I’m sure you’re wondering what’s happening – it’s all good! Connie is back to driving, grocery shopping and pretty much normal life. She will be coming to the shop tomorrow to fill the orders that came in Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
I am happily in my chair – today watching football. Also icing, elevating and walking using a walker. Physical therapy starts Tuesday – and it will hurt! I’ve got the pain better under control today. Yesterday was not a good day.
Preparing for surgery on Thursday became a major event. On Tuesday morning Rick announced his heart was out of rhythm (he’s had this before) and he was driving himself to the ER. I couldn’t even get out of the chair before he was gone!
They tried to get it back into rhythm with drugs through an IV but when that didn’t work they admitted him Tuesday and he was scheduled to have his heart shocked back into rhythm Wednesday after lunch. Can you just imagine my stress level at this point? He didn’t know if he’d be dismissed Wednesday or not so BECKY TO THE RESCUE!!!
Thank God for a sister who steps up – she came down and we did the chores and she got instruction on all the animals. She also would have to take me to the hospital by 7 am Thursday.
After all that Rick called that he could be dismissed but not drive home. So remember he drove himself and also Becky had hardly gotten home so I called my good friend Dorothy to drive me to Mason City, 30 minutes away. I found the truck and got Rick home.
Now here’s where the decisions became clear. Late last summer Dr. Rick decided to quit one of his heart pills because they were too expensive. No, he did not ask his doctor. Comparing the price of those pills to the cost of two days in the hospital and the stress it caused ME doesn’t even compare.
The morning of my surgery he insisted he felt fine and he has ever since but can you believe that? I have slept most of the day and a half I’ve been home – stress and worry can really make one tired.
And as it turned out Becky came and got me from the hospital because she had been playing music in the next town over and was done at the same time I was released. Like I said before, thank God for a sister who’s willing to step up!
My supper Thursday night – it was delicious!
Kade Jones, a physical therapist from Garner – Becky had him in third grade.
This is what my lap looks like as soon as I get in my chair.
And here’s a picture I received from a friend – remember when I did this for my chickens – they loved it and I’m going to do it again! There’s the difference between me doing the chores and Rick doing the chores. He doesn’t find them nearly so lovable and entertaining as I do. He’s great doing the chores but to him they’re just livestock to take care of – to me they are animals I love.
I want them all to be happy, not just fed and watered.
Recuperation continues!
Wonderful news that you are home. You will soon be up and about. Just look at this winter as a Time of repair and renew. You will be so happy when this is all behind you. Rick needs to consult his Doctor on the medication, there may be a less expensive way to go. Take care and heal fast.
Jane Dumler – or he can just pay it and he can!
Check with the pharmacist, too, for less expensive versions of the prescribed drug. Pharmacists are often more familiar with the costs than the primary care provider.
You have been through alot in the last weeks, prayers to you all. I as you love my livestock. I put cabbage in the coop during winter. That summer they ate all my perennials in my flower beds. I have never had that happen. I’ve raised chickens for over 35 years. Never have had a problem with them in my flower beds. I attribute it to the cabbage. I haven’t done it since and have had no problem. They did love the cabbage! But all my perennials were eaten and dug up. It made me sick not to mention all the money I had invested in flowers.
Glad to hear that all is well with you and Rick. It wonderful when you can count on family. What a football game with KC. Rest well.
All wonderful news! So glad you & Rick are doing well! Life sure is full of stress, isn’t it?! Each day will bring more happiness! ♥️🙏🏻
Glad to hear there is still a smile on your face, most the time? Men can be so stupid some times. Maybe that is why God mad woman knowing that men really needed help. Keep smiling and therapy will pass getting easier all the time. You’ll be up and going in no time flat.
Betty
Happy to get your new blog post and know that you are home and mending. Sorry to hear about Rick, though. Guess he is okay now? Remember…Men are from Mars, but what would we do without them?
I was gifted 4 young Leghorn hens last fall. My life has not been the same since. They are naughty, rambunctious, smart and dig up everything in sight. However, they are the only ones laying just now in our dark and rainy days. I am afraid to hang a cabbage in the henhouse for fear they would hang themselves.
Sue in Oregon – at least your chickens can still go outside – mine are cooped up in the barn and get bored. Sounds like your girls are healthy and fun to watch!
Wow! why do husband do that kind of stuff to us??? I’m so glad your sister was able to help out and that your lap is filled with your pets. Wishing you the best on your first day of therapy.
Kim LeMere – yes, why DO husbands do this stuff????
Stress stress stress but blessed blessed blessed!!! Paula in KY
So glad to see you are home and on the mend. The second time around wasn”t as bad, right? Except your stress over your hubby! Thank God you have him and also that great sis of yours. I have one of those too but she lives in Michigan.
Oh my! What an intro to your surgery day. Hope you both are on the mend.
Wow…what a story! Glad your surgery is over & you’re on the mend. I wonder if Cade Jones is related to me..my Mother is a Jones. I love the cabbage for the chickens..I remember when you did that.
I’m on my way to Garner next Sunday. On my way home I’m going to a quilt retreat in Independence. It’s in a rehabbed church..really nice. We went last January too. Hope it’s better weather this year!
Jean Elliott – Kade’s dad is Denny Jones – does that help?
Mary no one could make up the things you live through. I do enjoy reading your blog and yes thank heavens for sisters. Wishing you quick healing and peaceful times.
❤️
Rhoda
Rhoda – and that’s the thing – I never have to make any of these stories up!! Haha!
Great to see you are home again, hope you and Rick are well on the road to recovery now.love hearing about your dramas, better than a soap opera some days! Best wishes, sandy
The first thing I thought of when you said “dr” Rick stopped taking one of his heart meds was “MEN” 🙁 Then I thought it again when you said he drove himself to the hospital when in distress!
I can’t agree with you more about sisters. Mine lives in TN. She’d been visiting us for about a week last March. We took her to the airport so she could fly home on a Sunday. The following day, my husband almost died! I rushed him to the hospital 10 miles away in excruciating pain which we thought might be a kidney stone. Turns out he an a humongous aortic aneurysm that ruptured so he was basically bleeding to death. Got him to the hospital in time but they weren’t equipped to do the necessary surgery so an ambulance rushed (100+ mph) to the hospital about 40 miles away for emergency surgery. 10-12 units of blood & 39 staples from mid-chest to almost you know where & he was alive! My sister, who had just left, was back in town on Tuesday afternoon to be with me (as was our daughter too, of course). While my daughter rented a vehicle to get to the hospital asap, I have some great friends & one of them picked my sister up at the airport almost 2 hours away. So, yes, sisters always step up!!!
Hope both you & Rick recover quickly from your separate issues. It’s hell to get old, right? But for you, once this 2nd knee heals you should be better than ever! Rick, maybe a pacemaker to keep his rhythm right? A friend of my husband just had this done last Thursday after having rhythm issues. Any way, good luck to both of you. You’re in my prayers!
Jan from TN – just read your account again of your husband’s aneurysm- it must have been terrifying! For both of you! And thank God for your sweet sister!
Thank you, Mary, for the update. very happy to hear everything went well with the 2nd knee surgery. Blessings to you and your husband during your recovery.
What a week you have had!! Glad you are home and mending with your babies. Glad Rick is better too. Men!! My husband has A-Fib but we haven’t been in the ER to get shocked since December 2018. He takes an expensive heart medication too but doesn’t always take it according to instructions. Thank God for good insurance. Hope Rick gets back on his medicine. The stress is not worth it.
Back to working on my #9. Not my favorite one either. Maybe that’s why it’s a UFO.
Hope therapy goes well! Glad you are all safe, warm and doing well! ( love my patterns!)!
Whew. When it rains it pours. Good to hear you are home, Rick is doing okay, and Becky to the rescue!! I do love seeing the chickens and your lap buddies😃. Did you read Heloise today? A lady wrote in about rescuing a tiny, tiny kitten. It reminded me of you😸😸. Take care.
Glad to read your blog. I have been wondering how you were doing. Good luck with therapy and also hope Rick is doing well.
Speedy recovery, Mary, and hope Rick is back in the saddle again. Good to see Hazel and Ernie Joe are keeping you warm and perhaps down! Life is certainly filled with challenges.
I agree with Rhonda, you just can’t make this stuff up! What a story, and I hope a lesson learned by Rick. Expensive medicine is maddening, but the alternative worse. You seem to be weathering this knee surgery better than the last. I guess things are better with experience, however, this is not experience you’ll need again. Thank goodness for a sister living near by. I know you’ll take it slow and let Earnie Jo and Hazel work their animal magic!
What a day! Thank goodness it is behind you. I put you and Rick in my prayers.My husband has an irregular heartbeat. I understand the stress.By the time his heart is back in rhythm,mine is pounding. I have liked all the quilt books that you and Connie have published,but the new book is my favorite. I love the variety . I think,the string quilt is my favorite. I am going to do the paper pieced quilt soon.Scraps begone.
Whooo, Kade is PT medicine. Looks like he could make anybody feel better!
Becky is a jewel too. Let’s hope Rick learned something from his scare, they can be stubborn.
Glad Connie is up and about so well, and so soon.
Now for you, take it easy. Schedule a few extra sessions with Kade.
Does Hazel and kitty like the ice packs? It’s obvious they missed you, and are glad your home.
We are glad your home too.
Jo in Wyoming – I’ll tell Kade the next time I see him. He’s not working at my location so I don’t have him but I wish I did.
I also have A-fib but the doctor doesn’t seem to get excited about it but I do take my meds as told no mater the cost so they must be doing what ever they should. Hope Dr. Rick will pay attention to his doctor. So glad you are both home and doing well. Both of you are in my prayers. God bless you both.
So happy you are home and in your chair again. Looks like Hazel and the kitty will keep you there!!
Happy Rick is home and recovering also, WOW! This may have been a lesson for him.
PTL for sisters and friends!! Glad they were able to help you. So happy to hear Connie is well on the way to recovery too!!
Sleep well…your both in my prayers.
Wonderful to hear from you. I’m so glad you have Becky. Keeping you in my prayers!
Continued healing Mary. So sorry the rain just poured for you!
The “lap” photo says it all!!!
I say “Amen” to Betty K.’s comments. Need we say more?
I can’t find the second set of car keys. Hubby said, “Go look where you last used them.” DUH…
Kathy Schwartz – DUH, is right! I do not understand how men think.
So glad you’re on the mend,Mary. And yes,Becky is the best. Taught with her for many years. So glad everything went well for you and Rick but reminds me of the saying,” the best laid plans of men and mice often go astray.” I had Kade in school also. Good to see him. Rest and get well soon.
Oh my goodness what a couple of days you have had! Glad to hear both of you are home and Connie too! You take care!
Oh, my!! You’ve had a busy week–far busier than you knew going into it! Glad you are back home again and recuperating with your tribe in your lap! You have to have the happiest livestock around! So glad Rick and Connie are well too. Ugh. My Dad quit taking his thyroid medication when my sister and I were home–his excuse was that he wasn’t sleeping in his regular room. Ummm. He was sitting in there watching TV all day long. His doctor was beside herself. Always best to only change with the doctor’s knowledge!
I got your post while lying in the ER last night :-/ I had been down to Jenica’s for dinner and she was walking me out to the car with the dogs. I missed a step in the dark and landed HARD in the parking lot. I drove home (yes, I admit that perhaps I perhaps don’t have the best decision-making around my own health either) but could barely walk by the time I got here. Called my dear friend and she came running, took one look and said we’re going to the ER. Six x-rays later and they reported no bones broken, though there’s a chance there’s something going on in my elbow. I have a dinosaur egg sized hemotoma on my hip and should expect my whole leg to turn black before it’s over. The doctor likened it to being kicked, hard, by a horse. But, it’s not broken. God is good! I’m going to Portugal in April to walk the Camino de Santiago–161 miles north to Santiago, Spain with the same friend who took me to the ER. Both of us turn 60 in the next couple of months and this will be our birthday hurrah! I was so afraid I wasn’t going to be able to do it!
Diane bauer – oh my gosh! And you drove home! That’s quite a trip you have planned. I don’t think I could walk 161 miles. In how many days? Oh, the bruise you will have on that leg and that will hurt, too.
But aren’t you thankful nothing is broken? God is good.
I’m in my recliner this morning where I should be most of the day. I need to start my therapy exercises and get the ice started as well.
Becky is coming to help me water plants and then there’s the big game tonight that we will be glued to. I don’t even care who wins – I use want to watch a very good game!
Are you in pain?
Oh, my goodness, yes. So very thankful!! I think the adrenaline was still pumping as I drove home. The swelling was far worse by the time I got home.
We will walk between 15 and 20 miles each day for 10 days, but it is broken up pretty well—get up, eat breakfast, walk 4-5 miles, stop for coffee, walk 5-6 miles, stop for lunch, a few more miles, stop for a snack, a couple more miles and you’re at your destination. This is an ancient pilgrimage, walked by many every day for the last 2000+ years—“The Way of St. James”. It will be challenging, but very doable. We both walk extensively so are less concerned about that part than we are about some of the other pieces—like staying in hostels and albergues when we are spoiled Americans! It’ll be the trip of a lifetime!! I’m really looking forward to it! My doctor assured me I would be all healed up by mid-April.
Keep working hard at your PT. You will be so happy to get back to the routine you love!!
Oh, my GOODNESS; what you’ve been through! Prayers continue for your healing and for Rick too, men can be the absolute worse patients/ listeners/ self-care takers! Believe me, I’ve seen this in my own family and it’s so completely frustrating. Glad to hear the great news of Connie’s bounce back. Take good care. That egg and cheese biscuit is making my mouth water and it’s still an hour ’til lunchtime! 😉
Mrs. Goodneedle – yes, men are terrible patients and think they know better than the doctor. Very frustrating.
Whew! You have been through a lot! So glad to hear you are safely home and resting. Sending good wishes to you and Rick. Take care of yourselves.
So glad you’re home and resting. Medicate before tomorrow’s PT session. Enjoy the game tonight, I will be watching and don’t have a favorite team. Still working on #9 ufo. Loved the chickens and cabbage photo from your friend. We’re thinking of you.
Glad to hear that both you and Rick are doing fine. How blessed you are to have friends and relatives who can help you both out. It makes a person have more compassion for those people who are not able to drive and don’t have people nearby they can count on. I realize how often I take for granted that I can just jump in the car and go where I need to anytime. Wishing you and Rick a speedy recovery.
Wow, lot’s going on! Happy for Connie, was her knee not as damaged as yours? Seems like a very speedy recovery. Rick, Rick, Rick! That’s all I can say. But, I admit to not wanting to continue the expensive drug I was on for Afib but I did clear it with my doctor first, lol. Just didn’t like the fact that it doesn’t have a antidote to stop bleeding and I have fallen in the past and broken bones. He admitted that I probably have a better chance of falling than having a stroke at this point being 66 and fairly healthy. Never smoked. And truly my afib only happens rarely. Anyhoo, glad that you are doing well, good luck with P.T., I love those chickens! We would give ours cabbage sometimes and I’ve never had them ruin my perennials but I could see where they might associate bulbs exposed on the ground with a tasty treat. Jan in MA where it’s seasonally cold again after a very warm (record breaking!) weekend!
Janice Hebert – Connie’s knee was not bone on bone like mine. She had a torn meniscus which was causing her lots of pain so the dr. cleaned up the tear by arthroscopic using 3 very small incisions. Mine started with a torn meniscus and I didn’t do anything about it so it deteriorated the whole knee joint making it necessary to replace the whole joint. There must be a lesson here.
Ah! That makes sense now. I couldn’t figure out how Connie was already driving! LOL. Yes, a lesson for sure. I’ll continue to baby my knees. I avoid crouching down but when I do I use my hands to assist standing straight, pushing up instead of using just the muscles in my knees. I’ve had a few times that I didn’t do that and regretted it! Hate getting old! Jan in MA
Oh my, so glad all is well now and hope that Rick is taking his medication (no matter how expensive it is!) and that you are resting with your leg up and dealing with the PT so that you will be up and going very soon! Continuing thoughts and prayers every day! Love your lap full when you are in your chair, what good “nurses” they are!!
Kathy Hanson – PT starts tomorrow and I know it’s necessary but I know how painful it will be. I’ll need a long nap when I get home!
It sounds like a comedy of errors and am so glad that there were no Major bad after effects. Of course, considering the MARS factor, it’s amazing it all turned out as well as it has. As I’m facing being the nurse for my husband in an upcoming procedure (with dread), I looked back and realized I’ve had anesthesia 7 ( yes SEVEN) times in the last few years and appreciate what he’s been thru, as nurse in charge. .bite the bullet and thank Rick for all his help (such as it is) and continue to heal … both of you!
Brenda A – good luck with your hubby, too. Always a challenge!
Ohmygoodness…..what a chain of events!!! I can relate to the heart issues….my husband had to have his shocked back into rhythm in Oct. your babies missed you….they love their Mamma!❤️ Men just don’t get our love affair with our critters being inside or out in the barn. You take care….soon everything will be back normal!
From the above unsigned message.
Mary, I know a gentleman who have both knees done, about a week and a half ago. Can you imagine? He told me that it will hurt whether he did one or the two. Seems to be doing pretty good. Your kitty and Hazel seem pretty happy to have a warm lap. Boy, the PT guy is quite a looker!
My husband has the same heart issues. It is scary and one of the times he decided to drive himself to the hospital from work!!! Men…. Usually he wakes me up in them middle of the night to take him to the ER. And it usually happens at the most inconvenient times. Glad all is under control now.
Polly Perkins – you said it – MEN!