by Judy Handley | Jan 4, 2024 | 2024 Life Logs |
2024 Life Logs, Day 04: Pre-Op Appointment and Shopping My Way Home
Date: Thursday, January 4, 2024
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, Cold Tonight; High Temp 42, Low 22 F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth MA
It was off to Hyannis this morning for my pre-op appointment. Heather joined us on the phone and I think we both got our questions answered. I had read my MRI report many times, but seeing the images today made it absolutely clear that surgery really is my only option. I took photos of the images on the screen and will share those with Heather. But mostly we were interested in what life might be like immediately after the surgery, six weeks out, and beyond. Every person is different, but if the surgery goes successfully, I will be up and walking in a few hours, made possible by the pain meds. Then seven days out when the pain meds go away, I should be walking around the house, and starting to walk out to the mailbox and then around the neighborhood. I am not allowed to do any kind of exercise except for walking in the first six weeks. Then I can start physical therapy. I will hopefully be driving in two weeks. We shall see.
Since I was in Hyannis, I went to Trader Joe’s to get a supply of their frozen wild blueberries and I went to Whole Foods to get the tea I forgot to get when I was there a few days ago. But somehow two boxes of tea turned into two bags of food items. When I got back to Falmouth, I went to Walmart to get new tennis balls for Shadow and to buy yoga pants for me. After the surgery, I will be wearing those instead of jeans for a few weeks.
My morning appointment in Hyannis ended up to be an entire day trip. I didn’t get home until 3:30 pm, played ball with Shadow outside for a bit, and by the time we got back inside, the sun was setting. I hadn’t eaten lunch, but I literally could not keep my eyes open. Stopping in three stores was just too much and my body was telling me to take a nap. I slept for an entire hour but woke up revived. I have got to work harder at pacing my activities until this back surgery and recovery period are over.
by Judy Handley | Jan 3, 2024 | 2024 Life Logs |
2024 Life Logs, Day 03: Covid Rears Its Ugly Head Again
Date: Wednesday, January 3, 2024
Weather: Still Sunny and Slightly Warmer; High Temp 42, Low 31 F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth MA
It was wonderful to have all family members healthy for our Christmas in Maine, but last night after I got home from Heather and Jed’s, they texted to tell me that Jonah tested positive for Covid. He came home from school yesterday feeling terrible, so we sat far away from each other at dinner. His symptoms got even worse after I left, thus the Covid test. Heather has also tested Positive, but just barely. She thinks she must have had a very light case of Covid and exposed Jonah and thinks she will probably test Negative in the next day or so. But I have been exposed and just hope that I don’t get Covid and have to delay my back surgery. I’ll keep downing the elderberry and zinc and hope for the best. And I also hope that Jonah feels better tomorrow. He has a fever, runny nose, and chills. Heather said he stays so bundled up they can’t tell if he really has a fever. I sure hope Ollie, Sam, and Jed don’t get this.
I hope I was not being irresponsible, but I went ahead and went to two meetings today thinking that I am probably not contagious this point. Starting tomorrow, however, I will isolate except for my Pre-Op appointment with Dr. Papavasiliou’s assistant, Shannon, tomorrow at 11:30 am. I might try to call in the morning and see if we can do that appointment via Zoom. Heather wants to be included as well, so a three-way Zoom call is probably the safest route. I’ll let Shannon decide that. And I certainly won’t go to my wine group gathering tomorrow night. Bummer. I would love to see everyone, but I don’t want to possibly expose them to Covid.
The meetings I attended today were both Newcomers/Encore related. In the late afternoon I went to my monthly meeting with the Health and Wellness Group. This was a new activity added this year and each meeting has been attended by only four or five people. Today there were four of us, one a newcomer to the group. We are going to continue and hope that in the spring we will get more people. Before my next meeting, I had time to come home to eat dinner and go outside to play with Shadow, but it was dark. So, I parked the car so the headlights would illuminate part of the front yard and used the porch light and the automatic outside spotlight. I walked down the path to the spot that first turns it on and then Shadow running through that same spot kept it on the whole time we played fetch. That new activity was a success. Then it was time for the second meeting which was a Newcomers group exploring how they can best express that the organization embraces diversity. I was there as an observer from Encore. It was a very positive and successful meeting with a group of incredibly caring people. We come up with a purpose statement that includes diversity and that statement will be presented to the Newcomers Board. They will take it from there.
by Judy Handley | Jan 2, 2024 | 2034 Life Logs |
2024 Life Logs, Day 02: Making a List and Checking It Twice
Date: Tuesday, January 2,2024
Weather: Sunny, but Cold; High Temp 37, Low 28 F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth MA
I am writing this log as an email and will have to copy and paste it into the website as I am having difficulties with Microsoft Word. Somehow all of my files are locked and If I try to open them, my computer freezes and I can do nothing. I can get out of that with Ctrl Alt Delete, but I can’t open a new file. Hopefully, a Goldstone will know what to do to fix this problem. But in the meantime, I can at least write in email. Now on with my day,
I don’t have a written list, but I have a mental list of things to do that is a mile long. It was so sunny this morning that it was hard to keep my focus on getting things done indoors, but I persevered and checked quite a few items off my list. Everything I do takes twice as long as it should due to my back issues, but I’m okay with that as long as I really can get things done. It was hard to focus on work this morning because the sun was shining so brightly through the windows and skylights. I did get to go outside to pick the kale for my breakfast smoothie that I finally consumed at noon. Like I said, I move slowly, but surely. I loved going ou to the garden to pick the kale in January and it made a great smoothie.
Late afternoon I changed my focus. I was taking artichokes to Heather and Jed’s for dinner. We were eating early as it is Scout meeting night, so I said I would arrive with the artichokes by 5 pm and I did. The artichokes were big and delicious and we had sides of fried calamari and fried clam strips. It was a good day as I checked off many things off my list and had fun doing it. It was a gpod, productive day.
by Judy Handley | Dec 31, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs, 2024 Life Logs, 2034 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 365: Happy New Year
Date: Sunday, December 31, 2023
Weather: Partly Sunny; High 39, Low 31 F
Location: At Home on Lakeview in Falmouth, MA
Happy New Year! I spent my day shopping and getting ready for New Year’s Day. Heather and gang will be home tomorrow evening and I offered to fix dinner. I had hoped we could have sushi, but our sushi source is closed tomorrow night. So I have artichokes or beef stew as the offering. The beef is marinating in wine and the artichokes are in the pantry. I’ll wait to see what the Goldpebbles vote for.
On New Years Eve I get a bottle of Pouilly-Fuisse to have with Mark. When I first met him, but was still deciding if I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him, I drove to Bloomington, Indiana to spend a weekend with him. I had only met him at a public television conference, so this would be our first meeting after that. He lived in a hard to find spot, so he met me at a designated place. He arrived in his little green sports car convertible and when we got to his house, he broke out a bottle of Pouilly-Fuisse wine. I was already in love, but this sealed the deal. So Pouilly-Fuisse became our signature wine and now that I don’t have Mark, I have a toast to him every New Year with this wine. Tonight, Shadow and I sat together while I made my toast.
I made a toast with a hope for peace in the world. But more realistic hopes were that we can all stay grounded during coming year which could be quite challenging on the home front, as well as in the world aboard.
Tonight Heather, Jed, and the Goldpebbles are in Vermont celebrating with good friends after a day on the slopes.
Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco celebrated
and then head down to Rincon for their New Year’s Silver Mouse concert. Shadow and I are here at home celebrating the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024. Here on the home front, and in the world abroad, 2024 looks to be a most challenging year. But we must all plunge into 2024 with an optimistic view, hoping for the best. Here we go.
by Judy Handley | Dec 30, 2023 | 2023 Life Logs |
2023 Life Logs, Day 364: Trying to Catch-Up
Date: Saturday, December 30, 2023
Weather: Cloudy Turning Partly Sunny; High 46, Low 31 F
Location: At Home on Lakeview in Falmouth, MA
Everyone needs a catch-up day or days after Christmas, so I started the catch-up process today. I put away Christmas gifts, mostly stocking stuffers, got on my computer and went to my bank’s bill pay to make sure everything was being paid on time, and then took a break to start working on a puzzle I got out before Christmas. I had separated most of the pieces by color and edge pieces. I was successful in getting the framing done with the exception of a few pieces I must have missed in the sorting process. By this time, it was almost one o’clock and sun was streaming into the living room. I haven’t seen sunshine for a full seven days. Shadow and I headed outside to play fetch and just enjoy the sunshine. I have a chair in the backyard where I can sit and throw the ball for Shadow with my Chuck-It.
And I can sit in that chair and let the sunshine soak in.
When we came back inside, I got caught up on Christmas letters I have received and almost got motivated to write one myself. That’s tentatively on the list for tomorrow. I am not sure where the rest of the day went, but I think that puzzle caught my attention more than once. Shadow and I drove over to Heather and Jed’s to feed the kitties and the fish, and I did a laundry and then fixed dinner. I am no longer on Prednisone, and as a result I am having a more difficult time getting around. I just have to spend more time sitting between any walking activities which slows me down considerably. But at least I am able to get around. For that I am thankful.
