Surgery

Well, I finally got approval from all physicians from whom I have had service in the past year for the total knee replacement (right knee) which I will have on Wednesday, January 11. 

I'm so glad I'm finally going to do this.  It took me years to get up the courage, but the inability to walk has really gotten to me and so I'm getting one new knee now and then if this works well, I'll get the other replaced in the late summer.   After that heals, I'm off to Italy.

Christmas was a mess for me and Alan.  We were both sick for the two weeks around Christmas and missed out on seeing two of our three children and their families.  Yes, I didn't see the new baby and all those kids.  I haven't seen them for almost a year now.  Something always comes up.  The irony is that Cyndi and her family only live two miles away as you drive, one mile as the crow flies.  I can almost see her property from my living room since she's just over on the next hilltop.  Becky's family had the stomach flu (as did Alan and I) and since I was still trying to get rid of the stomach thing I had to cancel our date with Becky and her children.  I had seen them a week before Christmas, but we didn't have our annual Christmas "party".    Really a BLAH week.

I will have my Fire with me in the hospital so I'll add Facebook updates from time to time.  No BLOGs and no e-mails, though.

So, pray for me.  I am not worried for anxious about the outcome.  I can't wait to wake up and start walking again.

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What's going on?

December is always a busy month, and this December, so far, hasn't been an exception.

Alan and I have had the usual and unusual rounds of doctor's appointments.  He's still cancer free after almost 13 years, Praise God!

I had a scare after we returned from vacation.  Right after we got back I had an appointment with our GP, and after a standard urine test, she decided I needed antibiotics because I seemed to have a bladder infection.  Too much information?  Just wait!  Well after two weeks, the antibiotics hadn't cleared up the infection so she wanted me to have an ultra sound.  That showed something she didn't like, so she wanted me to have a renal CT scan.  That showed a "mass in the right kidney" and she referred me to a kidney specialist, for which it took almost two months to get an appointment.   Finally after all that waiting he told me I had watery cysts which was a common affliction among the elderly -- yes, I'm officially an elderly -- and I was fine.  No cancer or any indication of cancer. 

All that time I had put on hold having total knee replacement.  I guess my trip back home to attend my 50th high-school reunion pushed me to make that decision.  I was pretty miserable, even though I had a scooter to get around with.  And our vacation to Lancaster County, PA, while it was enjoyable was still pretty painful. 

So last week I finally got back in to see my orthopedist (I had also seen him prior to going back to Runnemede) and I will have total knee replacement on January 11th.  I can't wait.  I wish I could have both knees worked on at the same time, but then where would that leave me?  Also, I wasn't given that option.

Mixed in with all those appointments has been the hope, but not the reality of shopping in stores.  So I've ordered most things on-line.  I haven't wrapped a thing, yet, though.  And I have at least 20 gifts that need either bagging or wrapping.  However, I can't find my wrapping paper keeper that is usually stored with my Christmas stuff.  So, I need to get at least to the Dollar store and get paper and/or bags:  a sore, uncomfortable trip, but I can't let my shopper do that for me.  I'm pretty fussy about what I like for wrapping presents in. 

And, the only Christmas cards I have addressed are the ones to my grandchildren.  And I know you all love to get cards from me at Christmas time, right?  Well, not this year -- and not last year, and not the year before.  In fact, in my married life-time, I think I only sent out Christmas cards  maybe 10 Christmases.  I have to admit that.  I think if cards still cost 10 cents to mail, I might be induced into sending them, but at 44 cents (it is 44 cents, right?) I'll just write to you all:  Merry Christmas and remember what you're celebrating and why you're celebrating.

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Tomorrow

Tomorrow I shall become a grandmother again.  I told Alan (on Sunday) that Cyndi, our youngest, will have her baby on Wednesday, November 9.

Today she called me and told me that she was having her baby tomorrow, if not sooner.  Since it's now 9 p.m. on November 8th, I have no doubt that we could still have a baby today since Cyndi is one of those fortunate women who has babies very easily and very quickly.  However, I still think it will be tomorrow, Wednesday, Nov. 9.

I find it so amazing that these days letting a woman go at least two weeks past her due date is not common practice.  When I had my children -- all of which were late, by the way -- it wasn't even considered no matter how much one begged their ob-gyn doctor to "please, get this lump out of me."  Yes, I was one of those beggars. 

My first was a week late, my second was a week late, and Cyndi was almost a month late, or the Army doctors were way off on her due date when I tested pregnant.

Cyndi, my youngest is having another baby!  Yippee.  I can't wait.  It's a girl, by the way, and her name is Savannah.

I'm praying for another easy birthing for her and that she goes into labor before she's induced.

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It's me, again

I cannot believe it has been almost two weeks since I posted anything on my BLOG.  I have to blame it, once again, on old age aches and pains. 

Have I read any good books lately?  I know you all want to know.  Well, yes, as a matter of fact I have.  Nothing heavy, though.

It is, after all, the beginning of the Christmas reading season.  So, I had downloaded 30 or so Christmas books that were either free on Kindle or 99 cents -- this was done throughout the last year, since last Christmas. 

A couple of weeks ago I read Nicholas Sparks' newest, The Best of Me.  Very enjoyable. 

I've decided to read a Christmas book one day and a free download from one of the Christian publishers another day.  Of course, the beginning of the month gives me a plethora of new material to choose from.  It's so much fun.

Alan is getting me the Kindle Fire for Christmas and it's supposed to arrive in a couple of weeks.  He won't let me have it before Christmas, and he's going to fiddle with it.  I sure hope he doesn't break it or mess it up for me.  He hasn't had much success with working with his own Kindle and has me show him over and over and over how to order books or do some of the other things that Kindle does.   Funny thing is, he knows how it works, but can get it to work.  Same with his computer.  Except for Excel, which I can't figure out at all, and really don't want to, he asks me 'how to' questions quite often.

Well, enough rambling for three o'clock in the morning.  So I'll say:

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Another day in a hospital

Seems it's my turn to be in the hospital -- not for any overnight stays, but for tests. I had to go in for a test today, and, of course, the weather is lousy. Cold (wind chill at 30) and rainy. Last week I also went in for a test (same problem) and the weather was just plain rainy -- hard, driving rain, but at least the temperature was around 70 degrees.

I've been having kidney problems for a couple of years and when we got home from vacation there were markers that I was having more than just low functioning kidneys, so I was sent in for an ultra-sound of my kidneys. That was last week and the pictures showed that there was a mass of some sort in there, so this Thursday (seems to be the out-patient day for me) I went in for CT scan. I won't know until next week what the results are.

I'm just lazing around wondering what's in there. Is it a large blot clot? Is it a large kidney stone? I've had small ones before. Is it a tumor (Yikes, I hope not!). Is it perhaps a hair ball? Just kidding on that one. I don't eat my hair like some people on TV do. Yuck.

Oh, yeah, I am NOT in pain, nor do I have any other complaints, other than the usual. To you young folks, don't get old. I said that to the nurse today and she said, "Do you know how many times a week I get told that?" I guess I'm not alone in the aches and pains department. My PT specialist says its the weather. Okay, I can buy that. We've had crummy weather for four days, and my pain levels have been at about 7 in all joints for that many days.

So, when I find out what's happening I'll post it here on the Fat Lady BLOG for all the world that is interested to know.


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Prayer works

Anyone reading this, please pray for me. I have had a bad bout of fibromyalgia. Alan has prayed for me several times, and I get relief for several hours after that, mostly. But the symptoms are driving me up a wall. Not only the hurt, but the creepy/crawlies that sometimes accompanies these attacks. It's been four days now. Not fun.

On the bright side: My porch is lovely and I'm enjoying the sun, at short intervals. My next grandchild is due in about five weeks. I'm looking forward to welcoming a new baby into our ever-growing family.

I think I had the most grandchildren born to my birthed children (not step-children) of anyone at the reunion. People kept commenting on what a wonderful gift it was for me to have that many "grands". And it is. I love them all. Wish I could see them all more often.

Thinking about Christmas. Lots of shopping is already completed. Just a few more gifts to get, then the wrapping begins.

Thanksgiving? Not sure what we're doing yet, whether we're going to go down to Tennessee for the week, or stay home alone (not wanting to do that).

So, I've updated my BLOG so my sister knows I'm alive and almost well for this week.

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No pain, no gain

Well, the physical therapist has upped the ante. Today we started working on the knees in addition to the back, in preparation for surgery in January. I asked for it. I asked that they do what they normally do for a patient who has bad knees. I need to have the surrounding muscles doing a good job before they slice me open :).

Am I worried? Scared? Not really. I guess I just got tired of the constant pain, except when I sit down, and then the painlessness is not a given any more.

It seems that when we were in Lancaster County I did too much walking. I didn't think I was hurting anything, even though my body was trying to tell me something, I suppose of the total-muscle-cramp days.

At least the doctor visits are over for at least a week, then they start up again. Yippee!

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