Happy 2015

A Year In Review

2014 has been a good year for me; action packed, zig zaggy and plenty of adventure.  If I had a gratefullness indicator the needle would be way over to the full.  In January my pulse raced as I drove down the road and saw my very first snowy owl.  That owl sighting was SO exciting.  In February I went to a very cold bird festival near Duluth where I saw northern hawk owls and beautiful pine grossbeaks and one nervous boreal chickadee.  I didn't get to see a great gray owl but that is acceptable because now I have a reason to return to the Sax Zim Bog.  Also in February I took a class on making yogurt and cheese and I have been making those products ever since.  In March I celebrated my car when the odometer turned 200,000 miles.  In April I enjoyed the beginning of spring and making maple syrup.  In May I heard my first whippoorwill and ate my first morel mushroom that had been found in the woods.  I saw a white faced ibis and I went to a master naturalist convention that was tons of fun.  In June I took a week off of work to study prairies and potholes which was challenging and inspiring.  I also started getting produce from a CSA (consumer supported agriculture) and began to enjoy week after week of fresh organic produce.  My eating habits changed for the better in June.  In July I enjoyed camping with family and accidentally scaring everyone in my group with my dream of an owl trying to carry me out of my tent.  Plus I was able to witness my nephew play the lead role in a play and I was blown away by his talent.  In August I had a couple great trips on the motorcycle including one around Lake Minnetonka and one to see a wood stork.  Plus I got to be Smokey the Bear at the fair which is the ultimate ego booster for me.  In September Offspring #2 mostly finished the deck.  And we went on an organized bike ride from Saint Paul to Stillwater where I was very proud that I was able to keep up.  In October I spent a weekend near Urbank where I was able to indulge in nostalgia while cleaning the house where my Grandparent lived and track a deer.  In November I was blown away by the effort put into the turkey coloring contest pages.  We enjoyed  a great holiday dinner.  December was extremely busy with a week at Sanibel Island where the birds and scenery were great but the closer relationships with family was even greater. After that I was ready for a new hip that will improve my quality of life to a huge degree.  I read lots of great books and saw many good movies.  I have nothing to complain about the year 2014.  Absolutely nothing.  Enough looking back.  Let us all look ahead to what 2015 will bring.  I think it's gonna be great!

Hospital Staff-Abdi

Abdi was my nurse on my last day at the hospital. We started off together shortly after 7 in the morning when I asked him to get me my clothes for the day. I feel awkward asking a man to get my clothes but Abdi was my only option at the moment. I had bought some flannel lounge pants to wear after surgery.  I asked him to grab my blue and green pants, my blue sweater, any color underwear except pink, and my bra.  He looks in the drawer and says he can't find what I am saying.  I look and see he has the blue green plaid pants in his hand.  I tell him he has them in his hand.  He asks, "You call this blue and green plaid?"  The pants are navy blue and green plaid.  I say yes.  He says he is color blind.  Next he says he can't find the blue sweater.  Again he has it in his hand.  I say it's in your hand.  He says this is a blue top not a blue sweater.  Next he says he found my pink underwear.  I laugh and say, "I wanted any color but pink and those are purple but hand them over."  We both laughed and Abdi's laugh is a girlish giggle that I love to hear and I try to make him do it all day. He has a wife and daughters and is no good with choosing their clothes either.  Abdi is smart though. He knows his medications and he is a good problem solver.  He explains things thoroughly and he treats me with the dignity of realizing I want to know the details.  His explanations aren't quotes from a textbook or a drug handbook.  He uses his own words and I can tell he has thought all these things through. He tries to solve problems creatively and some of his ideas are so terrible we both laugh together. During the day he gets assigned a patient on another floor who is in isolation with the flu.  I don't get to see him much.  Abdi was there when I needed him though and when I finally was able to urinate on my own, he was as happy as I was.  I would think having a young man like Abdi as my nurse would have been awkward but it wasn't.  He was kind and respectful and a skilled nurse.  I was lucky to have him.  Receiving such good service inspires me to offer good service when I get back to my job.  Not that I don't already offer good service but I will try a little harder because now I know how good it feels to get it.

Hospital Staff-Susan Marie

I had a lot in common with my nursing assistant after my surgery.  We both had three names of five letters each. And our first two names matched exactly while the first letter of our last name also matched.  What she had and what I hope to match is an ability to be in the moment and enjoy every last morsel that floated her way.  Susan Marie loved her job.  She loved taking care of me.  She helped me take a shower.  Being modest to the extreme, this was anxiety producing for me.  Her cheerful chatter and strategic placing of the shower curtain made the shower relaxing and enjoyable.  How did she manage to do that?  She is cheerful and has a charming personality.  I think the answer lies in that Susan Marie loved her job and that made all the difference.  I was lucky that Susan Marie was mine if only for a couple of days.

Hospital Staff - Janet

I met many people being in the hospital for four days.  One person who made an impact on me was Janet. Janet worked the night shift and she was a registered nurse.  Short, solid and hardworking I guessed within five minutes of talking to her that she grew up on a farm.  She did grow up on a farm in northern Iowa.  I know this because I told her when I worked night shifts at a nursing home 40 years ago I felt jealous to see people sound asleep.   She said she doesn't feel that but once, when leaving a Christmas gathering and driving down the country roads, she would see farm houses lit up and looking so cozy and inviting that she wished she lived at each one.  Janet was kind and no nonsense yet playful.  She would say, "Let me adjust George here so he can do his job correctly."  George was my name for the leg massager on my right leg.  Janet was great because she made me feel cared for and important and secure.  The first night I had trouble because every time I went to sleep my oxygen level would go too low. An alarm would sound and I would wake up and start breathing better.  This cycle kept repeating itself.  When Janet gave me an oxygen cannula that went away so I could sleep.  After that, as soon as I got really good into sleep, the alarm would go off again.  My heart rate was too low.  I saw pulses of 48, 47, and 46.  Anything below 50 would cause that alarm to sound.  So here I am, basically immobile. These low heart rates were scary.  How low would they go?  How am I supposed to make my heart rate go up when I can't get up and exercise, can't move my legs because they are strapped to a triangle shaped pillow between my legs, can't do much at all.  I started moving my arms. My left arm has to be kept straight because of my IV. I wanted to sleep but instead I punch the air up, to the side, and out to the front.  I wave my arms like windshield wipers back and forth.  I do this for a while, drift off to sleep, and am awakened again by the alarm.  This was not a good cycle so I pressed my call button and told them about the problem.  I can't remember what happened after that but I think Janet took care of the problem.  Janet was a great nurse and I was lucky to have her manage the side effects my body was struggling with. Thanks Janet for your quiet confidence, hard working demeanor and your talent as a registered nurse.

Odd To The Bone

I am back!  I have a new hip and it is working fine.  Surgery took longer than expected because I had undiagnosed hip dysplasia.   My socket was turned out farther to the right than normal.  So I was accustomed to rotating my hip to the right much farther than most people.  My new hip socket was put in the normal position and it will take some getting used to because I can feel the difference especially when I sit on a hard surface.  My first step on my new hip was momentous to me.  I asked the nurse who was helping me get out of bed and stand

to do a drum roll please.  She didn't so I did one mentally in my head.  I suppose she wanted to keep her hands free in case I tumbled over.  I didn't tumble over.  I walked 200 feet and wanted to go further but she told me to stop.  Walking felt so good after being immobilized for so long.  I had leg compression  leggings on. Actually those were put on before surgery.  The left one was put on before surgery but not the right.  So before surgery I enjoyed my legging so much I named him Johnny for short, Johnny Depp for long.  Both Johnny and George (George Clooney) massaged my legs day and night, day and night.  Each leg had 3 strips.  The lower strip would inflate followed by the middle and topped off by the third.  After 90 seconds the other leg would inflate.  Johnny and George worked tirelessly all night long massaging my legs and that helped but it still felt good to walk.  My walk felt good for my legs, my back, my shoulders and my arms. My walk felt good physically but also psychologically. You can see in the second photo a picture of me walking on my stainless steel, titanium and high density plastic hip.  Offspring #2 fancied it up to cover certain post operative complications.  The blue shoulder pack is the controls for Johnny and George.  I can't remember the last time I felt that good after a walk.

Hip Hip Hooray!

There comes a time when enough is enough.  Little things bother me and I tough it out. My hip hurt.  I'm not the kind of person who pays very much attention to my body.  So I keep trucking along.  I did notice more and more pain in my right hip.  In February I thought I had a serious problem but didn't want to go to the doc because I was afraid I would be told I needed a new hip.  So I put up with it.  Sometimes my hip would lock and the pain would be excruciating.  At night the hip would throb and keep me awake.  After living with that I decided in October that if the doc said I needed a new hip, that would be good news; a solution to a problem.  So I went in and the doc said, "A hip replacement is in your future."  Tomorrow is the big day.  Over the past few weeks I've been thinking things like,"This will be the last (bike ride, kayak ride, swim, walk to the copier, session on the Stairmaster) with this worn out hip. This will be the last blog entry with this hip too.  I am so ready for this solution. Hip Hip Hooray!