I'm Back!

Know it's been a while, but all is well.

I had my first shoulder surgery on Dec. 11th - despite the ice storm that hit Sunday, the 9th. The surgical hospital lost power and so they 'postponed' my surgery, which meant I got to spend the 11th fasting, in hopes that the power would come back on and they could proceed. Rather than sit at home, we decided to go furniture shopping while waiting on the call from the hospital.

There were areas throughout the city that did have power, and since the streets were not icy, many folks escaped their cold homes to shop. Thankfully we never lost power, although the neighborhoods all around us did.

But back to our furniture shopping. We were headed to the hospital at 6:45 a.m., when we got the call that the hospital was still without power. So, since we were out and about, we decided to go to breakfast. However, before we got there, the surgeon's office called to say that they were confident that the power would be on shortly, so they wanted me to continue fasting. So I insisted Roger go ahead and eat - while I watched. Went back home and I hit the recliner and was soon napping. About 10:00 I stirred, and Roger suggested we drive over to Mathis Bros. Furniture and look around while we were 'killing time'.

So we did.

We always head to their "As Is" room first. I decided maybe I had better check in with the hospital, so I called as we strolled through the furniture. Learned that the power had just come on at the hospital, and they told me to come on in and they would get me prepped for surgery about 2:00 p.m.

Not wanting to waste a trip, I did some 'power shopping' and we ended up buying a sofa, love seat and desk - all out of the clearance room - at great prices! It was meant to be, for all three pieces fit our decor perfectly. Then we scurried over to the hospital.

They 'kicked me out' about 7:30 that evening. Roger got me home, and into my recliner - and I survived the next few days on pain meds. Obvioulsy the ice storm had delayed our move into our house, and Roger was 'torn' - trying to work on the house - and be available for me.

Thursday morning I suggested that if he could get a recliner and a TV set up at our house, we could 'move in' and I could recover in oblivion while he worked on the house. Which is exactly what we did!

Saw my doctor on the 20th and they removed my staples. He informed me I had to keep my shoulder immobile until Jan. 10th (3 more weeks!) At that point, I have the choice of having the second surgery - or starting rehab. After looking at the time frame, and getting input from my surgeon, we have decided to 'try' to postpone the second surgery until Oct. 2008 - after we finish the 2008 work season. The list of things he fixed in my shoulder is 'greek to me', but essentially it turned out that I did not have a torn rotator cuff, but a torn bicep and other 'messed up' ligaments. What remains to be done is replacing the shoulder joint and repairing a torn ligament that is 'underneath' the bicep.

The Christmas festivities kept us busy, and, with Roger's ongoing help, I even cooked breakfast for our kids Christmas morning. We continue to 'live' among the clutter and unopened boxes of moving in, but we at least got our tree up and decorated, for a few days, anyways!