Close call, Kobe’s spurning, Mama's outing

Mama nearly fell yesterday. She was going from the hallway into the living room. Our living room is about four inches lower than the rest of the house and Mama failed to navigate the elevation change with her walker. As she was attempting the change in level, she did not lift the back of the walker enough and it hung on the trim at the step. She was already in the balance mode of going forward with the step and had to hop, stumble, catch herself, what ever you want to call it, on her injured leg. It turned out okay – aside from the pain it inflicted on her rebuilt knee – but it frightened her and Victoria thoroughly. Those are the moment we hope to avoid entirely. We all get into situations where we are not attentive to what we are doing. We have done something so often that we move through the task on autopilot. For Mama, that cannot happen. In this instance, her focus was elsewhere and a few millimeters of error in the height of adjustment of her support nearly caused us a painful, if not injurious accident. Please continue to pray we can avoid anything near a repeat of the incident.

Mama and Victoria are heading to the doctor this morning to have her dressing and bandages changed. Mama is frustrated because she has not been able to shave her legs. I am assuming the attending nurses are used to that, but it still bothers Mama. She slept all night last night, so I helped her out of bed for her morning bathroom run. Then back into bed to rest and nap until Victoria is up to help her get rearranged for the start of her sedentary day. She is starting to show signs of cabin fever but is prudent enough to realize all excursions farther than the edge of the patio are ill-advised for the next couple weeks at least. I plan to get the tractor and disc and try to level the path through the yard to the coop area, but it may not be this weekend. I will have it done before Mama has to navigate the path.

One of the ladies at church recently had repair surgery on her right knee. She has struggled a great deal through her recovery. Now, at six weeks out, the doctor (the same one who did Mama’s replacement surgery) is sending her to physical therapy. He told her at her appointment yesterday that she was not where he wanted her to be at this point. Her reply was that she was not where she wanted to be either. The point being, the recovery process is slightly different for each person. Mama’s full recovery could be shorter than the 12 -16 weeks normally expected. But, it could be longer. Our prayer is for a full, pain-free, full range of motion recovery. Regardless of the time required. We only have to do this once if we do it right. The doctor has told Mama his expectation is that the new joint will last a minimum of 24 years. That should be more than sufficient.

Victoria took Kobe to see Leo. Our go-to German Shepherd stud. It did not turn out well. She was not remotely interested in his attentions – yet. Victoria guesses that she is a few days too early. In other words, Kobe is not in standing hear yet. It reminds me, when we went to pick up or bred goats, Rick told us about a buyer who came to him for a Billy goat for his herd and was disappointed by the Billy he first bought from Rick because the nanny goats could so easily outrun him. Rick tried to explain that when the nanny goats are ready to be bred, he will not have to catch them. They will stand and wait on him. The buyer ended up getting a second Billy goat who could move a little faster anyway. Rick just laughed. He got two sales out of the deal and the buyer got what he wanted – even though he did not need it. So, when Kobe is ready, Leo will not have to fight with her. That day was not yesterday.

If Mama is able, we are going to the restaurant for lunch. It will be Mama’s first outing since the surgery. I am not convinced that she can be made comfortable in the chairs at the restaurant, but we will try. Our Chinese family will be very pleased to see her.

Business update. still focused on Mama

With our attention focused primarily on Mama, we have not devoted much time to our business. Fortunately, with the approach we are talking, there is a three-week respite in the auction schedule we are following. That has worked to our advantage this month, however, Mama and I have to be on the ball right from the start next month. Several counties we are following will allow mail-in bids on properties that did not sell in the initial auction. Mama and I have our eye on two properties that we will need to provide bids on at about the same time I will be attending an auction in Garland County, AR. I have been using a portion of my lunch hour each day to continue working through the large list of properties in Garland County in order to be ready for that auction. At the same time, I am contacting realtors to look at the houses we are interested in buying in two other counties. I sure have missed Mama’s help this week but have muddled through as I can while still being available for her through the evenings. Since we are not leaving her alone at any time, I have not been able to get back to the office any evening this past week. Again, the need to do so has not been great with the lull in activity in county sales in this particular state. And, I have to remember that it has only been a week since Mama’s surgery. It just seems like longer to all of us. The bottom line is that although our routine is completely thrown into chaos, we are still on track to purchase at least one house early next month, with the probability that we will be able to get two houses by the middle of July.

After several not so good nights, Mama had a really good night last night. I had promised her when she laid down for the night that I would wake easily should she need me to help her out of bed during the night. I meant it. I even woke a couple times during the night to check to see if she might be waiting on me to rouse so I could help her. As far as I knew when I got up before the alarm this morning, she had not needed me. When I kissed her goodbye this morning, she confirmed that she had slept through the night – but was desperate to get up right then if I had time to help her. Of course, I did.

Before Victoria got home yesterday evening, Mama and I were thinking about who we could call to help her tomorrow. Victoria has Thursday and Friday off so today was our only concern. Mama made a call to an older lady in the church that had offered to help and left a message. When Victoria got home, she let us know that she had taken today off as well as the previously scheduled days. That took care of today. Tomorrow, Victoria will take Mama to the doctor’s office to get her dressing changed and get any updates on medications and physical therapy needs. Mama is scheduled to see the doctor next Tuesday. I will be in attendance for that appointment. That is when we will find out is we are really on the right track with her care.

For now, Friday afternoon is the only time we do not have Mama covered. On that afternoon, Victoria will be heading up to visit Brittany. That visit was scheduled before Mama’s surgery was scheduled, we did not want Victoria to change that. It will leave Mama alone for a few hours that afternoon, but we are pretty sure she will be okay until I get home. If not, Grandma will come over to sit with her and help her if needed. Mama can get some rest when I get home. I will be on duty for the weekend with Grandma covering during church services. Victoria will be back Sunday evening – and we start all over. We probably only have a couple more weeks to exercise such caution, but we will do so for as long as needed. It’s easier when we know there is healing on the other side.

Last night, Mama satin a chair at the edge of the patio as I took care of her animals. We are not in a hurry for her to venture any further.

Mama, the plants, the animals

Mama had a good day overall yesterday, but she had a rough night. She and Victoria decided to stop taking the pain meds until she had a bowel movement. One of the aftereffects of surgery, anesthesia and pain medications is that the bowels tend to shut down. It takes some time to get the colon moving again. In Mama’s case it has been since before her surgery Monday a week ago that her bowels have moved. So, last night I bought her a Big Mac. That is her laxative. It worked. It was painful for her but if we can keep her bowels active, she will heal more quickly. It is always a balancing act to get the right combination of pain relief and pain expressed to enable the proper use of the injured body part. Too much pain relief and the appendage will not work. Too little pain relief and you simply will not use the appendage. For Mama, any pain meds equal long periods of sleep. Long periods of sleep through the day make resting well overnight problematic; as we discovered last night. Today, we will start the pain meds again and hope the other issues will resolve themselves as the incision heals.

Mama has a doctor’s appointment next Tuesday. She and Victoria thought it was today, but Mama called to confirm that it is next week. However, the nurse at the office told Mama she could come in and have her dressings changed at any time. I am hoping she and Victoria will go today to have the incision re-wrapped. What was applied a week ago is loosening and sliding down her leg, bunching up around the back of the knee. I straightened it out some last night, but it really needs to be redone. If they do not have the time to get to the doctor’s office today, I will redo the dressings tonight. Unfortunately, we will have to reuse what is already applied. Some new wraps would be an improvement.

The weather continues to be very hot and very dry. I am spending about an hour and one half every night watering the garden, our trees and the beds around the house. It is almost a losing battle. But for the moment I seem to be breaking even. I have pulled up some plants that not going to survive regardless of my care. Others are on the verge of dying but still might make it through the season. The best-looking plants are those where I have laid a soaker hose which I use nightly. Next season, we will employ more of those, but I am not going to try to implement any more right now. The evenings, although they are still 85°, are pleasant and I enjoy the task.

As for the farm chores, Victoria has been handling the morning feedings and I have taken care of the animals in the evenings. So far, it has worked out well enough. I am sure the animals miss the ministrations of Mama who routinely took aver and hour each morning to do the same things that Victoria can get done in fifteen minutes. Mama takes a different approach to feeding and watering her charges. For instance, one morning when Victoria was filling the water pans on the side of the coop where we have the younger chickens, several of those younger chickens got over on the side with the older flock. It was only last night that I realized that those younger chickens may not be eating because they have had only crumbled food. The older chickens are eating pelletized food. So, last night, I got Victoria and we took the escapees off the roost and put them back on the side they should be on. Mama wanted to go out with us. We would not allow her. The ground in the back yard is too uneven. That would have been a dangerous walk for Mama.

Maybe next week…or next month.

Mama, Daisy, help

We were doing all the good until Saturday afternoon. Mama was getting around the house well. Walking with normal steps – but still using the walker. Until Saturday afternoon. She tends to move from the bed to the couch; not sitting very long in any other location because of how different chairs hit her leg as she sits. In this particular instance, she was setting herself onto the sofa as she raised the recliner and did something wrong. I am not sure what. I was in the kitchen. Just a few feet away, cleaning up after lunch. Somehow the recliner came up too quickly and struck her leg in a way that hurt her. A hurt that did not go away. She has been taking her pain meds routinely since the incident. I was not with her because she has gotten herself onto the sofa recliner multiple times without a problem. Bit it only takes one wrong move at this point.

I am noticing that she has more control when raising her leg. She is not able to raise it far. Nor is she able to hold the full weight of the leg as she moves into and out of the bed, but she is definitely gaining that function. For now, however, we are trying to play it very safe. Victoria even fussed at Mama yesterday when she took a few steps without the walker. This morning reinforced the need for her to avoid doing that. As she was walking from the bedroom to the kitchen, her knee “popped” a little. Mama is not good at describing things, but I got the impression that it moved somewhat into a straight position as she was stepping forward with her weight on it. We do not know if anything is wrong, but those will be good pieces of information to share with the doctor when she goes to her appointment tomorrow. At least, we think it is tomorrow. Mama got us confused on the dates.

 As I was going out to feed yesterday morning, I noticed a calf running along the fence of our barn lot. It appears that Daisy had her calf overnight Saturday night. It is a little bull calf. He is small. Most of her calves are. And he is full of energy - while he is up. Mama has not seen him yet. Victoria has not named him yet, but he is a welcome addition to the farm. Mama was not expecting him for a couple weeks but as we looked her over before Mama’s surgery, Daisy looked like her udder was filling and her teats swelling. So, we knew it would not be long. I could not tell that there was any change when I fed the cows Saturday. But there must have been. I did not get a picture of the calf yet. I will try to do that today.

Yesterday, we had Cheyenne and Aubrey for the afternoon. Their Grandma is still in New York. They are no problem to keep. They play quietly while we nap. While we were at church, Grandma spent the morning with Mama. Helped her get cleaned up. Changed the sheets. Didn’t let her rest much, but she did other needed things. Mama was relieved when the CD player was packed up and taken home. It had been on all morning as Grandma talked over Jim Reeves singing Gospel songs. We do not mind quiet. Quiet and Grandma have never been close friends. Still yet, Mama slept a good bit of the morning and all of the afternoon. Trace, Krystal and the boys stopped by after church to say Hi and deliver some ice cream to Mama. Since Grandma was there, their short visit turned into about 45 minutes. But Mama, who stayed in bed for the duration, was pleased they had thought of her.

Right now, we are trying to take things one day at a time. I still have to get up with Mama during the night to help her out of and back into bed for her nightly potty excursion. I don’t mind. I am normally up at least once per night for the same reason. This morning, I got her out of bed and situated on the couch. Made coffee and left her with Victoria until help arrives. Today, one of the ladies from the church will stay with Mama until I get home. The circumstances are not the most pleasant for company, but we certainly appreciate the help. Mama remarked this morning that she would like to delay surgery on the other knee until I am home with her fulltime. 

Our business is not there yet so it may be some time before I can satisfy that desire.

All about Mama

So far Mama is doing okay. Her pain is manageable. It seems to come in spurts and each of those is short-lived. She is getting a greater range of motion; albeit, not as rapidly as I had expected. Her confidence is growing when it comes to getting around the house. She still cannot maneuver her left leg completely on her own when sitting or getting up from a sitting position, but she is gaining on that front. Getting in and out of bed is one of her biggest challenges. It will be a few more days until she can accomplish that on her own. At that point, she will not have to get me up in the middle of the night to help her get out of bed to go to the bathroom. That will be a nice change for both of us. She had trouble getting me up at 1:30 this morning. I am not sure how long she waited on me, but it was not a short period of time.

I left her this morning sitting on the couch with her hip propped up on a pillow, both legs wrapped in the compression sleeves we were given by the doctor’s office and ice packs on the top and bottom of the left knee. Victoria was not up yet. Erin was on her way with the kids. Grandma will be arriving mid-morning. She should have plenty of help. What we need now is some trained help to get her range of motion back. She still is not bending the knee more than about 60°. We need a lot more than that, but we do not have the training to recognize how much force we should apply against the resistance of the wounded appendage. That takes someone much more skilled than Victoria and me. Those who are trained Physical Therapists know how much to push, pull or stretch to apply to the injury to help it to heal. For us, when Mama groans or cries out in pain, we stop. They know when that pain is part of the healing process. They are not offended when a patient gets mad at them for the pain they are inflicting. We, on the other hand, have to live with Mama after the hurting.

Victoria and I are trying to work out how to care for Mama Sunday. She will not be going to church this week. Perhaps not next week either. We not only have to get her to the point of walking confidently, we have to get her to the point that she can survive being bumped and jostled. She is a child magnet and the children that are drawn to her will not care about the knee being banged about. They are not used to such a thing. They will not know to care. So, we have to get Mama to the point of being able to tolerate the impact to her incision as she deals with the children who will be very happy to see her again.

For now, we err on the side of caution.

Good progress

Mama is home as of about 6 pm last night. She is dealing with some pain, but the real issue is the injury to the tendons and soft tissue from the surgery. She is almost able to maneuver her left leg on her own but the large thigh muscles (the quadriceps and the hamstrings) both got some tendon work done during surgery and are being stubborn in their recovery. In order to get into and out of bed someone must help Mama lift her injured leg up and onto the bed or down and onto the floor. I did notice last night that she has a greater amount of control than she did just a day ago, but she still requires help. The physical therapist said that those two muscles or muscle groups take about a week to regain the strength required to control lifting and lowering the leg without assistance. So, for now, pain is not the biggest issue. Mobility will be the focus of the recovery from this point forward. Mama still has some mild pain meds available to her, but we are diligent only with taking the antibiotics, the muscle relaxers and the blood thinners. That will continue for the next four weeks. Full recovery is expected to take about 12 weeks – if we can find some home health care and an outpatient physical therapy provider. We left the hospital with both of those needs unanswered last night.

I left the house thing morning with Victoria on her way out. Erin and the kids on their way in and Grandma slated to arrive about 8 am. Victoria originally had the day off but that changed once her supervisor looked closely at the hours. She will only be required to work until 9:30 or 10 am but we did not want to leave Mama alone for any time right now. I am not entirely sure how mixing Erin and Grandma will work out, but I am sure Erin will be able to cope with anything Grandma finds to pick about. We just know that as much as Grandma loves to care for the sick and wounded, she does not have the strength or mobility to handle a crisis, should one arise. Our greatest concern at this point is Mama falling. With that in mind, all rugs have been moved, obstacles have been eliminated wherever possible and the dogs have been cautioned and scolded about getting too close to Mama when she is up. For the moment, her walker protects her from being crowded by the dogs, but I imagine, the dogs will be put outside once Grandma arrives. Having eh kids there might be good for Mama. Time will tell.

On the bright side, the home we have is nearly perfect for Mama’s current needs. Good floors that allow the walker to slide easily. Open, straight pathways throughout the house. Only one small step to navigate and that is not necessary in order to get through the house. It was built by a family who had a child confined to a wheelchair. That makes it the perfect house for us– especially right now.

Now that Mama is home and alert she can coordinate us on the finer points of caring for her plants and animals. I am sure the animals will appreciate the more intimate knowledge of their specific needs being addressed my a professional versed in their care. It may be a month before we allow Mama to venture further than the patio. I will have to be convinced that she is able to safely navigate the uneven ground around the farm before she is allowed off the proven flat surfaces of the house, the driveway or the patio. One misstep could cause a severe setback. One that neither of us would want to deal with.

She is still much in need of your prayers.

Update on Mama

This is day three and Mama is finally alert. For the past two days she has been so drugged up that she struggled to stay awake much less converse with me or the staff caring for her. Don’t get me wrong, she is still on some strong pain meds and is sleepy more than she is alert, but there are signs that she is coming out of the funk of surgery, the anesthetics used in surgery and the strong pain meds needed to get her through the first couple days. I was told by the doctor post op, that the first three days were the worst for all patients having this surgery. He definitely told the truth. For the moment, mama is sitting up in a recliner, nearly pain-free, looking forward to going home.

She will probably be discharged today. No one has said so for sure, but she is able to get to the bathroom on her own. Sitting on the toilet once there is another issue.