11pm. It’s been almost two weeks since I’ve made an entry on here. That means things are going very well with Katie, so there hasn’t been a lot of “special” things to write about. Which, of course, means things are getting back to normal.
We still take walks twice a day; she’s increasing her time by a minute every Saturday. That doesn’t seem like a lot, but she’s doing so much more around the house so she’s active now even when she’s not walking. She’s emptying the dishwasher, getting herself up in the mornings, slowly getting back to cooking, going up and down the stairs a LOT during the day, etc…. This past Friday and Saturday she went to a few different stores with me, and she didn’t even need a nap when she got home.
Her daily intake of Tylenol has gone down from two tablets every four hours to two tablets in the morning, and maybe once more during the day. Tonight, she’s not even taking any before bed. She really only takes them now when she’s been laughing a lot or her neck muscles are too sore from stretching….or not sleeping well. She hardly ever has pain in her healing sternum.
She does, however, have a horrible time sleeping. She has always slept on her stomach, but she hasn’t been able to do that since the operation. Because of that, her neck muscles are so, so sore. One of the visiting nurses, Jen, suggested on Friday that we buy a foam-type pillow that’s supposed to support the head and neck differently. We went to Walmart, which didn’t have any, then to Bed, Bath, and Beyond, which did. We bought it, she tried it, it didn’t help. The next day (yesterday) we took the stupid pillow back to the store and traded it for two “bean bag”-type pillows. They conform more to her head and shoulders, so we were hoping they’d help. They did, but only a little.
Katie starts Cardiac Rehab on Mon, Sept 13, which will be the end of the wonderful visiting nurses (insurance won’t allow things to overlap; if you are well enough to go out and get rehab and get your blood pressure checked by them, then you don’t need a visiting nurse), but it will be so good for her to start exercising under the watchful eyes of those who know what they are doing. Personally, I think she should be upping her walking time by at least a minute every few days, but she won’t listen to me on that part. She’s up to 8 minute walks, twice a day. At least she’s very, very committed to taking them. Even during the rain she (we) were out there with an umbrella.
On Thurs, Sept 16, she goes for her visit to the Surgery Doctor, Dr. Clough. She’ll also have X-rays of her chest to see how the bones are healing, and an Echocardiogram…or is it an EKG?….to check on the valve. She’s so ready for the X-ray so she can feel more comfortable with getting her range of motion back. I think part of her neck trouble is because she’s being so careful not to move anything for fear of moving the bone around. I’ve tried to tell her that those bones are wired in there and not going anywhere. Even the visiting nurses have said that, but in the back of her mind…..
However, today was her last day of wearing those TENS stockings. Hurray!!! She’s had to wear them for 12 hours every day since the operation, and the original “orders” were to continue that until the doctor visit on the 16th. At first she didn’t mind them; they were comforting and she wasn’t moving around so much. As she got more active, and the heat wave progressed, they got more and more uncomfortable. This past Monday when Jen The Visiting Nurse was here, she and Katie were talking about how uncomfortable they are, so Jen made a call to the doctor, who said to continue wearing them for the rest of the week, then stop. Katie’s been counting down the days…and today was it!! Yay!! Of course, Hurricane Earl sort of came through and brought some much needed rain….and much cooler temps, so it figures the poor girl had to suffer through the heat wave and she can take them off once it’s cooler, but it’s still a relief to get them off as they have started to irritate her legs. Ahhh…..relief.
Alex went back to college last Tuesday (Aug 31); his classes started on Sept 1. It’s so much quieter with him gone. It was so nice to have him take walks with us, and to go with her when I wasn’t home. He is starting his last year at UMFarmington, and this year he finally has his single room!! No roommate!! He’s so happy about that. He has not had the best of luck with roomies, so I’m glad he’ll have his last year in relative peace and quiet.
We had so much fun during his last few days at home…..he decided it was time for him to learn to cook. He’s such a good sport with things, too; he wore Katie’s flowered apron even though he knew I was going to take pictures and post them in albums on Facebook.
On Tuesday, Aug 24, he made a Chocolate Zucchini Cake, using the zucchinis from Katie’s garden. Katie sat at the table and read the recipe while directing him step by step through making it. It was so much fun watching them interact. He even had to put the cake into the hot oven, then take it out of the hot oven after it was done. Not always an easy thing for a blind person to do….especially since he reads braille, and burning his fingers would put a damper on that for a while. But…he did it!! And, he even made icing for it. The cake was so good!
Next, he decided it he wanted to learn to make something “real” for dinner, so the next day, Wed Aug 25, he made spaghetti. Since Katie and I have slightly different ways of making it, I showed him how to make it my way. It was amazing to see how much he remembered from the previous day of using the different kitchen utensils…such as the Food Processor, the Big Knife, etc. It was a very good meal.
That Sunday, the 29th, he volunteered to make the Bar-B-Que (also known as Sloppy Joes, but this recipe is better). The three days in between didn’t make him forget anything in the kitchen…I just told him what to do, and he was already prepared for how to do it. Of course, he still wore the flowered apron…he’s so great!! Again, he did an outstanding job. Yum!!
Monday, the 30th, was his last full day home, so he wanted to try one more thing….chocolate chip cookies. This time Katie and I both instructed him. The cookies were some of the best I’ve ever tasted!!! He will be a great cook once he gets into his own apartment and has to fend for himself. At least now he knows he can do it. With this cooking venture, he wore the Lobster Apron; it looks like a huge lobster is hugging you. So cute!!
Tuesday was moving in day for college. This was the first time that Katie was not with us…all the other years she was either moving in on the same day, or had already been there because of having volunteered for Student Orientation Day. She was not up to making the 3-hour round trip, plus the moving-in part of it all. She still gets tired after enough time, so it would have been miserable for her to go. We missed her, though.
So, Alex is now at college for the year, but he will be coming home on various weekends; Katie is home recuperating, but she’s thinking of going back to college in the Spring semester for a degree as a Registered Dietician.
I’ll be 50 years old in 12 days (on the 18th). I don’t feel old. So…I guess I’m not!!!
Til later……
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