by Judy Handley | Jan 29, 2024 | 2024 Life Logs |
2024 Life Logs, Day 29: Looking for the Beautiful
Date: Monday, January 29, 2024
Weather: Snow Flurries, Icy Mix; High Temp 38, Low 26 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth MA
Yesterday lasted longer than I would have liked, and this morning started way too early. For a person who never has trouble going to sleep, last night I just couldn’t, so I read my way into today. Then in the middle of the night, I woke up and the whole house generator was running. I got up to go to the bathroom, and the kitchen stove and microwave clocks were flashing. There was obviously a power outage, but no problem with the generator except that it is noisy which makes going back to sleep difficult. The result being that I did not get a good night’s sleep.
When I did get up, there were snow flurries coming down and it stayed that way most of the day. Sometimes it was much more of an icy mix. But not a hint of sunshine again today. Out of the last ten days, only two have been sunny. But the last seven days have been overcast, rainy, or snowy. I am ready for some sunshine, but that did not come today. But my friend Olga brought lunch over today and we spent a couple of hours talking about her three- month honeymoon in the early 1950’s biking through Europe and staying in youth hostels. She has led a fascinating life, and her stories did bring a little sunshine.
My friend Lynne in New Zealand wrote tonight begging me to limit my activities for the next month and just let my body heal. She suggested that I read books, binge on TV shows, and nap. And I was so proud to text back that I really am trying to do just that. I am reading two books at once, bouncing back and forth depending on my mood. I am watching a documentary Detta recommended called Growing Floret. It is about a young couple, Erin and Chris, who have put their hearts and souls into growing their flower farm in Washington state. In Season 1, Episode 3 tonight, I loved this quote from Erin: “You can make something beautiful (from nature) anytime of the year if you just look, if you just get curious and start poking around in your garden, just start looking around your neighborhood … there is something beautiful happening in nature every month of the year.” With all the dreariness in the past few days, I have lost sight of the beauty. I will look harder tomorrow.
by Judy Handley | Jan 28, 2024 | 2024 Life Logs |
2024 Life Logs, Day 28: Dreary, Rainy Day
Date: Sunday, January 28, 2024
Weather: Rainy and Chilly All Day; High Temp 39, Low 35 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth MA
It was a very quiet, dreary, rainy day. First thing, Shadow and I went out in the pouring rain this morning so he could go potty. He did his business and we headed right back inside, with both of our jackets soaking wet. I put those in the dryer, had breakfast, read the morning news, played my normal Connections and Mini-Crossword, and then headed to the shower. I was much steadier in the shower than two days ago which tells me my back is getting stronger. I didn’t need to hold on to the grab bars, so that is progress. But raising my right arm to wash my hair reminded me that I had an irritated tendon. Then, either because the weather was so depressing or because I needed more rest, Shadow and I took a nap.
The afternoon was not much more exciting than the morning. I took Shadow for a walk around the block in a period when it was only misting, not raining. I fixed a late lunch, did a few things on my computer, and took Shadow out to play fetch. Twice this afternoon, he hid the ball from me. This is a new thing. Tomorrow I will just have to take extra balls outside with me. Then the highlight of the afternoon was a Skype call with Justin and kids. They had just returned from an afternoon of indoor roller skating. Justin was exhausted and Jo had disappeared, probably taking nap. But Ziggy and Coco were still energetic. I told Justin that he might want to try watching them skate next time, instead of participating as he said his legs literally felt like rubber. All is well there, but it is dry. I’d like to be able to send them some of our rain,
After the call, suddenly it was time for dinner. I truly didn’t accomplish much of anything today, but I’m declaring that okay. I am allowing myself to have a few do-nothing days as I recover. I did manage to take the trash can out to the street as tomorrow is trash day. Do I get points for that? We are supposed to get a little snow tomorrow, so we shall see if that gives me more energy than this rain. I have never been a rainy-day person, but if it is icy out tomorrow, I will have to be very careful. I surely don’t want to fall.
by Judy Handley | Jan 27, 2024 | 2024 Life Logs |
2024 Life Logs, Day 27: Normal, Sort Of
Date: Saturday, January 27, 2024
Weather: Overcast and Chilly; High Temp 39, Low 31 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth MA
After yesterday, today was a calm, normal day. Ahhhh. And I feel good and didn’t even need a nap. The tendonitis in my right forearm is much better. Shadow has not yet had any reaction to eating the chocolate yesterday. And my back is healing nicely.
I walked Shadow around the block today which was the first day for that, although I walked along with Detta and Shadow yesterday. Walking around the block is a little more than a quarter of a mile. My next goal will be to walk a half mile. My back has no problem with the walking, but my right knee is worse than I remembered. I have a noticeable limp which is going to throw my back out of alignment. I tried to wear the brace I have yesterday, but I couldn’t get it adjusted correctly and it hurt. So, I will contact my Orthopedic doctor and get an appointment with an assistant to help me with the brace and maybe get a cortisone shot to get me through until my knee surgery in May.
When I say things are normal, it is a new normal. There are so many things I cannot do. Sometimes I try and I am always sorry. I really can’t push the limits of my back and expect to get a good outcome. So I must spend my time adjusting to this level of activity until the end of February. Then I can start physical therapy.
by Judy Handley | Jan 26, 2024 | 2024 Life Logs |
2024 Life Logs, Day 26: What at Day
Date: Friday, January 26, 2024
Weather: More Rain; High Temp 42, Low 36 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth MA
Things got off to a bad start late last evening when I pulled something in my right forearm. While my friend Detta was in the bathroom, I spilled Shadow’s water on the kitchen floor trying to use the new long-handled contraption that holds his water and food dishes. It is long handle so I don’t have to bend. I went into the half-bath off the living room to get a rag towel, but it was under a stack of smaller rags in a plastic box. Since I can’t bend, I squatted down and tried to pull the towel out. As I did, I heard something pop in my forearm and a sharp pain flashed from my thumb to the bend in my arm. I did retrieve the towel, a fairly normal thing to do, but not when you are recovering from back surgery, and you are not supposed to bend or pull. It was stupid. But I cleaned up the water mess in the kitchen by throwing the towel on the floor and scooting it around with my foot. Detta returned from the bathroom and took over the cleaning job. Then we turned our attention to my arm. When I moved my arm in certain directions, the pain would reoccur. Detta and I fashioned a cold pack for it by wrapping a pack around my arm and taping it with duct tape and the cold helped with the pain. I went to bed thinking how many more things can go wrong with my body and hoping the arm would be better this morning.
When I woke up this morning, I still had the very warm cold pack on my arm. I took it off and went to put a shirt on. Once again there was shrieking pain. So, I got Detta to help me put on my shirt and put a fresh cold pack on my arm, and then sent a text to Heather to see if they had any sports wrap that I could borrow to wrap around my arm. Then I thought of the carpel tunnel wrist braces Mark and I had back in the late 1990’s. I dug those out, found the one for my right arm, and bingo, things were better. As long as my wrist was immobile, it seemed fine. Jed came over a little later with the sports wrap and he suggested I call my primary care to see if he recommended anything else. I did that and the nurse I reached suggested I go to the walk-in clinic in Mashpee. While I was messing around with all of this, Detta was playing Cinderella
by sweeping my whole house and mopping the kitchen and bathroom. She is having health issues of her own and should not have been doing the work, but there was no way to stop her until I said we needed to go to the walk-in clinic. I was tremendously lucky that the doctor on call was a young woman who trained as an orthopedic specialist. She asked lots of questions and then put my arms through a series of movement tests. The result was that there is nothing disconnected. I just have FCR tendon sheath inflammation or flexor carpi radialis tendinitis. In other words, tendinitis. She suggested I take Ibuprofen, but I told her that due to the back surgery, NSAIDs are not on the menu right now as they can cause bleeding at the site of the surgery. Instead, she gave me a prescription for what she called Ibuprofen cream which is the same as Voltaran which I already had for my back and knee. But it sure is a lot cheaper as a prescription. The doctor said to put the Voltaran on four times a day and wear the brace for the next three to four weeks and I should be good to go. She was amazed that the brace was still in such good condition and that it the same brace they still use twenty-five years later!
But the craziness was not over yet. We got home and as Detta was getting ready to go, I noticed Shadow was eating something on the living room rug. It was the chocolate orange my wine group had sent as a get-well gift. I had eaten a few wedges, but Shadow finished it off. Chocolate is toxic to dogs, and it seemed to me he ate a lot of chocolate. I insisted that Detta get on the road home to Greenland, New Hampshire, and then I called Shadow’s vet. They don’t deal with chocolate poisoning but said to call Poison Control. Thirty minutes and $95 later, Poison Control deemed that even if he ate the whole chocolate orange, he would still be on the Stay at Home and Watch list. So, we are staying at home and watching. They did give me detailed information about what to watch for and I can call back as often as needed at no additional charge. But at that point, I would have paid anything for peace of mind. I got off the phone and slept away the rest of the afternoon.
At 5 o’clock a knock on the door woke me up. It was my book club friend, Lori Cecil, with dinner for me. She had time for a cup of tea and we had a good visit. When she left it was way past time to take Shadow out and then come in an eat dinner. Thankfully, the rest of the evening was drama free! Detta’s visit ended up to be full of craziness, but it is always wonderful to spend time with dear friends.
by Judy Handley | Jan 25, 2024 | 2024 Life Logs |
2024 Life Logs, Day 25: Detta Comes to Visit
Date: Thursday, January 25, 2024
Weather: More Rain; High Temp 53, Low 38 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth MA
Much of my day was spent in anticipation of my dear friend’s arrival. Detta Porat was driving down from Greenland, New Hampshire, by way of Connecticut, where she spent a couple of days visiting with her father who is in assisted living. She arrived late afternoon, laden with gifts, and then prepared a fabulous meal for us.
After dinner, we visited away the evening. Shadow loves Detta and spent the whole evening on her lap on the sofa.
Tomorrow, she wants to help with house chores before she heads back north of New Hampshire. It is a short visit, but it is so wonderful to be able to spent a little time with her.
