Day 30, Tuesday

     Tuesday, July 29, 2014 was a day I prayed would never come.  My sister finally lost her battle with cancer. Last Wednesday after the anointing services she had commented that she felt touched by God.  I do not doubt that for a minute.  It could very well be that God was letting her know that she would be with him forever.  We had prayed for her to be cancer free, and God has answered that prayer.  Not exactly in the way we wanted, but God's planning does not always coincide with our wants.  She is no longer struggling with pain and nausea but is hugging our dad (G-daddy or G for short) who was her hero.
     My sister was one of those people who was always positive, always smiling, always willing to do anything for you, always thinking of others, always willing to help, always involved in her church and community activities.  She was the epitome of a Christian lady.  She will be missed by all of her family, her extended church family, and her friends.  Though we are separated from her now we know it is only a temporary separation.  For all those who believe that Jesus was God's son who died to save us from our sins, we know that death is not the end, but a new beginning of everlasting life with Him. One day we will rejoice in seeing her again.  Today our hearts are sad, but we know she is now in Heaven with the Lord.  Please remember her family in your prayers.

Recovery, Day 29, Monday

     What a difference a day makes!  Today, no pain.  I even used a weedeater to trim around the house.  I can't really say totally pain free, but no pain while working outside in the yard.  I also was able to slowly stand up from sitting in a chair without holding on to something to support my weight.  I had been able to do this last week but with pain above the knee caps.  Before today, I would try to get up as fast as I could, so the pain would be over quickly.  But, rising slowly was met with a minimal amount of discomfort in the muscles above the knee, not the knee itself.  Fantastic!  Maybe I am seeing the results of my 20 minutes a day on the exercise bike.
     We are making some changes around our house.  Expensive changes.  We have known for a while that we needed to replace our heat pumps.  New ones will be installed tomorrow.  We also decided that since we are getting more efficient heating and cooling we needed to add more insulation in the attic and under the house and change out the windows for new energy efficient ones.  We will replace the windows downstairs this year and then the upstairs windows next year.  I could not afford to do all the windows at this time, but I think it will help to cut my power bills.
     One other decision was made today.  I have decided to connect to the county water system.  For the last 37 years we have used natural spring water.  Our spring is located on the property next door.  Of course we maintain water rights in the deed, but now the house is up for sale and I am not interested in buying it.  Our water comes from a spring located next to the neighbors driveway, thus could be easily contaminated.  Now is the best time for me to get another water source.  It will also increase the water pressure in our house.  I will keep the spring and rights to it, but only use it for washing the car, watering the garden, or watering the grass.  Over the years, we have just gotten use to water getting discolored whenever it would rain, so it will be nice to experience clear water for a change.
     I almost forgot.  I looked out our windows toward the garden and this is what I saw.  I don't think the scarecrow is scarring anything.

Recovery day 28, Sunday

     I'm not ready for prime time. Today my knees had a setback.  As the swelling had diminished new pains are occurring.  After a very restless night I got up and had my usual cup of coffee, got ready for church.  Knees were feeling okay until I got to church.  For some reason I had to climb the balcony steps 4 times.  Since our Minister of Music was on vacation I used my Mac for the service.  I had to climb the steps to set it up.  Back down to get the soloist music for her to practice.  Then back up to play the cd. Then back down to meet with the guest song leader.  Then back up for the service. Then back down after the service.  After eating lunch with mom I came home and crashed until it was time to go back to church. I know my knees are getting better, but I wonder if having them "fixed" was worth it. I think I will give it a couple more weeks and then answer the question. 

Recovery Day 27, Saturday

     Today was like a day of rest.  I did as little as I could all day long.  Totally lazy.  I started to do several things at different times during the day, but decided they could wait for another day.  Syfy Channell was showing the B rated type movies I like so I just watched all day long.  My excuse for being lazy was that my knees needed the rest, which might have been true.  I have had only a twinge of pain when walking down to check the mail.  Oh well, that is one thing I did.  I also picked squash from the garden.  The last thing I did today was to spray a wasp nest that was built in my outside phone box.  Several weeks ago during a storm, lightening must have entered through the cable.  One phone started to have static, but the others were clear.  Since that time the phone with the static cleared up and the other phones do not work at all.  The phones are good, so it has to be a problem with the wiring in the box. When I opened the box there was a wasp nest in the middle of all the wires.  I have been hesitant to fix the problem, because, worst case scenario, I could end up with no phones working at all.  I have been known to mess things up before I finally get it right.  At least for the past four weeks I have had a legitimate excuse with my knees.  But the swelling is almost completely gone and I have not had to use any ice packs today.  I expect to be fully recovered after the next two weeks, but only time will tell.

Recovery Day 24, 25, and 26 - Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday

    I have missed posting so I am trying to catch up.  On Wednesday, mom and I went to visit my sister in the hospital. We were there all afternoon except for the short trip I made to the Apple Store to pick up iPads for Lele and mom and an accessory for my Mac. Anyone reading this should know that my sister is fighting a battle with cancer and has been hospitalized on numerous occasions.  Please remember her in your prayers.  It was good to see her alert and feeling well enough to configure her new ipad.  One of the highlights of our visit was meeting Brother Yancy, a pastor who had come by to pray with her and anoint her.  Since her husband was not there at the time, he was going to come back later for the anointing, but did pray for her.  His prayer was beautiful, one of those that brought heaven right down into that hospital room.  We stayed until after supper, then headed home.  Later that night, Lele's three sons, Ben, Matt, and Jac were anointed for her in different churches, Ben in Indiana, where he was preaching a revival, Matt at his church in Talladega, and Jac at his church in Hobe Sound, Florida.  And of course Brother Yancy came back and performed the anointing in the hospital room.  About 9:30 pm Lele said she felt like she had been touched by the hand of God.
     On Thursday when the doctor came in he said that her liver, kidneys, and nutrient counts had improved.  To us this was fantastic news.  She has a real tough road ahead of her so we look at any improvement as great news.  This change can only be attributed to the power of prayer.  Today she continues to improve and was able to sit in a chair all afternoon.  She was not able to get out of the bed prior to today.
     Being on my feet most of the day Wednesday caused swelling in my knees and consequently not much sleep Wednesday night.  Thursday morning I went to town to run some errands and go by mom's house to help configure her iPad.  Ended up spending most of the day in town and then had to drive to Home Depot after a few minutes at home. Finally got home about 6:30, knowing that I had overdone the knees for the day.  I was able to sleep through the night though.  I was wobbly when I got up, but after a cup of coffee, my wife and I went to walk at Veterans Park in town.  My left knee was experiencing pain that has not been there before, but probably because most of the swelling had diminished, and the pain was directly under one of the incision locations.  I ended up walking 2.25 miles which was 4 laps around the track.  I did stop for a few minutes after each lap to sit and take my weight off my knees.  When I got home I iced the knees and took a good nap.  I believe that over the last couple of days I might have spent too much time standing and not resting my knees.  Therefore I have to face the consequences.  I have to continue to remind myself that there is a 4 to 6 week recovery period and this has been the forth week.  When I mention pain it is not a debilitating pain but more of a pin stick type pain that only occurs when my weight is on the knee.  Other pains occur on standing which are caused by the muscles above the knee.  That is the reason for the exercise bike, to strengthen those muscles.  In fact, I better close for today and do my 20 minutes on the bike.

Recovery Day 23. Tuesday

     I only got a couple of hours of sleep last night.  This time it was not my knees, but I decided to add multiple operating systems on my Macbook Air.  I purchased Parallels, downloaded the latest version and then loaded both Windows 7 and Windows 8 on my Mac.  While doing all this I never looked at the clock.  When I finally finished it was 3:00 am.  I got in the bed and woke up about 6:30.  After drinking my one cup of coffee, Amy and I went to Veteran's Park to walk.  I did 3 laps, a distance of 1.7 miles.  The first lap my left knee was hurting below the knee cap.  After the first lap the pain went away.  Also I noticed that the way I walked was causing the pain.  As long as my heel touched the ground first the pain was not there.  Tomorrow will be a busy day, but I will try to add one more lap each day until I am doing 5 miles per day.  I know my knees are getting better because I am able to stand up without holding onto something.  Of course there is pain on the top of the knee when I do this so I do not try to do if very much.  Knees are not swelling as much today.

     My sister is back in the hospital and will no longer receive any more chemo treatments.  Mom and I will go see her tomorrow.  Mom tripped in her kitchen and could not get up off the floor.  After about an hour she was finally able to crawl across the floor and get up.  Once she was able to get to a phone she called me and I took her to see her doctor.  Nothing broken just bruised.  I am sure she will be sore tomorrow.  

    When I got home I tried to take a nap, but the phone kept ringing and I never did get to sleep.  After supper I watched a couple of movies and then rode the bike for 20 minutes.  Beginning to feel sleepy so I will sign off for tonight.

Recovery day 22 Monday

This morning was off to rocky start. By that I mean when I got out of bed I was rocking on my knees or maybe the correct word would be wobbling.  After my cup of coffee I went to the garden to pick peas, tomatoes, squash, and cucumbers that had ripened while we were in Virginia.  I finally headed to town about 11:00 to get the oil changed in the car.  Then to take mom to lunch and Walmart.  I then went to her house to work on her internet connection.  (Once a computer tech always a computer tech).  Finally after another trip to Walmart to return a faulty wireless router I was able to get everything up and running.  By the time I got home (7:30) my knees were beginning to swell. There were a couple of good things.  One, my knees did not hurt all day. Two, I was able to kneel down on one knee by using a pillow. But could only do it with the left knee.  The really amazing thing was that I was able to get back up again.  Once I got home I applied ice and propped the knees up.  I intend to start back walking at the park in the morning.  Maybe get in a couple of miles.  More about that tomorrow  

Recovery Day 20, 21

     Okay so I overdid it on Friday.  I spent 20 minutes on the exercise bike then walked for 1.44 miles.  I regret that now.  Knees were really swollen on Saturday morning.  Amy and I had to swap out driving so I could straighten out my legs, but we made the 12 hour trip in 13 hours.  Stopped to rest several times and to eat.  Made it home by 9:00 and my swollen knees were really hurting.  I got some ice on them as soon as we got home. Slept pretty good though I still had trouble finding a position that supported my knees comfortably.
     Today, Sunday, I went to church.  This was the first time since the surgery.  Managed to even make it up the stairs to sit in the balcony, my regular place.  By the time I got home I thought about working in the garden. but that would mean I would need to change clothes, and take a bath before returning to church later. I decided to hold off getting to the garden.  We finished the audio book we had listened to on our trip to and from Virginia.  Gone Girl turned out to be a good book (all 19 hours of the unabridged version).   After church tonight I could feel my swollen knees and applied ice as soon as I got home.  Tomorrow will be a busy day.  More about it later.  

Recovery Day 19

     Yesterday was a pretty good day.  Still not getting to sleep through the night, just can't get the knees comfortable enough when sleeping on my side.  I usually use a pillow to prop them up and sleep on my back, but it is harder for me to get to sleep that way.  That was the reason I returned the first sleeping bag I purchased.  I was forced to sleep on my back, which is not normal for me.  Besides, I could not move in that bag, mainly due to the sleep pad that had to be used with it.  The Big Agnes bags have 0 insulation on the bottom and the pad inserted into the underside of the bag provides that insulation.
     I was able to ride the bike for 20 minutes and then decided to try walking outside.  I did about a mile with no bad effects.  I will try that again today.  The quicker I can get back to walking I can get started back on my weight loss program.  I had lost about 12 pounds before the surgery, but I am sure the inactivity and the snack food has added the weight back on.  I was at 241 before our trip to Virginia.  It will be interesting to see how much I have gained on this trip.
     Today I will get to babysit Cooper, while the girls go to a Vacation Bible School luncheon.  That should be an experience.  Then tonight Amy and I will keep the kids so Katy and Scott can have a date night.  That will be fun for them, not sure about us.  Hopefully we can get by with only one or two meltdowns.  Tomorrow we hit the road heading home.  More about that later.

Recovery Day 18

Today was a better day. This morning I rode the bike for 30 minutes.  Flexibility is coming back but the knees really tighten up after exercise. This is probably due to swelling that follows also. I was able to get up 4 different times from a sitting position without using my arms to support most of my weight.  Pain was there but bearable. I think each day is getting better and better. I am still waking in the middle of the night, about 3:00, with my legs aching.  I expect that to go away soon. This afternoon I did another 20 minutes on the bike. Then stretched the thighs real good. Swelling followed that of course. The exercise bike is doing its job. The time passes faster while listening to 60's on 6 on my iPhone. I can't wait till I can walk a few miles. I may try that tomorrow just to see if I can.  Ice and ibuprofen have become my best friends. I am not sure how long that will last since I am not suppose to take ibuprofen due to diabetes. But it sure helps with the swelling.  More updates to come tomorrow. 

Recovery Day 17

Knees are becoming more flexible. Today I rode my bike for 2 - 20 minute periods. Knees do not hurt but I have pain when I try to get up from a sitting position. This pain is on the top of the knee above the knee cap where there is still some swelling.  I can tell that each day the knees are better.  By the end of the week maybe the pain will be gone   If not I may be looking at 4 to 6 weeks recover period. I was able to stand up one time today without using my arms to support my weight. Due to the pain I will not try this again for a couple of days. Last night I was able to sleep with my legs bent for the first time. I think my muscles are cramping causing me to wake up early, like 4:30 am. I may have to take something for the cramps. Time will tell. Maybe I will sleep better tonight. 

Recovery Day 14, 15, and 16

     Great day on Friday.  Lewis, Deon, and G-mama all came out for lunch and stayed most of the afternoon.  It was a good visit.  We do not get together very often so I was glad they came for a visit.  Cooked hamburgers on the grill. Toward dark I went to town stopped by moms and gogos to fix a couple of things.  By the time I got back home, my knees were swollen and hurting. 

     Saturday was a work day.  I had to cut grass.  I rode the tractor to cut below the garden and used a push mower to cut the front yard. My guess is I walked about 4 miles in the process.  By the end of the day I was really tired, but the yard looks nice again. I also picked peas, squash, cucumbers, and tomatoes from the garden. 

     Sunday, day 16, was a long day traveling.  We drove to visit Katy, Scott, Kinsley and Cooper in Chantilly, VA. We will spend a few days here, then return home later this week.  I did bring my exercise bike so I can use it during our stay.  Distance is over 700 miles. We stopped several times so I could stretch my legs. When we travel we listen to an audio book.  It makes the time pass faster.  The book we started for this trip is Gone Girl. So far it has been good.  We did stop it to listen to the final game of the World Cup with Germany winning in the overtime period. 

Recovery Day 12 and 13

     Wednesday, Day 12, did as little as possible.  Sat most of the day with knees on ice.  Most of the swelling is gone.  I still have pain when I stand up and especially if I sit in a low chair.  I was able to go to the garden and begin to pull some weeds.  Picked tomatoes and squash.  Purple Hull peas will need picking tomorrow.  I have pain when walking down hill, but that may be because I was on uneven ground.  I had no pain while hoeing and walking back up the hill to the house from the garden.  I did get my watering system working again.  I am not sure why it stopped working.  It may be that the water filter was not letting the water flow properly.  I am still having restless nights with not being able to get my knees comfortable.  The muscles seem to be cramping when laying on one side.  The other side is about the same.  I hate laying flat on my back but I should be getting use to it by now.
    Thursday, Day 13.  I had problems sleeping so I finally got up at 6:30.  I got to skype with Katy and Cooper.  Cooper had his tonsils removed on Tuesday and appears to be back to normal today.  My new exercise bike was delivered about 10:00 and is much easier to ride than the other one.  I have already gotten on it for 5 minutes to begin with and then later today for 10 minutes.  I am suppose to do 20 to 30 minutes twice a day to help my knee muscles get back in shape.  That will be my goal for tomorrow.  I also walked to the garden and picked peas.  Now to shell them and freeze them.  Hopefully now that I am using the bike I should see improvement daily.  I am expecting to be able to sleep better due to the exercise.
     My brother, Lewis and his wife, Deon, got into town for a visit with mom.  They will come out for lunch tomorrow.  I expect to cook hamburgers on the grill and look forward to a nice visit with them.

Recovery Day 9, 10, and 11

     Sunday was a good day. Knees felt good just tight. My son, Jason, and his wife, Shelley, and their dog, Brooks, came for lunch. We were also joined by G-mama and Gogo, my mother and mother in law.   Names given them by Jason when he was a little boy. We cooked hamburgers on the grill and had a great visit. 

     Monday was back to the doctor day. Amy and I picked up G-mama about 11:00 and headed to Bham.  We dropped mom by the hospital to visit with my sister and headed to the doctor's office.  The nurse removed the stitches and the doctor said he repaired torn meniscus in each knee. The left was more extensive than the right. He said that I needed to get on the exercise bike and pedal aggressively for the next two weeks. I can resume all activities walking, running, etc.  I told him I did not think I was up for running just yet. He said that swimming would be an excellent thing to do. He also said to lose 25 to 30 pounds before backpacking again.  When we left the doc we went to visit my sister and pick up mom.  By the time we finally got home my knees were swollen and hurting. I know I overdid it. 

     Tuesday, today, we got up early and headed to see Emily, Craig, and Kale one last time before they move to Texas.  Knees are still swollen from yesterday but I kept ice on them on the ride over.  We will visit today. Then take them out for supper and drive back home.  

Recovery Day 8

I definitely have my days and nights mixed up.  Watched movies all night and mostly rested or slept all day. When I got up this morning I was in a little pain.  Grabbed some ice packs and ibuprofen and they knees felt better in a short time.  I decided that I may be pushing myself too hard too fast, so today I just limited my walking.  Walked to the refrigerator for more ice, to the bathroom for obvious reasons, and around the inside of the house just to keep my legs moving a little.  No garden or outside work.  No bike.  I rationalized this because I still have my stitches and had not thought about them being pulled out with exercise.  I guess that is as good an excuse as any, and because of this, I will also have limited activity tomorrow.  No need to chance it.   Noticed today that my thighs are bruised.  I think this is because maybe I was wrapping my knees still with ace bandages.  I had not thought that they were wrapped that tight but it is evident that they were.  Today, I left the ace bandages off.  I had used them to give extra support around the knees when I got up and walked.  I can walk pain free, just feel real tight, like swollen, in my knees.  There may be some swelling on the inside, but not real obvious when looking at my knees.  It may be that the tightness is normal.  I will find out when I see the doctor on Monday.

Recovery Day 7

Okay it has been one week since my surgery.  I definitely have my days and nights mixed up. Just laying around is getting to me.  Last night I got very little sleep. I just can't get comfortable laying in the bed.  So I got up again early.  I decided that today I would be more active. I walked down to the garden twice to pick tomatoes, squash and cucumbers. Peas and beans are not ready yet. Then sat out in the sun.  The day is much cooler than the past few days. Temp is 90 today.  I seem to be walking like grandpa on the Real McCoys.  After my shower I took this picture.  Looking lots better compared to last week.  Stitches are to come out Monday when I go back for my followup.  Knees are still very tight due to swelling, but they are getting better.

I must have overdone it today because they are really uncomfortable at this minute.  Maybe that will pass.  I may put on ice packs.  I had them on while eating supper, and had pain due to the cold and could not get them off quick enough.  I can feel some flexibility coming back, but I may be trying to rush it.  I need to be patient and let it heal.  So I will take it easier this weekend.  More to come.

Recovery day 6

Okay I missed posting last night so here is Day 6.  When I went to bed Wednesday night I decided to take a pain pill to help me sleep better.  I also took another pill that usually makes me drowsy.  That was a mistake I could not get comfortable so I never went to sleep.  Watched tv thinking I would fall asleep as usual. But sleep never came. Got up and iced my knees, but my eyes just would not shut.  It was 4:30 am.  Went to the kitchen and started the coffee pot thinking I would go ahead and get up for the day.  Apparently the combination of pills just made me feel terrible.  That plus the lack of sleep put a damper on the whole day.  It was like I was in a fog that never ended.  About 9:00 pm the fog lifted.  I watched a little news and decided to go to bed.  Knees had been uncomfortable all day. I did get on the exercise bike and pedaled about 20 revolutions.  Flexibility seems better.  But, left knee still has a long way to go to catch up with the right knee.  Both still feel real tight and all the swelling is not gone.

Recovery Day 4 and 5

     I was not able to write yesterday since it was not a good day.  I woke up at 4:30 with my knees hurting.  I am trying not to take very much of the pain meds, so I had not taken a pain pill before bedtime.  That may have been a mistake.  There was no way to get comfortable.  Ice packs sprung a leak and water was everywhere.  Decided to use gallon ziplock bags for ice packs, but the humidity is so high that the bags sweated.   Even wrapped in dish towels, there was too much water.  Amy found some ice packs that strapped on knees, so we ordered 2 of them and they arrived today.
     Yesterday was a setback.  Pain, swelling, and generally felt lousy.  The highlight of the day was a visit from one of my Texas cousins, Jay Lewis.  His wife has relatives in Huntsville and they were visiting them.  Since he was so close, about 2.5 hours away, he decided to come for a visit.  On his way he stopped to visit my sister, who is in a hospital in Birmingham.  If anyone is reading this blog, please stop reading and say a prayer for both my sister, Lela, and my brother, Lewis, who are both battling different kinds of cancer.  Pray that Lela regains her strength and will receive a miracle healing.  Pray that Lewis's cancer continues to remain dormant or goes into remission.  Both have inoperable types of cancer.  Thank you for your prayers.
     Jay picked up mom and they brought lunch out to our house.  It was a great time of remembering past visits and old times and our Monroeville relatives.  Like I said, it was the highlight of the day.  As soon as they left, I waddled back to the bedroom for a nap and generally felt blah the rest of the day.
     Today was much better, even though I woke up at 3:30 am, took a pain pill and waited for it to kick in.  I watched television until 6:30 and decided that today I need to move more.  All the time that exercise bike was at the back of my mind.  I needed to make the seat a little higher and so I decided that today I would get on it one way or the other.  I lengthen the shaft by cutting a piece of electrical conduit and inserted it in the existing shaft.  Of course I had to walk a lot outside to find my hacksaw and as usual the first piece I cut was too short.  So I just cut another piece.  I have a lot of this conduit since I use it in my garden for trellises.  Of course now I need a step stool just to get on the bike.  Anyway, with the seat raised, I climbed on the bike and started to pedal.  Not.  I kept remembering the pain I had the first time I tried this so I slowly started pedaling forward and then back never making a complete revolution.  My right knee has more flexibility at this point in my recovery and I could do a complete revolution with that leg alone.  The left is a little different story.  I was content to just to rock back and forth, but pedaling backwards I accidentally went all the way around, but not without pain.  I decided to try pedaling forward and made about 20 revolutions.  Since I still have swelling under the knees I though that I had better quit while I was ahead.  Major obstacle accomplished for today.  One last thing, I walked outside one more time to fill up my bird feeders.  With that accomplished, I have been sitting with the new ice packs on my knees.  Hopefully the swelling will go down each day.  More to come tomorrow.