Baby Steps

First Post of the Day

I'm six days post-op today and I am healing. There is no incisional pain at all but there is still a sharp pain where the mesh is now implanted. I'm no longer on prescription pain meds, but I still need OTC ones.

There is a lot of swelling in my abdomen, so much so that I am wearing clothing that hangs from the shoulders like the muumuu I am wearing in this photo with the dogs.

Tuesday is not our normal day to have Nash and Molly, but we are in an arctic chill and Molly's arthritis has flared up - she's doing a lot of limping. We were concerned about the doggy door at their house - it goes out onto a patio and then there are several steps down into the yard. What if Molly couldn't get back up those steps and into the house? Or slipped on the ice and snow and couldn't get up?

Far safer to bring the two doggos here than risk Molly being caught outdoors when the temps are single digits. Besides, they are good company and a good post-op distraction.

Another nice distraction yesterday were these flowers sent by my siblings. Not only are they pretty, but they are very fresh and their scent is divine! (And so spring-like! Spring can't come soon enough for me.)

There was one last distraction yesterday - Curt called and asked to drop by with Lukie and Ian. They had basketball practice at a gym near our home and came over when they'd finished.

The dogs were over the moon to have Curt, Ian, and Lukie join us, and they all played hard together. I did get them to stop for a minute and come snap a photo with me. (Tammo was still trying to play, LOL.)

Some of my post-op team.

Recovery  is going slower than usual, but it is happening. I can get upstairs again, I did a couple of loads of laundry, and last night I slept in bed rather than the recliner. 

Baby steps towards normalcy, but I'll take it!

Surgery #18 is in the Books

I think it's #18. May be more, may not be. I'm too tired to count. And I'm still under the haze of some powerful pain killers. (Um... see below.***)

Anyway, last week I finally had that hernia repair I have been putting off since 2022. Back in November of last year I had a major issue with it and surgery was no longer an option - it had become a must have. 

It was huge (5" x 2") and accompanied by at least three or four more. Or so the surgeon thought. When he actually got in there, there were simply too many hernias to count. 

I wrote a bunch of blog posts ahead of time and scheduled them to post daily while I was unable to write. And then Craig and I got up early in the middle of a snowstorm, popped the dogs into the back seat ("Wanna go see Nashie and Mama??" is still exciting to them even in the early morning hours) and headed to Lisa's where they would stay until we could bring them back home.

Due to her Seeing Eye training to be with just one person, it is always a little hard for Pepper when I leave her at Lisa's. She may be retired, but I am her partner, the person she looks out for. I don't leave her often, plus she is over there many times when I stay with her so it is a very familiar place, but Lisa said she was really missing me. 

Tammo was a little bewildered at first, too, although he and Nash played hard together all day long and wore each other completely out. (Sorry about your house, Lisa!!)

I always laugh and feel very horsey when I get leg wraps for surgery and this time was no different.

Ready to go and just wanting it to be over.

I had an outstanding team of nurses and doctors (I'm getting to be an expert on recognizing quality surgical care) and the surgeon surprised me by asking if I'd like to pray with him (yes!!) and then taking my hand, gathering the surgical team around us, and praying for all to go well for me! Wow!

Then, when one of the surgical nurses made an innocent but pretty thoughtless comment about the state of my health, the anesthesiologist said loudly to her, "She is fine. That is nothing to worry about." And then he came over, put his arm around my shoulders and said quietly, "You have nothing to worry about. You will be fine. There is nothing to worry about."

Goodness! As you might imagine, after all that, I felt much more confident that things would go well and had NO doubts that I would be in the hands of people who cared about me.

The surgery took three hours and then, after an hour and a half in recovery trying to wake up (I have no memories of recovery), I was reunited with Craig.

He reported to me later (and gleefully shared with our family on our group chat) that my first words were, "Where are the ponies?"

And then a few minutes later, "Have the doctors met the dogs yet?"

My family is enjoying teasing me about those comments and honestly, it makes me smile, too. 

I'm home now and Pepper is so happy about that and is staying by my side. She'd love to get in my lap (whenever I read, she climbs in and snoozes there) but I need to do some healing before that happens. But, she can still cuddle up to me in bed while I rest and recover. I missed her a lot, too.

Not gonna lie, I am having a lot of pain this go-round. The surgeon actually called me on Saturday to see how I was doing and ended up prescribing a different pain killer that is helping. (Another sign of quality care - calling me on the weekend when he was off and not the on call doctor!)

Craig is a great care giver, Lisa and Curt are staying in touch and are available to help, too, and friends have brought food and other offers of help. My out of towner kids are texting and phoning, and I feel secure and happy in the middle of all this support.

It is rough at the moment, but the surgery is over and I no longer have to dread it. I know from past experience that I will heal and improve, and I sure hope that this time that darn incisional hernia stays closed. 

I do not want surgery #19 to be needed.

*** Know how they tell you not to make any major decisions or purchases the first couple of days post op due to the effects of the heavy duty meds you're been given? Well, when you find four Freeman Leidy Circus Ponies the first day post op, two of which are not in your collection, and the owner is asking only $80 for all four, you buy them! SCORE!! 

 Blog post coming on that when they get here but here is a quick pic from the seller's notice. 

I already have the head up pony in pink and blue and the wagon in purple and green, but I don't have either of the head down ponies in those colors or the wagon in pink. And for only $80?! Yes!!

Surgery & Sewing

Second Post of the Day

I'm up early every day so why is it, when you HAVE to get up early, you are dragging yourself out of bed and struggling to open your eyes?

Maybe that's why this day-glo, six piece painting was in the hospital lounge. 

Each surgical patient's prep room had a painting of an animal like this, but we got the horses!

Teacher Daughter Lisa's surgery went well, but I was glad I had brought my Kindle.While the surgery was done on an outpatient basis, 

we ended up being there for seven hours before going home. Needless to say, I got a lot of reading done.

Lisa has had several gall bladder attacks recently, including the one I wrote about that happened on Thanksgiving, but because she's also had pneumonia, it was too risky to do the surgery. Finally her lungs were clear enough that it was safe to remove her gall bladder.

I brought her home mid afternoon and stayed with her into the evening to be sure she would be okay on her own overnight.

She has texted Craig and me this morning and is doing really well. Her pain is under control and she is up and around. We will go over soon and walk the dogs and do anything else she needs.

In the meantime, I had a disaster on the Christmas stocking sewing.

This is a screenshot of the fabric I ordered for Frank's stocking. (Lisa's boyfriend.) 

This is what the fabric looks like in real life. Instead of some background shadows, the black ink is splotchy and looks like something was spilled on the fabric.

In fact, that's just what I thought had happened. I checked my sewing table, storage tub, and the table for finished sewing pieces, trying to find the source before any other fabric was damaged, but there were no dirt or ink spills anywhere.

Checking the fabric again, I saw that the entire yard I'd bought looked like spilled ink. I've seen enough fabric, both hand blocked as well as commercially printed, to know a mistake when I see one. This was a big printing error, possibly at the end of the printing process for that bolt of fabric. 

I ended up throwing it all out.

Fortunately, I had this nice sleigh ride fabric in my stash and it is making up well into a stocking. 

Today's plan is to put the trim and the loop hangers onto the new stockings and then spend another couple of hours wrapping gifts that have arrived.  And, of course, we will go over and check on Lisa, Nash, and Mama.

Christmas is getting close!

Memorial Day: Saturday & Sunday

Second Post of the Day

Saturday was one of those beautiful days where you want to be outside enjoying the weather. And did we ever take advantage of it.

After walking the dogs en masse as a family, we headed to Dog & Suds, an old fashioned hot dog and root beer stand.

We chose to eat together outside in the pavilion rather than stay separated in our cars.

That was the right choice. While the food at Dog & Suds is pretty average, the experience is not. Craig and I like to go there occasionally in the summer and eat in our car at the drive in part of the restaurant.

I was glad to be there with everyone - earlier that morning I'd had to go to Urgent Care. My eye had been bothering me for a few days but I hadn't thought much of it. Hawkeye Sarah wears many hats, one being a nurse, and Trinity is in her fourth year of nursing school.

Between them, they both agreed that I needed to head to Urgent Care and have my eye examined. I did as they asked and now I am on meds to clear up an infection. My eye is still swollen and puffy, but it is improving.

After lunch, we packed up the dogs and headed over to Local Son Curt's home where we spent the rest of the day.

Vanessa has been experimenting with juice drinks - the one she'd made that morning was delicious and did not last long.

Some family members played indoor games, while others went outside for a game of backyard softball.

Pepper, Tammo, Gus, Nash, Mama, Blue, and Rhett were with us, coming in and out of the house at will and enjoying the beautiful weather, too. 

The indoor dogs waiting for someone to open the sliding door so that they can join the outdoor dogs. (Pepper, Tammo, Blue, and Rhett.)

Pepper keeping my feet warm while I played a game of Wizards.

Curt grilled brats and chicken for dinner and we stayed late, playing games and chatting.

Sunday was an unexpectedly topsy turvy day and I did not take a single picture. Not one. We all went to church together, and then came home expecting to spend the day relaxing, playing more games, doing more chatting, and then having pulled pork sandwiches for dinner.

Unfortunately, that did not turn out as planned. Instead, Blue spent over 6 hours in Purdue's Emergency Vet Hospital.

Todd had taken Blue, Tammo, and Rhett to the dog park and Blue and a husky got into it with each other. Todd was bitten by the husky while separating them and Blue ended up with a deep and painful open wound on her chest.

It was deep enough that the vet was concerned that she might have a pneumothorax, so she had to stay not only for cleaning and stitches, but also for observation to make sure that she could breathe okay. (I'm not showing any other pics of the wound than this - they are disturbing.)

Needless to say, it was a long day for us all as we waited for Blue to be released. She came home late that night, slept fitfully, but seems better this morning.  She's been cleared for the drive home plus her pain meds will make her drowsy, so she will sleep most of the trip back home to Iowa. 

The visit closed on a somber note. Still, it was fun to be together as a family, and the family dogs had a lot of fun together. They know each other well, and while Tammo was the new kid on the block, he integrated well and he played hard and slept hard. (I expect he and Pepper will crash and sleep as soon as Sarah, Todd, and Trinity leave!)

One more thing... Sarah surprised me with a request about a piece in my collection. She asked if I would put her name on the tag of one of my Breyers so that she could have it. Any guesses as to who she might want? Hint: she's a wildlife photographer.

Stay 'tooned for the answer!

No Post Today

 We have a winner as to who the next Circus Time post will be. More later, but I tweaked my back yesterday and will write when I feel better. In the meantime, enjoy this picture of Abby enjoying that fresh green grass!

Not Rain Rot After All!

It turns out that Abby does not have rain rot after all. Yesterday I went out with some medicine to put on it and when I brushed the mud away, her coat was healthy and shiny underneath.

Abby munching a peppermint.

Teacher Daughter Lisa came out with me since I wanted to go out into the pasture with Abby. I don't worry about Abby - in the nine years I've had her, she has never been aggressive or pinned her ears at me.

 But Trouble and Hokey are also in there with her, and sometimes they get to milling around. I'm still not moving very fast at the moment, so it made sense to have Lisa come with me and help keep an eye on things.

I spent some time with Abby knocking the mud off and giving her as thorough a brushing as I can right now.

It is surprising how many muscles in your back move when you brush a horse! And since I am healing, I need to be careful. My staples are out, but I have a lot of internal stitches. And, not only is there a lot of new hardware in my back, the surgeon also removed three discs between my vertebrae. The entire area is tender.

Abby may not have rain rot but she does have incomplete shedding again this year. That can be a sign of Cushing's Disease, so I am keeping an eye on it. Cushings is common in older horses, and while I don't know exactly how old she is (I was told she was 12 when I got her), she is an aged mare and most likely in her twenties.

Abby and I are growing old together, and that's A-okay with me.

Reunited!

At last after almost two weeks, my girl and I have reunited! Yesterday was hot and humid, but I decided to head out late in the afternoon and see how she was.

The horses were inside the old barn enjoying its dark, shady coolness, but as soon as Abby heard my whistle and then call her name, her head popped out the door and she stepped right out to see me.

Gosh, it was good to see her again. (Yes, she's licking the bars of the gate. Gotta get that peppermint drool!) The rest of the herd soon came out to visit, too.

I was topping off the trough during my visit and the horses wandered over to get a drink of that fresh, cool water.

Naturally, Trouble lived up to his name, although this is small potatoes compared to what I have seen him do in the water. (As in, partially climbing into the trough and pawing the water all over the place!)

In this video clip, he drinks out of the water running out of the spigot. Silly guy!

Not only was it good to be back at the barn again, but being there was also a benchmark in my healing. If I can drive myself to the barn and walk out to visit Abby, then things are getting back to normal.

Photos of My Girl

I've been home since Thursday night and I still haven't felt up to a barn trip. 

Lucky for me, Tim was thoughtful and took some photos of her.

They are just perfect as I hang out at home moving from couch to chair to bed and back.

She is crunching a treat in this photo and looks very happy. No surprise; nothing's changed much for her. But I feel good knowing she is doing well.

  Then I got this text from him yesterday.

 I just want to kiss that nose, rub that neck, and have peppermint drool being licked off my hand.

Here's hoping that later today I will feel up to seeing her. Fingers crossed!

Over and Done

Second post of the day.

I'm home from my surgery and recovering. To say that I am thankful would be an understatement. I did not look forward to having a second surgery in less than a year.

I did all the surgical prep as asked, including getting a COVID-19 test. I am negative, no surprise since I have been sheltering at home (er, and the barn) since March 17.

The hernia was massive - the size of a softball according to my surgeon. (No wonder it was uncomfortable to snap my jeans!) And when he tried to push it back in, he couldn't, and discovered a second hernia was blocking the repair. That needed to be fixed, too, so I ended up getting a two for one deal.

 I got the horsey leg wraps again - they really are a way of preventing blood clots by squeezing your legs to encourage the blood to circulate...

 ... but in so many ways I feel like I am getting leg wraps when they put those on me.

My surgeon said that this surgery would be much more painful than the pancreatectomy/splenectomy I had last August. Honestly, I feel the hospital did a terrific job of keeping my pain under control and it has not been too bad.

Enough so that I was glad that I had brought my laptop and could get online in between naps. (I must've take six to eight naps a day!)

Tim was great about sending texts and photos of Abby. That daily dose of the barn and outside world made a big difference to me. While the hospital staff and care was top notch...

 ... I was in a hospital in downtown Indianapolis, and so the view out my window reflected that. No greenery in sight.

 Late Thursday afternoon I was told I could go home. While I waited for Craig to make the drive from West Lafayette to Indy, I got all my tubes out, got rid of the heart monitor, was tutored in how to empty my drains, and then I packed my things and got dressed.

Those drains! I have never gone home with them in past surgeries, so this is a first. I'd brought a dress so that there would be no waistband to press on my incisions, but the drains and their tubing underneath it made the dress stick out in unusual places. Even when clipped to my undergarments, the tubes looped outward. And if I didn't clip them up, they dangled below the hemline. Oh well! In the grand scheme of things, dangling drains or a bulging dress are no big deal.

Since I'd had such good care, from Dora, my daily cleaning lady, to the techs, to the nurses, food service, and beyond, I left a final note just before Craig arrived to wheel me out. 

Even Ashanti, my favorite nurse from last August, made a special trip up to my floor (twice!) to come see me! She is now assigned to another floor in the hospital but heard I was back. Seeing her again was just the best!

Being reunited with Craig was wonderful; he had had to leave after I was settled in my room and was not allowed to come back until it was time to go home. (COVID-19 exposure.) The long drive home went well and, even though we had been FaceTiming daily, it was good to catch up in person.

Pepper is really glad to have me home again. Teacher Daughter Lisa kept her while Craig traveled to Indianapolis and back, and when we stopped by to pick her up, she was so happy we even let her up on the couch - something  she is not allowed to do - but that also made it easier for me to cuddle her.

It's a good thing I placed a pillow on my belly to protect my incision and drains - she could not seem to get close enough!

She was so happy, she flipped onto her back, pushed off me, (OOF!!) and asked for Craig and me to give her a belly rub. It's hard to see since she is so dark, but her head is hanging over the edge of the couch. Silly girl! (Times like these that make it hard to believe she was a Seeing Eye Dog. No dignity! Hah!)

I'm home now and doing well in my recovery. Loni found out that I have been on an all liquid diet for a week already and will continue to be so until for at least the next four days, so she made me some potato cheese soup that she blended smooth. It was delicious and so filling! I slept eleven hours after drinking it.

Now that the surgery is over and successful, I feel like I can move forward and that summer is here at last.  It's time to work on judging the Happy Trails photo show, get my entries into the Breakables show, and sew some cowboy shirts for Pony Pal Cambria who will be mutton busting in a few weeks and asked if I could make her a real cowgirl shirt.

All is well.