. Likelihood of long-term success much greater that traditional rotator cuff surgery.

The decision was ours given these three possibilities. I turned to Claude and he simply said, "Go for the Cadillac." We chose reverse shoulder replacement. Surgery was scheduled for Monday, May 13th at Baptist Health Hospital. All this process from The Fall of Pompeii to my Surgery date was about 13 weeks.

Monday, May 13th, found us getting the finishing preparations for surgery. A final shower. Peroxide cleanse of my right shoulder. Final gathering of my overnight bag...just in case. This was to be outpatient surgery. I was sure if I packed a bag and left it in the car, it would not be needed. Made sure the back door was left unlocked as Nissa would probably arrive before we returned home. Claude loaded me in the Buick and we were off to Baptist Health in Lexington. 

Our arrival time was to be 9:30am. We were there a few minutes early. As we drove to Lexington, I checked Facebook. I noted that Jason Purdy was also having surgery this day. Claude and I went to Registration as checked in. We were then directed to the surgery waiting room.

Claude was given a patient number that would follow me thru the process. This gives you a bit of privacy when following the reader board telling where all patients are at. I was very pleased that I first showed up in a purple box!

We were told surgery would last two hours. Claude would be free to roam within cellphone range. Since we had not eaten, this meant he could do a meal run at the hospital cafeteria. We were also told recovery would be about 1 1/2 hours. What I failed to ask was when surgery was scheduled to begin. I knew it wouldn't be at 9:30am. However, I would never have guessed 1:30pm.

You wait in the surgery waiting room until your name is called. I heard the name Purdy. Soon Kelsey walked past us. I said hello as she walked past. She was surprised to see us. She went into a little room for a consult with Jason's surgeon. Then she returned to wait by Claude and me. What fun to have a chat and learn about Jason's knee surgery and share about my shoulder replacement surgery. 

Soon my name was called. A nice elderly gentleman who volunteers came to take me back to prep for surgery. Once prepped, he would return for Claude who could sit with me till surgery time. Prep includes getting into their little gown and being asked by everyone who comes in my name, birth date, and reason for surgery. My clothes were placed in a nice plastic bag for Claude to watch over until time for me to go home. IV's are placed. One was for antibiotics. This is where I learned from a particularly chatty nurse, that each surgeon has a particular order in which they want things done as you are prepped for surgery. I would be given two antibiotics prior to surgery thru the IV. Dr. Sajadi requires them be given in the reverse order of all other doctors. At the nurses station, there is a binder with instructions for working this area of the hospital. in this binder is a section named "Quirky Doctors". All these specific requests are in this section. I loved the label they chose for this portion of the binder.

The anesthesiologist came in. I was pleasantly surprised to learn she was a woman. She marked my right shoulder with an X for placement of the pain pump catheter.

Two people came in with a mobile ultrasound. They would place the catheter in my right shoulder for the pain pump. The pain pump would automatically dispense something like Novocain for the next three days keeping approximately 60% of my pain under control. I was allowed to watch the monitor of the ultrasound machine as they inserted this catheter the size of fishing line into my shoulder. By doing this with a visual on the ultrasound, they were able to get exact placement into the nerves they wanted to numb. I could even see as they injected fluid into the tissue, Amazing. They explained as they went along. This was important as they were seeing things they were trained to see which I was not picking up on at all. Really fascinating.

Dr. Sajadi came in and wrote his initials on my right shoulder giving me great confidence they would perform surgery on the correct appendage. Another friend from Church, Mike Grieving, came in to help with anesthesia. 

Then I was off to surgery to get a new shoulder. Claude was taken to training on my PT and post-op care. Then he was off to find food. The surgery started sooner than originally told. That was not a problem. By 2:20 Claude was informed surgery went well and he would be able to come back soon.

Nissa was at our home when we got there. What a blessing she would be these first days home, Claude had the chair moved to the living room with the end table on my left side. This would be my location for most of the first week.

That first day home would be the easiest. 

I can honestly say all went very well with Baptist Health and Dr. Sajadi. How grateful I am that Dr. Lyon referred me to this particular doctor. Claude and I felt so blessed that Nissa came. She would be there until Friday. Now, on to recovery and healing.

Preparing for The Big Day...

It is getting close to surgery time. Most of our focus in on getting things done ahead that can be done ahead and making sure the house is ready for four weeks of recovery. A big part of that is making sure I don't overdo things with my right arm and shoulder. I truly do not need to go to surgery with a very angry shoulder. That is the way one video cautioned about preparing for surgery. Angry! My shoulder, not me. 

Saturday, May 4th, was Kentucky Derby Day. We filled our day with errands. 

Part of getting ready is ordering things that you will need. Now, I could go out and roam stores, but I really don't feel up to that. I am now very grateful for ordering online. I ordered two pair of what I am fondly calling my 'surgery britches'. It seems you need elastic waist things so you can do everything with only one hand and arm, in my case, my left. This will be awkward  enough as I am VERY right-handed. So, well before I believe I am old enough, I ordered elastic waist pants!! These are really cute. They arrived and fit perfectly, and I am confident they will work for me.

Our son Jake posted a cute video of him with a free comic book that was Star Wars based. You know, "May the 4th Be With You" kind of thing. He was wearing a cap and at the end he smiled and put the comic book down and you could see that his cat had the logo of Star Trek on the front. Very cute idea. 

In the evening, we settled in to let my arm rest and watch the Derby race. It was very exciting. Didn't know any of the horses. But this was the closest race I have ever seen. First, second and third place with nose to nose over the finish line. Can't even tell you who the winner was. My bad. But the race was a delight to watch.

Sunday, May 5th, saw Claude getting up at 6:30 to participate in the Stake Council Zoom meeting. I got up at 7:30 to get my shower. We attended church at 10:30am. 

After church, James Hollin came to our home. He is our Ministering Brother. He helped Claude give me a Priesthood Blessing for my upcoming surgery. Then he helped Claude take our red rocking chair out of the living room to the shed. We anticipated the delivery of my lounge chair on Tuesday. I am so grateful for the priesthood and these blessings. They add to my faith and hope and belief that the Lord is in the details of my life. I know that whatever happens with the surgery, it will be alright. 

Claude would take a little nap. I spent that time view videos. I have no idea how many videos I have watched. Over the past couple of weeks, I searched for videos about reverse shoulder replacement surgery. I also searched for videos of recovery after surgery. I watched several videos on how to dress after surgery and while wearing a sling. The hospital sent me home with videos to watch about going to Pre Admission Testing, what to bring, what to expect, etc. There were videos about cleaning my shoulder the three days prior to the surgery. Some of these videos I have forwarded to Claude so he can be a great caregiver to me. I sent some to Nissa, our daughter, who will come for the first week to help with that care. I think all those videos are beginning to run together. But it is all in my noggin and hopefully I can retrieve the pieces I need as I need them.

I also spent time making a list of what I needed to accomplish each day for the next week. Hopefully it will keep me on track. My arm wears out and I can only do what I can do. 

I also put the CD in Claude's old laptop to view the MRI pictures. I saved one. I have absolutely NO idea what I am looking at. I just know it is picture of my shoulder.

Monday, May 6th, was time for a little yard work. We are very slow in getting to this and moving slowly with doing it. Have to do it it bits as Claude's ankle continues to heal and my arm makes me less that useful. One thing we wanted to do was move the peony that we brought from Utah. This loved flower was at the ranch when Claude was little. His sister brought over some and planted them in her yard on the other side of the mountain from the ranch. When we moved to Sadieville, we made a driving trip to Utah and Joann gave us some to bring to Kentucky. When we moved from Sadieville, I brought this plant and put it in the flower bed. Then I planted a dinner plate hibiscus next to it. Wrong move. That hibiscus is huge and dwarfs the peony. The peony needed a new home. This day Claude would dig up the peony and move it to the end of the side of the house by the gate to the back yard. Hopefully, it will love this spot and take root and over the years fill in that end of the side flower bed. This is one of the blossoms. 

The clematis that grows inside that gate is prolific this year. Stunning.

Tuesday, May 7th, was a big step forward toward surgery. I had Pre Admission Testing (PAT) at Baptist Health. This is where the surgery will be done. We found the parking garage and made it through the maze of hallways to the pharmacy to leave a prescription, to registration to complete paperwork and to PAT to get a ECG and to Radiology to get a chest X-ray. We were told it would take an hour. From the time we dropped off the prescription to the time we were back in the car, it was an hour and 15 minutes. Not bad at all. 

While in the PAT portion, Claude got a phone call from Dr. Wilson's office. He does indeed have basal cell carcinoma and will need Moh's surgery. He told them to refer him to Dr. Renzi who did my Moh's surgery last October. Dr. Renzi's off should call by the end of the week to schedule. Goodness. Baptist Health is call on Friday to tell me what time my surgery is on Monday. A LOT of coordinating needs to be done here. I can't drive while wearing the sling for four weeks. Claude will need someone to shuttle him a bit. I sent Andie, our daughter, a text and asked if they scheduled Claude's surgery for June, would she be able to help with driving. She was happy to do that. Hallelujah!

We headed to Schlotzsky's for some lunch. This is now our go to place after medical appointments in Lexington. We would crash that evening. 

I received an alert that I had test results in MyChart. These are interesting to read but I often don't know all that medical terminology. As I read this one, I decided to eMail my three children with the results and tell them I was sending them a "little light reading". One of the phrases in this report was "No focal airspace opacity". Andie responded to my eMail with "Well congratulations on your lack of "focal airspace opacity" - way to ace that in the preop ;)" This set me to wondering and I turned to my Magic 8 Ball (cellphone) to do a google search of all the terms I didn't understand. After reading a lot of stuff, I responded to Andie's comment with "I looked up those terms and it is good they are preceded by the word "no". They refer to fluid filling in spaces where air should be leading to lung failure. Whew!!"

Wednesday, May 8th, we went to cast our absentee ballots. I called to be sure I qualified to vote absentee because of surgery and not being able to use my right arm for four weeks. They said that qualified. Claude drove me and went with me to the third floor of the courthouse to vote. They were very kind and said Claude could also vote absentee as he fit in the caregiver category after a major surgery. Felt really good to get that done for both of us.

After, we finally made it to Lowe's to purchase plants for the yard. This year we needed to replace the three bushes that died with the during the winter between 2023 and 2023. We also needed to get a plant for the pot on the old milk can by the back door. Claude wanted tomato plants. He is compelled to be a farmer in his old age. We bought a different kind of azalea to try in the front under the study window. I found a trailing petunia of some kind for the pot on the old milk can. Claude bought two cherry tomato plants for the urns we had daisies in last year and four little tomato plants for slicing tomatoes to replace the lavender under the Sandiland window. The lavender didn't survive the winter. 

I was trying to get things done on my laptop when Claude came in very frustrated. When we moved to Kentucky and when we moved from Sadieville, I took care of all the phones and utilities. Therefore, everything is now in my name. AT&T has wanted us to go paperless and not send a paper invoice each month. We have automatic payment, but Claude liked getting the paper invoice. AT&T sent a notice that those people who still received a paper invoice would not have a $10 increase each month to their service. That is a nice way to make some go paperless. Well, AT&T will go paperless, Claude will print the invoice from the website, and we'll still have paper. Claude now wanted all the AT&T bills to come to him as well as me. He tried to do this online and add himself as another person on the account with rights to see and work with the account. The website eventually locked him out and told him to call a number. This is not Claude's cup of tea. He was frustrated and it was now my place to take over. I called the number with Claude sitting by my desk. It ended up being one of those texting back and forth calls. It took TIME. This kind of thing always takes TIME and PATIENCE. We finally got it set so Claude receives all the eMails and can login and have access to the Internet as well as the Cellphone/DirecTV bundle. Hallelujah! The cute thing was the guy that was texting with me from AT&T thanked me for being so kind. He assured me that is not usually the case and it made him happy. Bless his heart.

Thursday, May 9th, was a planting the plants, doing the laundry, and getting things done on the laptop kind of day. I even got the birthday presents wrapped for June so that is ready to take to the mail. 

These are plants we purchased and planted: 1) Under the Study window are three red dwarf Autumn Embers rhododenron. 2) In the two urns are cherry tomato plants. Last year we had daisies that didn't do very well. These will go on the edge of the patio. 3) On top of the plant stand made from the Old Milk Can from the ranch is a trailing petunia. 4) Under the Sandiland window are four slicing tomato plants. 

This year's birthday gifts are t-shirts. In June we have Rachel and Drew's birthday. These are now ready to take to the post office when it is time to mail them. Drew's alludes to his constant use of his cellphone. Rachel is a new mom and I hope she likes this one. 

Claude went grocery shopping so that is done for the next week or so. He came home with a treat for me, well us, me but to be shared as us! It was six HUGE chocolate covered strawberries in a heart shaped container. We enjoyed them as dessert while watching television in the evening. Yum!!

Friday, May 10th, the day was spent doing the cleaning that needed to be done before surgery. I have a little use of my right arm in spurts right now. May not have much use, if any at all, for a bit after surgery. Plus, Saturday, Sunday and Monday morning are to be spent getting and keeping my shoulder as clean as possible. Cleaning our home on those days is counterproductive to that effort. I dusted, swept, and cleaned bathrooms. Claude mopped and vacuumed. We are a great team. He is very respectful of letting me do what I can while I can and coming to him and saying, "I can't do this" and he picks up that slack. 

I received anniversary gifts for May and June and got those ready to mail. I watered plants and did the ironing. Feels sooooo good to have these things in order before surgery.

Dr. Renzi's office called Claude and set him up for Moh's surgery on his nose on Wednesday, June 12th at 8am. Hopefully I will be ready to drive by then. If not, our Andie thinks she can help us there.

Dr. Sajadi's office called me to let me know my surgery time on Monday is 9:30am. Hallelujah!! I was alerted by Dr. Sajadi that the time could be as early as 5am. Surgery morning I must get another shower. Then we do the cleaning ritual with special medicated cleanser. I have to drink a 20-oz. bottle of Gatorade. 5am would have meant simply not going to bed the night before. We have to allow 45-minutes for the drive to Baptist Health in Lexington. 9:30am arrival is MUCH better.

In the evening, Claude and I went outside to check for Northern Lights!! Normally, they do not show up this far south. Fortunately for us we learned when visiting Iceland last year that you sometimes see there and don't know that is what they are because they appear as a strung-out mist of a cloud that is slowly moving across the sky. If you take your cellphone camera and set it to Night Mode, then take a picture being sure to hold the camera very still until the picture is set, you can look at the finished picture and will see the colors of the Northern Lights. Claude and I tried that with our cellphone cameras. With my lame arm, it is a bit difficult to hold up the camera and keep it steady to take pictures. These are the three I got. I was a bit concerned as they were more a purple color instead of having a lot of green. Others across the country took pictures and may of theirs were also a purple color. I felt better. 

Saturday, May 11th, was the day to deal with linens. I had to shower every morning Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Monnday. In the evenings on Friday and Saturday, there was a special cleanser and process to use it on my shoulder. We started that on Saturday night. We would do that on Sunday night and Monday morning before going to the hospital. All this must be logged and the log taken to the hospital for surgery.

In addition, I must use clean towels each shower and have clean bed linens each night. It is a process. But I was off to a good start on Saturday getting these things accomplished. 

Claude worked very hard in the yard. We would go out to dinner so he didn't have to cook. Fazoli's never tasted so good. 

Sunday, May 12th, was an interesting Sunday at Church. When we arrived, I saw Cassie Zitter in the hallway. She said, "A man has passed out in the doorway. My first thought was Bryce Christensen. He is 80 years old and has fought cancer. But it was a man from the Georgetown Ward that meets before us. Did not know him. Our ward is full of med students and not one of them was in the chapel at the time. I went around and walked up to the organist, Elizabeth Christensen. She was not sure what to do. It was time for prelude but there was a lot of action in the back of the chapel. Finally, the paramedics arrived. He had a pulse and could roll his eyes. He was limp as a dishrag. Several of them lifted him onto the stretcher and they took him away.

Claude checked on the two boards on the wall at the front and put hymn numbers on them. The meeting started and went well. The Primary children sang a special number after two youth speakers. They were delightful with their musical number. Another older youth speaker and then the Young Men/Young Women sang a special musical number. They did a nice job but I could not help but note the difference in the Primary and YM/YW. The YM/YW were singing an octave below where it was written or with high squeaky voices. All their voices are changing at this point. Loved that they wanted and prepared to sing. We had an adult speaker and then Bishop Barber said a few words. They handed out candy bars to the ladies 18 years of age and older. 

    We had a nice Relief Society. There were beautiful refreshments set up by Cassie Zitter. The sisters all visited and ate before the video we were to view. They were having such a great time visiting that our presidency decided on another video clip and allowed them to have more time to visit. Since a lot of the sisters serve in Primary and Young Women, we don't often get to have a Sunday lesson with all of us present. 

I received a text of Jake that he was ready to give me a call. He would have to work that evening. I left the ladies to their visiting and went out to talk with Jake. Now, with the men covering for the ladies this day, Claude had no real class to attend. I suggested he go get a Frank's donut. When I came out of the Relief Society room, the Jeep was not in the parking lot. I sent Claude a text telling him I was ready to leave. Then I tried to call Jake. It went to voice mail. I felt a buzz on my phone and looked and it was Jake trying to call me. I had my volume turned off while we were in Church. I started talking to Jake and Claude rounded the end of the parking lot to pick me up. 

The Relief Society president, Jenessa Dymock, and her second counselor, Heidi Barney, came to our door. They brought me a candle and card for them and Jessie Rayburn, the first counselor. We chatted for a bit. 

When they left, Claude and I got ready and he took me to Montana Grill where he had a 2pm reservation. I had bison nachos for my meal. That will be my last meal for a few days, and it was totally yummy!!

During the rest of the day, I changed the linens on our bed in preparation for the second cleansing of my shoulder that night. I did the last of the laundry. Finished up my Blog. Put together a little hospital bag in case I get kept overnight. It will stay in the car unless needed as this is supposed to be outpatient surgery. And I sent messages and text and replied to messages and text for Mother's Day. 

So, tomorrow, Monday, May 13th, I will be at Baptist Health for what is supposed to be outpatient surgery. They will do reverse shoulder replacement surgery. It is supposed to mean four weeks with my right arm in a sling and not moving my right shoulder at all. This should be an interesting adventure!! A friend asked if I was nervous or anxious. I could honestly tell her I felt very calm. Claude and James Hollen gave me a priesthood blessing last Sunday. In that blessing Claude asked that I might have a feeling of calm. It worked! Grateful for a good hubby that will take excellent care of me. Grateful for Nissa who will come tomorrow and help us the first week. Grateful for excellent medical personnel and a really good hospital. Grateful for answers to my prayers to be organized and orderly in preparing for surgery. We finished cleaning the house Friday so that it would not be something to do while we go through the three-day process of keeping my shoulder very clean. Grateful Claude got the yard work done so he won't have to think about that for at least a week. Grateful for family and friends who will be prayer for me during the surgery and during the recovery period. There are so many, many blessings, even during our difficult moments in life.

Home Again...

Saturday, April 27th, we spent our morning trying to get back into normal mode. I had some work to do on my laptop as Relief Society secretary. I got a good handle on that while I finished up the laundry. 

Claude did a little grocery shopping. He brought home a new box of Cherrios for me. I thought this limited-time box was really cool. Not sure why they created this, but I do think it is cute.

In the afternoon, we went to Vickie Drakeford's home. Vickie is a sweet friend and the wife of our realtor for our move from Sadieville and purchasing our Georgetown home. Wendell passed away from cancer while we were in Italy. He requested Vickie not have a funeral and to have him cremated. Vickie did this. Then she found the most perfect way to use Wendell's ashes. 

Wendell loved flowers and color in the yard. Vickie picked a spot in her front yard she could see from the living room window and a spot in the side yard she could see from her kitchen window. She purchased two crepe myrtle trees. One is red, the other is purple. Vickie was married before and her first husband passed away. When she married Wendell, her son became extremely close to Wendell. He had three friends who thought of Wendell as a father figure as well. These young men agreed to help Vickie with her plan.

This afternoon, the young men dug two holes the right size to plant the crepe myrtles in. After the holes were dug, Vickie, her family and a few friends, all had hot dogs and hamburgers. Then Vickie got Wendell's ashes and put half of them in the bottom of each of these holes. The trees were put on top of the ashes and new soil put around them. Now, whenever Vickie is outside or looks out her living room or kitchen windows, she has a bit of Wendell with her. I am so in love with this idea. 

Fast forward to yesterday, May 3rd. Vickie sent me these pictures of the two trees. She has put a border around them and significant bits of decorations for each spot. They are simply a lovely way to remember Wendell. He would be pleased.

Sunday, April 28th, we had the opportunity in the late afternoon to travel to the Iroquois Amphitheater in Louisville, Kentucky to see another performance of the Lexington Youth Orchestra. Bailey would be performing with the Repertory Orchestra. They would perform music from Les Miserable and from The Pirates of the Caribbean. Excellent as always. This time, Joyce Romanoff, Michael stepmom, flew in for the perfomance. It was good to see Joyce again. 

Monday, April 29th, Claude and I tackled the yard again. Time for me to weed. It went a lot faster for me this time. And I did it all with only my left hand. Of course, Claude cut the front and back, edged the front and back and blew all the cutting away in the front and back while I did this weeding. I do love working in the yard when Claude is working in the yard.

While weeding the front flower bed, I kept smelling this wonderful fragrance. There are no annuals in bloom there and I could figure out where this lovely fragrance was coming from. I finished the front and then went to the side of the house. There was the reason for this lovely fragrance. The lilac tree is in full bloom. Man, does it smell great! These are a few flower pictures from our yard. 

I received a treasure of a picture. Our grandson, Paul, holding his new baby girl, Phoebe. I love that her fingers are wrapped around his finger. What a wonder to be a parent for the first time. Sobering and a time of growth. Paul loved his little nieces and nephews. I am sure he will be a great dad.

This day I was extremely grateful for the ability to order things online and not have to go to a store. I now have surgery coming (more on that in another post) and am trying to get things in order for a time of recovery. I was able to order May and June birthday and anniversary things. I was able to order me two pair of what I fondly call my 'surgery britches'. I ordered puzzles for while I recuperate and a book for my Kindle. I felt very efficient!

Tuesday, April 30th, was a big day for me. I visited the surgeon and we determined I would have surgery. I will make the surgery its own post. 

After surgeon we had a bite to eat at City Barbecue. Always a good meal. Then we went to Lazy Boy to check on recliners. 

On our anniversary date to Montana Grill, we ended the evening by going to Lazy Boy to learn about recliners. Claude has been thinking about them for a very long time. I have not jumped at this idea. I didn't want us to turn into those two old people who sit facing the television in their separate recliners and while away their final years. Plus, I love the pieces of furniture we kept in our move and the way we arranged them in our living room. It really works for me. Anyway, we met Logan at Lazy Boy, told him we were in a learning mode on this visit. He was superb. He steered us away from the lift-chair version. We worked with him until we each had a recliner that fit our body that we liked. We were told we could order these in any color and type of fabric they had in their fabric display room. Logan gave us his business card and wrote the names of the two recliners we liked best. We told him we would ponder what he taught us and get back with him later. That was February 13th. 

We decided to start with a new carpet in the living room. It was ordered and laid out. This would give us the base for our color choices. We went on our Italy trip and both fell and injured ourselves. We have struggled through. After the surgery diagnosis, it was time to put and order in for these chairs. 

Back to Lazy Boy we went. We found Logan. He found the chair Claude wanted but the one I wanted was not on the sales floor. I did find one on the sales floor that could be purchased and taken home that day that worked great for me. We needed to have it delivered. Hmmmm... Logan set up delivery of my chair the day after my surgery. He ordered Claude's chair in a wonderful fabric that is redwood in color. Claude's chair will be here around the 1st of June. We felt good about our choices and look forward to these new chairs. Now...we must move the current two chairs somewhere else. Another...hmmm...

Wednesday, May 1st, we woke up and determined it was a biscuit for breakfast kind of day. Off we went to Bojangles to get our biscuits. 

Claude had a doctor's appointment with the dermatologist in the afternoon. He came home with at least 13 burned spots on his arms and a biopsy taken from his nose. Dr. Wilson is pretty sure it is basal cell carcinoma and will require Moh's surgery. So...we have that going for us!

Thursday, May 2nd, I would spend a lot of time labeling pictures from our trip and getting them ready to Blog. We did pause in the afternoon and made a smoothie run. Nothing like a Bahama Mama to soothe this savage beast. Claude tried something with pomegranate in it. He is adventurous. I find my flavor and stick with it. 

Friday, May 3rd, I worked on pictures and blogging again when I first woke up. I realized my arm was in agony. Claude and I stopped and went out for errands and a date night. We stopped at Walmart so I could get this month's free earrings, Claude could buy a few grocery items, I could purchase flowers for my parent's graves. Then we drove to Sunset Memorial Gardens to put the flowers on my parent's graves. I posted this on Facebook:

Spring had sprung

The grass has riz

I wonder where

The flowers is!

A poem told to me by Papa. 

Here are the the Spring flowers for Mimi and Papa.

Love Ya Bunches!!

We had a wonderful dinner at Cattleman's Roadhouse in Frankfort. We returned home and watched The Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables. It was such an excellent evening. A welcome date for 73/74-year-olds.

Saturday, May 4th, is Derby Day. We will pause and watch The Race. I am trying to finish with my pictures and getting my Blog current. We went out for Claude to find ribs done by the nice man at Kroger. Fortunately, he was there and had plenty of BBQ ribs at the ready. Claude managed to cut all the grass this afternoon. My orders are coming in. Life is good. Now...I must go rest my arm.