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.
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.
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