Explaining My Absence

 Sleeping on the job
Tuppence, always nearby

Warning: This is a long, boring post that no one is required to read, but I thought I would put out there for the person who may be wondering why I dropped off planet Blog. Also, by writing this down, I have an account I can refer to when anyone asks. I don't usually write personal stuff on my blog, and wouldn't probably be doing this now except for the pain meds, so if it's too personal, (and I just re-read it. It's WAY too much information and WAY too personal!) just forgive me and know that it's the medication talking.

SO:  Hello my blogging friends!

I thought I would tell a little bit more about why I'm absent from blogland and will probably only be blogging occasionally, depending upon how I'm feeling, for the next few weeks. 

As some of you may remember, I had a total hip replacement in December of 2013. I was the model patient (no, really I was!) doing all the exercises my doctor recommended, beginning with band and step exercises at 2 1/2 weeks and adding squats to the regimen at 4.5 weeks. At that point, everything went south. Everything hurt. For the next two years I went to doctor after physical therapist after chiropractor to try to find out WHY I wasn't recovering like I was supposed to do. My original surgeon said, 'Well, it's not your hip.' Both a different hip surgeon and a back surgeon suspected that it was a problem with my back, but I insisted that I didn't have any back pain. Finally, last fall, after doctors and bone scans and MRIs and whatnot, they threw up their hands and forwarded me on to the orthopedics department at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.

At Mayo, they had given me an appointment with two different orthopedic doctors. The first one examined me and gave me orders to take to my physical therapist, that I commence  illiotibial band exercises. She didn't know that later in the day I'd be seeing the Chair of the orthopedics surgery department for his assessment. After he examined me, looked at the xrays, etc. he said that he suspected that the original prosthesis was loose, that at least there was most likely micro-motion around the tip and head of the stem, and that every time bone would flex around it, it would cause pain. (Because of the original titanium implant, an MRI is distorted, not able to show clearly what's going on). He said that if he did surgery, he would slice the bone lengthwise, fold it back (??) take out the old prosthesis and put in a longer, bigger diameter one that was of a different design, and that he thought there was a 90% chance that would help me. He expected the surgery to take 4.5 - 5 hours (whereas the original was easier and done in 45 minutes.) He also mentioned that he was booked out 6 months.

I decided to go with his diagnosis because he said that after this long, chances of it getting any better were about nil.

Back home, I was doing normal things except for walking very much. I could go up and down the steps, carry my laundry, make meals, etc. I just couldn't walk far without the leg starting to hurt. A lot. Around the house I didn't need a cane, but if I were to walk a few blocks, I couldn't do it without a cane. Okay.

Weeks and months dragged by. Winter turned to spring...

June 6 finally arrived and I was first in surgery. The surgery itself lasted about 1 3/4 hours because yes, indeed, the prosthesis was LOOSE. He said there was almost no bone at all grown in around the old prosthesis, just a tiny bit at the top. They removed the old prosthesis, put in a new one, and gave me a nice foot-long incision and a brace. I'm to wear the brace for at least 8 weeks (the time of my follow-up appointment at Mayo) use a walker, and no weight bearing on that leg for 8 weeks, no exercises, and only bend at a 45 degree angle, not 90, as last time.

 On the porch at suppertime

This time around is much more painful, and believe me, all I'm doing at this point is sleeping and taking pain meds, doing ankle pumps, and occasionally sitting up for a meal. I am so blessed to have a really wonderful husband (who is probably sick of doing this, but never complains) who helps me in and out of bed, and our daughter who is spending the first two weeks post op with us and cooking, tending to me, bringing me a little lap bench and my laptop so I can write this post and yet stay in bed, and who also helps me in and out of bed and is a good conversationalist. I suspect it will be a month or so before I can get in and out of bed by myself. That leg has had a lot of trauma.

One night I slept through, which meant I didn't get my pain meds on time. That won't happen again. I now have the alarm on my phone set to go off the 10 times a day I have to take something.

 Nurse Meow
Always at my side.

I am spending my recuperation hours in the library on a single bed with a view of the flowerbed and windbreak along the north. Since the door opens onto our screened in porch, I can have the door open at night and awaken to the beautiful sound of birdsong at 4:30 AM and the wind chimes. It is a delight!!

I think that's all for now, but you all left such nice comments on my last post and I wanted to let you know what's happening. I'm hoping to be able to join in with Wednesday's Hodgepodge. We'll see.

In the meantime, my Etsy shop and my web store are closed for another week, for I won't be doing any steps climbing any time soon and my soap room is up a flight of steps.

I will still be posting photos on Instagram because I have a huge photo archives and from my phone am able to access photos that have been on my blog or ones I've recently taken. As you know, Instagram is so much easier because I don't have to sit up. For those who want to follow me on Instagram, you'll find me there @cranberrymorning. In another few weeks I'm also going to open an Instagram account that will be all about my soaps.

I will try to respond to comments, but only am able to if you have an email attached to your blog. There are a few of you who always show up as 'no reply blogger' and I have no way to respond to your comments. Please make sure your email is attached to your blog. Thanks!

Purple and white bearded iris,

Old fashioned peony

 'curtains and fountains of roses'

The above flowers are all ones I view from my bed in the library.

Yes, the flowerbed is also full of weeds, but they're not the plants I see.

For anyone who would rather write than leave a comment on this blog post, feel free to contact me by email: Judy(at)soapnsuch(dot)com. I'd love to hear from you and can respond on my phone, which, like my cat, is always at my side. :-)

Praise God for family, for a surgeon with knowledge and insight, for the whole trained team who worked with me at Mayo, and for all who were and are continuing to pray for me. And for a room with a view.

***

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