Trying to get prepared for post surgery!

 The days are flying by and I am trying to get things organised for when I come home from the hospital.  I have been in touch with our local Meals on Wheels and they can deliver meals for us starting as soon as next week.  There is a weekly charge of $28 for 5 meals a week, so $56 for the two of us.  They deliver daily. To me that sounds like absolute bliss.  They deliver daily and there is always a dessert included.  The meals are diabetic friendly the lady told me.  BUT!, there's that word again lol.  My husband is a picky eater.  So I might just order them starting next week for myself to try them out and my husband can see if he would be interested in getting them too.  $224 a month I think is reasonable considering the price of food these days and the convenience will be wonderful.

I will just make things for him for a week for lunch and I am hoping he will like what they do and will want them also.  When I have one arm out of use for 6 weeks in a sling I will not be doing any cooking so he will have to make his own or eat the meals on wheels dinners.  I am taking bets on what he decides lol.

I have numbers for alternative means of transport so our trips for doctors and hospital visits should not be a problem.

We had a bit of a set back with yet another 2 trips to the ER for my husband.  He had another abscess come up, this time on his chest and it was very close to where his loop recorder is implanted under his skin and attached to his heart.  The VA nurse told me to take him straight to the ER.  Another 12 hour stint in the ER but they gave him intravenous antibiotics and sent us home with a prescription for a course of antibiotics for him to take for 10 days.  It hasn't healed up yet. The other trip was for his back which left him in excruciating pain. They managed to help the pain with very strong painkillers, anti-inflammatory shots and lidocaine patches.  He is now getting physical therapy at home to try and strengthen his back muscles.

His aide also told us she was quitting and moving to Montana.  That is sad, she has been a great help to him and to me.  Hoping her replacement will be as good.

I have also arranged for a mowing company to come and mow the grass every two weeks.

Next week we have appointments Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. After the abscess thing his electro physiologist wants to see him on Monday. I think they want to see if he has to have the loop recorder removed and also fit a pacemaker.  He also has to have  CT scan for his pulmonologist. I have CT scan and pre-op stuff on Tuesday and Wednesday he sees his pulmonologist.  He had nodules show up in his lungs last scan and she wants to see if they are stable.

A busy few weeks ahead for sure.

Hope all is good in your worlds.......

The date is set for surgery!

 Well, I made the decision to go ahead and get the surgery after meeting with the surgeon,  He said the arthritis is very severe and I have foreign bodies floating around in there too.  So, mid April, I get it done.

It is the opposite of knee surgery as you have to keep your arm in a sling for 6 weeks and do no exercise or put any weight or pressure at all on it.  After 6 weeks the physio begins.

I am hoping for good long term benefits as short term it will be very painful and inconvenient.  

In the 'making things' category, I have been knitting.  I am making Mrs Claus to go with the Santa I knitted a couple of years ago.  I can't do much at a time because it hurts my left arm to knit but Christmas is a long way away so I have plenty of time.  I just finished the legs, body and head which is knitted in one piece.

The front and back yards (gardens, for my English readers) are springing into life.  Lots of bulbs popping up.  The lilac tree out front is budding. I can't wait to see it in full flower.  I love lilac.

Might have to get a lawn service this year as riding the mower might be too hard on my arm until it heals and gets back to full strength.

Have to research ready made meal deliveries and local transport options as I won't be able to drive for a few weeks.  We already get groceries delivered.  My husband now has an aide come in 3 times a week so she will be able to help with the chores and some food prep.

We like to watch F1 racing and this year it is on Apple TV so we have subscribed to it until F1 ends at the end of the year.  Meanwhile we watched a great 7 part series on it over the weekend called Hijack with Idris Elba.  It was brilliant, very tense and exciting.  Plus Apple TV does not have adverts so that is a big bonus.  Apparently there is a second series too. Yay!

Hope everyone is doing OK.....