Sleep, glorious sleep

We finally had a decent night's sleep last night, hooray!

No Christmas for us, yet

Mandy and I are still waiting to celebrate a "Christmas Day" with K. She didn't sleep the night before, and was wiped out on the actual day, and slept through most of it. I spent probably 3-4 hours sitting with her, just trying to get her to wake up enough to take her medications.

Coming Home!

Lots of excitement for us: Today is go-home day for Kristan! She has a full day today. She's already in her Friday afternoon dialysis session. By the time she gets out of that, I should be on my way to Life Care, to help her pack up, and to give her a ride home.

Room at the Inn!

Good news: Life Care (with prompting from K) was able to ask more (should've been obvious!) questions of the Littleton DaVita people, and they found her a slot at the dialysis center much closer to home. It's more like her old night slot from a few years ago, going from 5 to 10pm. It'll make for some late nights on MWF, but at least the drive is only 10 minutes each way.

No room at the Inn

Nuts. The Life Care case manager says there's no room at the Littleton DaVita Dialysis Center any more, so K can't come back. The DaVita in Aurora, where she's going now, is a half hour drive each way, plus traffic, which is usually awful on I-225 in the afternoon.

K Coming Home!

In the care conference today, everyone committed to getting K home after dialysis on Friday! There are LOTS of things to do and plan, to make this happen!

Sore wrist

K visited at home last evening, and got to enjoy the Christmas lights and decorations that Jen put up for us. Time flew by, and it seemed like no time, before she was headed back to Life Care. Her left wrist was swollen and she says it has been really hurting. Seems likely it's sprained or broken. She doesn't remember any event that would've caused it. They took an X-ray yesterday, but I haven't heard about the results yet. -- updated 12/11: The X-ray was negative for a fracture, the nurse says.

And on a good note

K was awake and pretty darned perky when I visited her last night. On top of that, my cold symptoms are easing. We'll take that good note, and run with it for awhile.

Sore throat

Ugh. I've had a sore throat all night. I think a cold is coming on. Nuts.

Long walk

Ken and I took our longest walk in quite awhile, down to Blueberry's for breakfast, through downtown Littleton to the South Platte River, along the river to Lee Gulch and home. Feels good. We chatted on the way back, with several neighbors who were out putting up their lights. Then Ken and I helped each other put up our lights. We celebrated our accomplishments with dinner at Romano's, then Mandy and I cuddled up on the couch and watched another sappy holiday movie (A Princess for Christmas) on Hallmark channel. A generally fine day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hoping everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. Ken and I brought Mandy over to Life Care after our morning walk. We planned to take K home for a few hours, stopping at Whole Foods to pickup a late lunch off the steam tables. Unfortunately, we were too late for that. We missed the Whole Foods connection by minutes. Instead, we stopped at Sprouts Farmers Market. They were out of turkey. But K wanted to have some shopping fun. So we left her there in a powered shopping cart, while we went over and waited in a long line to get our take out dinner at Boston Market. Delicious! Sorry to say, I don't think K had much fun after that. She slept through most of her visit at home, woke up long enough to eat a little of her dinner, then lost it all just before it was time to drive back to Life Care.

Lung infection

Quiet cool overcast morning. K has been nauseous and vomiting for the past week. They decided her problem is different from the gastrointestinal virus that's running around the Life Care facility. A recent chest X-ray led to a diagnosis of a lung infection. They've started her on antibiotics every other day for that.

I'm better too

Oh, and hey, about my right foot -- I'm definitely on the mend -- just in time for the snow forecast for this weekend! Now that the toe surgery is healing the way it should, I'm back to dealing with the slow recovery from the various sensations associated with the broken ankle healing. Mostly it's just that tight feeling you get when you have swelling, but then I look, and it's not really all that swollen. I remember the PA said it would likely be a year, before I will realize it doesn't bother me any more.

Kristan's Choice

I don't remember posting a K status update in awhile. Her neck is continuing to recover. I neglected to post that she's even out of the soft support collar now. She's been able to decide for herself about going home for the past several weeks, but holding onto her stay at the SNF because of the good therapies (occupational, physical, speech) she's getting. But she's thinking more seriously about making the arrangements to come home, maybe before Thanksgiving.

New phones. Ugh.

Oboy. I thought I knew what I was signing up for, but I was wrong. I worried (I do that a lot) that I might be wrong, but I couldn't bring myself to wait any longer. The second the Apple guy ran my credit card for our new phones, he casually mentioned that it had just deactivated both our old phones' cell connections. So now I'm frantically trying to get the new phones usable, and restored from recent backups, so I can run her new one over to her at Life Care Center of Aurora, late, late, late tonight. Dang. I was hoping for a much more leisurely approach to this. I was going to take the laptop and the unopened phone box over to Life Care, backup her old phone, then open the new box, activate the phone, and restore from the laptop to it. Best laid plans... thwarted again.

Update- I realized at 3am, that I wasn't going to get over there last night. I actually got two hours of sleep before getting up for work. So she'll be without cell service and all her other handy iPhone apps for today. Heavy sigh.

Happy Halloween!

I picked K up from dialysis in Aurora, and brought her home for a few hours, so she could be here for the trick-or-treaters. We grabbed dinner from the Sub Shop across the parking lot from the Aurora DaVita dialysis center. Ken and Freddie came over to share the experience. Ken had helped me setup our Halloween decorations last weekend, so we had everything up -- Norbert the eight foot dragon was out front, with some witch/skeletons hanging from the outside lights, and the grim reaper was waiting just inside the door, with a ghost and a huge black spider for company, and some Halloween themed hangings draped around. After all that, we had a pretty quiet night, with maybe just a half dozen groups of kids this time. Mandy didn't even speak up very much. She was very happy to be surrounded by "her pack". I'm guessing maybe only half the kids showed up this time. I took pics of all but one pair of kids with the trusty old digital camera, but I ran out of energy, before I found the time to download them to the computer. [ Finally got the pics online! Let me know if you have any difficult seeing them. ] Around 8:30, Ken helped Freddie take K back to Life Care. They stopped back at DaVita, to pick up a bag she had packed for the home visit, but then forgot. I stayed home, in case any of the usual late-visiting teens showed up.

Nice sunset

We have a nice sunset developing, it appears, from the reflection we can see from K's room at Life Care. See Facebook for the pic.

DaVita on Sable

Visiting K for the first time here. As she described with overflowing praise, it is a nice clean futuristic looking place! Pic on Facebook. — at Davita Dialysis Center Aurora Sable.

Tired

Mandy and I spent the night with K last night. I kept waking up and reminding her it would be a good idea to get to bed before sunrise. After all the interruptions, we didn't get a very good night's sleep, but there was no hurry getting up, so it worked out ok, except I've been tired all day. I took Mandy for a long walk through the surrounding neighborhoods and a nearby park, and enjoyed all the fall colors. We got back just in time to watch the last half of her OT session. Her OT is really working hard, to help her get control of some of the biggest issues, like letting go of one thing, and moving on to something else.

Walking around Life Care

We're out on a brisk morning walk, after spending the night with K. Nice Fall colors everywhere. We're stopped by a creek that's filled with cattails, very pretty, in a Fall-ish kind of way. And Mandy has her Jack-O-Lantern coat on. She's been the talk of the town, as we walk through Life Care on our way in and out. Pic on Facebook. — with Mandy Hushing at Life Care Center of Aurora.

Chilly morning

It's our coldest morning yet, at 25°F. Mandy's waiting out in the car, all bundled up in her bed in the back seat. I hope it warms up a bit, before we start our walk! — at Le Peep Restaurant.

Quesadillas!

Oh, this could be bad... I just reminded myself, that I don't have to starve, when I'm home alone. I remember this (cooking alone stuff) now! I just finished making my best quesadilla ever, fried in olive oil, until the toasty brown highlights came out, and loaded with fresh roasted peppers from the farmers market, with fresh cut strawberries for accent. Then again, I lost an hour, prepping, cooking, and cleaning up. Pic on Facebook.

Breakfast at OPH and a walk

The OPH Cinnamon Almond French toast sounds wonderful right now. We're splitting that, and a side of scrambled eggs and bacon. Then it's off to walk around deKoevend Park nearby. Pics on Facebook. - At The Original Pancake House

Snowy drive

There was a pretty layer of snow everywhere this morning. The drive home from Life Care last night was quite a challenge. Lots of huge wet snowflakes were coming down, which made it nearly impossible to see the road, and the headlights were covered within a few minutes, with a thick frosting of slush, diffusing the light everywhere except on the road. I meant to leave earlier, with snow in the forecast, and me driving K's car today, but was having too much fun watching Cowboys and Aliens with her, on her new iPad. I was glad to finally be home safe and warm, enjoying a hot mug of tea.

We were using the HBO2GO app to watch the movie. I've heard there are other choices for watching TV (Hulu+ and network sponsored apps) and movies (Netflix), but haven't explored them yet.

This was the first time, in my almost 18 years in Colorado, that the headlights have gotten coated in a half inch thick layer of slush. Go figure. Just one of those freak things. We've had a lot of those, this year... And NOW I finally appreciate, why the Swedish put those little bitty wipers on their headlights. It's not just for comic relief...

Pretty in pink

Such a gorgeous rosy mountain sunrise this morning, trimmed with subtle Autumn colors... Pic on Facebook.

Happy big Birthday!

K had her big decade birthday today (Sunday). I've been feeling overwhelmed with everything for months, if not the entire year, but this felt like a good opportunity to summon the energy and courage, and commit to doing something extra nice for her. So I spent some time at the local Apple store, and finally settled on getting her the New iPad. She chose a nice bright lime green Smart Case, that should be pretty easy to find. I think it's the first time in years, that I've seen her giggle at how much fun she's having with her new toy.

Then, what to do for a birthday dinner? We struggled with logistics, the last time I took her anywhere, and I was still pretty shell-shocked from that. But again, this felt like the time to step up, and do something regardless. She'd been talking about wanting to try the Texas Roadhouse restaurant, just down the street from Life Care Aurora. The food was delicious! We invited just enough people to fill up a booth, and that worked out just fine. We brought our own dessert, a Blackout cake from the Cheesecake Factory, that was amazing. Nobody could eat more than half a slice, which was later easily explained by the nutritional info on the side of the box -- 1200 calories per slice. Omigod.

Toe finally healing

It's starting to feel reasonable to say that my toe is finally really healing from that surgery back in August. And even then, I immediately find myself hoping I'm not jinxing it by saying that. God, this has been a long year.

Home Helpers

I rushed over to Life Care for a meeting just after lunch, and no one was there :-( but at least there was a nice view from K's room. The trees are turning to Fall colors everywhere, and the patio outside her room was no exception. One Maple tree was half green and red, kind of Christmassy, and another was full-on bright red, really pretty.

It turned out that K was enroute back from an appointment at IPOP, the prosthetic company, on Humboldt Street in downtown Denver, and the other person walked in moments after I got there. K arrived a few minutes later.

We had a pleasant meeting with Rick, the CEO of Home Helpers, a company that provides caregivers. K's OT at Life Care recommended them. They sound like they can also do the job that we had LivHome trying to do, and of course they're eager to get our business, so they can show us what a good job they can do. We may give LivHome another try first.

Soft collar

K saw Dr Prall today. He's the neurosurgeon who fused her C1-C2 vertebrae. This was her first follow up appointment since the surgery on August 13. He was unable to see her at Kindred, the Long Term Acute Care facility, but Life Care transported her to Prall's office with no problem. He told her the neck looks good, and it's time to move on from the hard plastic neck collar she's been wearing, to a soft one. Finally! I picked one up at Walgreens this afternoon, on the way here.

Fall Pics on RunKeeper

I've been recording the tracks from my walks at RunKeeper.com, using their iPhone app. I recently discovered that the app will let me take pictures along the walk, and it will GPS-reference each picture to the spot where I took it. To get an idea of how that works, follow this link to our walk Friday morning along the river. I snapped a bunch of pretty "Fall colors" pictures that I hope you'll enjoy.Click on the little picture icons along the walking route. Once you're into one of the pictures, you can use the right arrow cursor key to quickly move to the next picture.

Lots O'Visitors

K had an impromptu party at Life Care last night. Mandy and I brought her some helpings of chicken Tikka Masala, pot roast, and Caesar salad from the Whole Foods steam tables. Then Karen and the kids showed up with an Anthony's white pizza. Then Amy came, and spent some time experimenting with the loaner Mobility power chair. K has been saying that two visitors is often too much, so this was quite a challenge for her, but I think she handled it well.

Flu Shot

Our company had our health fair today. While waiting for my Flu shot, I got on Facebook and shared a nice pic of the subtle pink sunrise hues that were illuminating our neighborhood this morning.

Snow!

The NOAA says it's snowing out there! I haven't looked yet. I overslept, so now I'm soaking my foot (the morning part of the "two soaks per day" prescription), instead of leaving for work. I'm trying to be good, and follow the doc's orders, but it's so NOT what I want to be doing right now.

Yet another surgery

I'm hoping the follow up toe surgery yesterday will finally allow some healing to occur. I'm so tired of the pain and hassle.

I had emailed a picture of my toe to my podiatrist on Friday, and told him I was starting the backup antibiotics they ordered for me two weeks ago, back when I complained it wasn't looking right. It didn't seem to be getting worse at the time, so I held off on the antibiotics, but Friday I realized it was swelling, red, and painful, and decided to start them. On Monday, the doc's office said to come on down, and he'll probably take something out, meaning there's probably a contaminant in there. Sure enough, on Tuesday I went to visit, he went in, and found a piece of toenail inside the toe, wreaking havoc. He said, with that removed, my toe ought to heal up a whole lot better. I am *SO* hoping he is right about that.

Outing to Rosie's

Freddie and Ken and me and Mandy met up with Kristan today for an afternoon visit. Then we kidnapped her (legally) and took her over to Rosie's Diner nearby for dinner. Not much of an outing, but better than staying in the Life Care facility all the time. K was alert and interactive, which I really enjoyed. Amy took a side trip to Innomax to get more bed info, then met us at Rosie's for a slice of pie. Then after we got back to her room, they started chatting about bedroom furniture, but I got sleepy and had to head home.

I am *NOT* looking forward to having the presidential debate here on Wednesday evening. They're closing I-25, *THE* major North-South interstate highway through Denver, from 5-10pm, in the name of security. Unbelievable. Seems likely that traffic is going to be miserable around here that evening, so I'll probably just skip going to see K after work that day.

The challenge of choices

Stopped by the Apple Store last night, before going to see K. They're sold out of new phones, of course, for the foreseeable future. When I asked about getting a MacBook for K, they steered me toward the iPad. Seems like a reasonable alternative, since it's smaller and lighter, and especially considering the new apps available that allow access to Flash-enabled websites. I got through the first of the choices ok, then ran screaming, when faced with the choice of carrier and data plan. Aaaiiieee! My experiences with Verizon, T-Mobile, and now AT&T have been less than stellar. I can only imagine Sprint has their own troubles. What to do...

Lousy night

K reported that she'd had a lousy Thursday night. She seemed somewhat recovered, when Mandy and I visited her this evening.

Field Trip and Status

I'm not sure whether to categorize K's first field trip out with me (to Innomax), as a partial success, or a flat-out disaster. The goal was to let her try out the power lift bed, that Amy and I found on Saturday, and then to look at some of their headboard designs, to see if we could agree on one for home.

Her PT started and ended late. Then she spent a lot of time getting her boot on the left foot, and trying to get the prosthetic on the right leg. She thinks her right leg is too swollen, for the fitting to get to that final "click" that indicates it's safely attached. So we took the facility's wheelchair

We finally left her room at 4pm. With the store closing at 5pm, there wasn't much time. We got her, the wheelchair, and Mandy into the car, and to the store OK, but she was so tired from lack of sleep, that she was pretty useless once we got there. She kept asking questions, then falling asleep when the salesman would try to answer her. She didn't want to leave when the store closed, so three of the employees stayed around, as I tried to whisk her around to the various headboard displays, as she continued to ask questions and fall asleep during the answers. I finally convinced her we had to leave at 6pm, but she wasn't happy about it.

Getting her back into the car was problematic, as she had a hard time waking up to transfer herself from the wheelchair to the car, but we finally got it done.

Then we ran into awful (standstill) traffic on both I-70 and I-25 -- on Sunday afternoon, would would've expected that? -- so it took almost an hour to get back to Life Care.

She was really knocked out, after all that time riding (sleeping) quietly in the car, so it was another big challenge, transferring her from car to wheelchair, to the room, into bed, and undressed for the night. Her CNA had saved her 5pm dinner for her, so she perked up a little, and wanted to stay up to check that out. By that time, I needed to leave for home, so I asked her CNA to stay with her until she laid down.

Within an hour of arriving home, K called to say she had fallen off her bed, and hit her head hard on the floor. She had trouble understanding me, with us talking on two cell phones, and called back from the room phone, but still had trouble understanding me, and hung up. I called her back at both phones, and got no answer, nor from the nurse's station. After a few more minutes, the nurse called with a summary of the event. She had fallen asleep sitting up, and went over onto the floor, but she had no new pain, and all her fingers and lower appendages were working as expected. They called the doctor, who ordered an X-Ray, but she appeared to be fine.

Overnight visit

Mandy and I packed up an overnight kit, and came to spend the night with K. She had a miserable night (not our fault!), and only got to bed around 6am. She graciously shared her breakfast with us, and then I took Mandy for a short walk around the block. Our plan for a short field trip to Innomax may be thwarted by her everyday schedule here. I don't want her to miss her OT at 10am, and PT at 1pm. — at Life Care Center of Aurora.

Outing complete

She's back. And she's tired. Long day. The ENT thinks the ear pain may be related to a TMJ problem. The good news is, the Neurosurgeon says she can start sleeping without the collar, IF (big if) she promises not to fall out of bed overnight. He also thinks the ear pain could be neck related, need to wait and see.

Out and about!

K called me from the van just now. She's out and about for the first time in 6 weeks, and very excited about it. "I'm on I-25, passing your office right now!" as they passed by the new Ikea store near us. They're running her around to two doctor's appointments -- the neurosurgeon to follow up on the neck surgery, and an ENT to investigate the sharp pain she's had in her right ear the past few weeks, that Kindred's doc did virtually nothing to resolve.

Fell but OK

Got a call this morning from a nurse at Life Care. K slipped off her bed and fell at 4:30am this morning, ended up sitting on the floor. She was perched on the edge of her bed, not sleeping well, took a sleeping pill, and it seems she delayed too long getting safely into bed. No apparent injury, but they have a protocol to check regularly and call the Dr after an event like this.

K at Life Care

Mandy and I met K at the Life Care Aurora SNF this afternoon. The goal is to have PTs and OTs help her get stronger, while RNs and CNAs are making sure she gets the right meds, all under the watchful eye of the staff MD, so she can come home and be as safe as possible.

K moving

I just heard from Leslie, backup case mgr at Kindred. K will transfer to Life Care Aurora Skilled Nursing Facility at 2pm. 14101 East Evans Ave, Aurora, CO, (303) 751-2000. Getting ever closer to you, Karen! She's in dialysis now. I have to put together a pkg of clothes for her to wear for her xfer.

iPhone 5

I'll be wanting one of them iPhone 5 devices they announced on Wednesday. Our 3GS models, which were snappy when they were new, are excruciatingly slow these days, like 20 seconds to wake up from screen lock mode. Probably due to the "extras" in the OS updates since we got them three years ago. Glad to see they upsized the battery, since battery life alone would tip the balance for me. The new CPU is many times faster than the ones we have, which seems like a great thing. And the camera, while about the same as the 4S model, is way better than ours.

Minor victory

K has been asking for weeks, about removing the steri-strips that were put on her neck after the surgery on 8/13, and Kindred RNs keep saying things like "they'll just fall off on their own." Well, after nearly a month, Amy called the neurosurgeon's office, and was told they would have taken them off after two weeks, during the follow up appointment that K never made, because she was at Kindred. They said to get them off immediately, since they're just growing bacteria after all this time. I repeated that to the Kindred RN and she removed the strips tonight. The good news is, the uncovered wound looks pretty good back there. Had to cover it with something again, to protect it from the neck collar, but at least those strips are gone.

Evaluated SNFs

Amy helped me get out today, and evaluate two Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs) for Kristan. Littleton Care and Rehab Center, and Azura Lakewood Rehab Suites. Both looked and smelled clean and new, had very pleasant rooms, good looking rehab and dining facilities, even wifi (which Kindred doesn't have). Now we need to figure out what, if anything, Kindred is doing for her, that would prevent her from being discharged to such a place.

Perky

K seemed pretty perky when I got here this afternoon, sitting up and interacting with her collection of items on her bedside table. Barbara the PT came and helped her do some exercises with her remaining leg, and transfer from bed to wheelchair and back. She says she had a hard time waking up yesterday, and the RN "started flippin' out." But she kept asking the RN "how her respirations" were, and they admitted all her vitals were fine. The case manager Gloria said a few days ago, that the "tentative" discharge date (based on the typical 25-30 day stay) would be the 14th, but they'll do an evaluation before setting the real date. Not sure where she'll go from here -- either home or a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF).

Recap of K's Broken Neck Event

I've created a Blogger side page, containing a recap of K's fall, broken neck, and heart events. I was able to include a bunch of links to references about some of the medical technical details. Check it out, and feel free to remind me if I forgot to mention something. It's a long story, after all.

Executive Director!

My sister Mikele is now the proud holder of the title Executive Director of the San Luis Obispo Winds Orchestra! I'm so proud of her.

Dog Lockdown

Kindred is on dog (and other) lock-down because of a new patient isolation policy caused by C.diff and (and other) infectious issues. K doesn't understand (or maybe doesn't remember) and keeps asking when I'm bringing Mandy to visit. And Mandy keeps looking at me, wondering when I'm going to take her in again. Breaks my heart. I'm not clear on how carrying Mandy in, so her feet don't touch the floor, setting her on the bed, and restricting her to that spot, can be a risk, but there it is.

No Narcan dammit!

Had a quiet afternoon and evening with K today. She was very sleepy at first, but perked up pretty quickly after I arrived. We had a long and interesting conversation with her nurse Vallorie, who casually mentioned the Dr had just reduced the dosage on her pain med, because she's not waking up until 11am. The word Narcan also came up, which drove K to tears. Bottom line, is that K needs to make waking up a very high priority, when people come to talk to her, if she doesn't want to be (figuratively) thrown into a tub of boiling water. Their concern is not about her being social. They worry that her respiration may also be suppressed when that happens. I told Vallorie that I want a phone call before they give her Narcan. And they need to measure the end function -- O2 saturation -- before they get too concerned.

Facebook has more details

I'm posting far more updates and pictures to Facebook. If you want to see them, but are afraid to create an account for yourself, ask me about the "friend" account I setup in Mandy's name. You can view all of my posts that way, without giving away ANYTHING personal about yourself, not even your name. If you're interested, please call me, and I'll get you started.

Chilly

A little chilly on the patio at Egg & I this morning. At 59°F and with a light breeze, I need a flannel shirt, and our little shorthair Mandy needs a blanket. I'm looking forward to my raisin bread French toast and hot coffee! Today is a mini-milestone day for me - two new things in my life of the last three weeks: 1) I finally can wear a shoe! and 2) I finally got a shower! Enough with the sponge-baths, already. 

The Gauntlet

This is the main lobby that Mandy and I will have to pass through, to get into the Kindred facility tomorrow afternoon. The papers are in place with Kindred, so we're good to go, except for these few steps...

This panorama picture was taken while standing at the main entrance. We have to get through the glass doors on the far right, past the receptionist desk. I'm calling it, "The Gauntlet". I gave the report from the Vet (healthy, has her shots, not a threat) to the charge nurse at Kindred last night. When I told her that I realized it was my responsibility to find a way past the MCA people on the first floor, she said, "If they give you any trouble, call me, and I'll come down and talk to them." I can't really ask for any better support than that.

Dialysis this morning

They said K is in dialysis this morning. Judging from my visit last night, she's still overwhelmed and not ready for stimulation from visitors. But I'll keep bothering her every night after work. It's my job.

Miserable

K says she had a miserable day, got meds 4 hours late, asked to talk to case manager, but never saw her, lots of that kind of stuff. The good news is that she seems alert and moving better, in spite of the bad stuff. They still say "no dogs" because they're leasing this part of another company's facility, and that's the rule. But we may have found a chink in the armor. — with Kristan Attardi Hushing at Kindred Hospital Aurora.

Missed a chemo dose

Kristan finally got her chemo med last night. The nurse at Littleton Hospital had handed it to the ambulance driver, who didn't give it to the Kindred people when they transported her on Tuesday. Then the ambulance company called the house yesterday (luckily Jen was there), said Kristan had "dropped her pills in the ambulance", and arranged to deliver them to the house. So, I made a detour back home and picked it up, before visiting her last night. Sigh. I thought the Kindred pharmacist had gone home for the evening, so I gave her one pill, and told the nurse, as I handed her the pill bottle. Then the pharmacist came to the room and bawled me out for messing with her meds. Like water off a duck's back...

K at Kindred

Kristan was moved to the Kindred Aurora facility, room 2019, Tuesday afternoon. It's at 700 N Potomac St. The main entrance is at the southwest corner of the Aurora Medical complex. Once you're in the Kindred area, take the elevator to the 2nd floor. She called me this morning - the first time she's had the energy to initiate a call. They should be giving her dialysis sometime today, not sure of the time. Check out this virtual tour of the facility.

Tired

I fell asleep 3 times during the drive home from Kindred on Tuesday evening. Dumb. Luckily all three times, it was at a stoplight. I woke up at the green light, with nobody in front of me any more...

Monday morning dialysis

They took K for her regular MWF dialysis this morning. Should be coming off sometime after noon.

Beautiful morning

I'm sitting here at our kitchen nook table, enjoying some plump sweet blueberries and luscious strawberries, and watching several multicolored hot air balloons rise over Chatfield Lake in the distance. Very cheery sight. Nice way to start the day, before we walk with Ken down to Blueberry's for breakfast. Kristan has been sleeping a lot, which I'm pretty sure is a good thing. She was very suppressed by the pain meds yesterday, rambling on about things she was imagining, and I'm not sure she fully appreciated that her brother and my sisters were leaving when they did. I am hopeful that she's feeling a little better, since she's been moving around a bit more. Amy and I were able to kidnap her in a wheelchair last night, and run her around the hospital. We stopped by the hospital entrance, and finagled a way to get Mandy in through the one-way-out doors that late at night, so they could visit for the first time in two weeks. We noticed her telemetry RF link started beeping, not long after we left the floor, no doubt complaining about being out of range of the collection hub. I figured they would come looking for us soon, so we kept moving. Her nurse finally found us, as she was cuddling with Mandy in the downstairs lobby of the North tower, and broke up the love fest, but we would've been heading back soon anyway.

Grand Exodus

My sisters, and K's brother and sister in law, all left today. Sad to see them all go, especially on the same day, but that's the way it happened to work out.

S still protecting the toe

Took a fun walk in my new Chacos with Mikele, Otamay, Ken, Freddie to Blueberry's. John and Mel met us there. Sad to think all our visitors are leaving tomorrow. I will definitely be having family withdrawal tomorrow night.

Sleeping a lot

She was sleeping this morning when I stopped by, so I just left her with a little nuzzle and a kiss on the forehead. Then I met up with family (Otamay, Mikele, John, Michelle) at the hospital cafeteria at lunchtime. Stopped at the room first. K was just having her bed wheeled back from a CT scan. I got a "hi" out of her before she fell back asleep. Left another moist spot on her forehead as I was leaving after lunch. The latest talk is that the neurosurgeon doesn't like the positioning of one of the screws in her neck, and wants to back it out a little. So she will remain in the hospital for at least "a couple more days".

Still in pain

K was still in a lot of pain and very uncomfortable all day yesterday, struggling to find the (apparently nonexistent) comfortable position. But she does eventually wear out from the pain, and fall asleep for awhile. Saw her at lunchtime, and I would like to think she looks a little better, although clearly squinty from the pain. One of the neurology docs visited while I was there, said this week should be the worst of it. They've got her off the PCA and back to pain pills, preparing to discharge her in the not so far future. Mikele and Tam are driving around the metro area today, in search of a good place she can discharge to, and still get good 24 hour care.

S toe's getting better

My Podiatrist doc says my toe looks even better than expected. I can start using my shoe again. Stop icing it! Only soak it once a day. Call if problems. C-ya! :-) — at Orthopaedic Physicians of Colorado.

Back in room

She's in her room finally. Spent a lot of time in recovery. In a lot of pain. Options are limited, with all the existing baseline pain. Not a happy girl. She seemed a tiny bit more comfortable as we were leaving. Her CNA tonight is an angel.

Surgery done

She's out of surgery, will be up in a room on 4th floor in about a half hour. Sounds like he thought it went well.

Surgery this afternoon

K had dialysis this morning, just got back up here a little while ago. The neurology doc stopped by to tell her they'll be taking her to surgery around 4:30 this afternoon.

Neck surgery rescheduled

K will have the neck surgery Monday afternoon, maybe around 5pm. The heartbeat is still an exact 80. She's struggling with the pain issue. They never seem to understand (or be able to alleviate) this, and even less so this time, even though they canceled her usual pain med, which they blame for triggering the recent heart events.

ICD Installed

K had two more heart stoppages (ventricular fibrillation) yesterday, rolling back her eyes and passing out each time. The Cardiology docs made the heart issue the top priority.

She had surgery last night, to install a temporary pacemaker wired through a vein in her leg. Then this morning, they installed a permanent ICD (combo pacemaker and defibrillator). She has been sleeping comfortably since then.

She'll be getting her dialysis treatments in the hospital.

The neck surgery is deferred until Monday soonest.

Defib

Dialysis yesterday. Cardio doc just told us the seizure she just had was tachycardia. She needs a defibrillator. Maybe will do that after the neck surgery.

Surgery planned

Kristan was having a rough time yesterday afternoon, fighting over dietary constraints. If they constrained her diet for all the conditions she has, she wouldn't be able to eat or drink anything, even a glass of water ... The Neurosurgery doc's office finally called me back last night, and provided some details of the upcoming surgery Friday morning. He will be fusing the C1,C2 vertebrae, to stabilize them. Titanium screws and a plate may be involved. They'll take her out of her room at 7am Friday, surgery starts at 9am and will probably finish by noon.

Really bad news

Kristan broke her neck in a fall Sunday night. Fell asleep while on her scooter, and fell off into a wall. We found out at the ER Monday night when going in for a CT scan. It's the C2 vertebrae. They say we are lucky she's not already quadriplegic. They've called in a neurosurgeon.

Rough time

K has been having a particularly rough time of it. She fell on her crutches a few weeks ago, and has been hurting. Just found out today that she has three broken ribs. Other uncomfortable stuff going on as well. Heavy sigh.

Irish Festival

Big Irish Festival here this weekend. — at Clement Park.  I had a waffle and scrambled egg sandwich (really good!) at Le Peep this morning, then we walked around the lake at Clement Park, adjacent to the festival site, apparently before it started. Lots of huge Killians Stout ads attached to the chain link fences around the area. We stopped at Boulder Running Company by the lake, and I picked up new walking shoes and a dual water bottle belt for future warm walks with the pup. Big day. ;-) The really good news, is that I never even thought to consider what pain level my ankle was at. Then went home and made lunch for K.

Le Tour

We've been watching the NBCSP coverage of Le Tour De France, as we get ready for bed each night this week. Very fun. Sometimes I have to stop, and catch my breath, as my adrenaline starts pumping, while watching them juggle for position in the last few kilometers, and then sprint for the finish.

Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to us! We had no special plans, so I stopped at Tony's Deli for some anniversary treats for dinner. A ham and Swiss sandwich for K, made just the way she loves it. BBQ brisket. Watergate salad. Some cupcakes. And a stuffed pepper. Yum! Oh, and some nice looking and smelling flowers.

Generally good morning

K's wounds all look like they're healing up nicely. Big sigh of relief. Ken and I went for breakfast at The Egg & I this morning. I'm so glad to find another place that has shady patio seating, so Mandy can hang with us. Then we went for a walk along the South Platte River, which went really well. It's a welcome treat, when every step isn't accompanied by a significant pain spike. It was a beautiful (cool moist) day for a walk. I caught some fun bird pics, too. Click on the little picture icons on the RunKeeper page for that walk. We saw Canadian Geese standing in the river on a barely submerged bar, a white Heron, a Black Crowned Night Heron, a Blue Heron, and the ubiquitous (in Spring) families of ducks with their ducklings.

Not the best start

I decided to save that day of vacation (everyone else was doing the "take a day of vacation, get a 5-day weekend" thing), and work today. It was a bit like a tomb there, so I got lots done. I got home, hoping to start my long weekend by doing something fun with K, like going out to a movie, but she's miserable and tired tonight. She says she tried to use her crutches today, but stumbled and fell on top of them, bruising herself in the process. Heavy sigh...

Happy 4th of July!

Happy Independence Day to everyone! Ken and I had a nice (hot) walk with the dog along the river after a delicious Wisconsin Scramble and raisin toast breakfast at Egg & I. We're heading over to their house, to enjoy a quick holiday hot dog, then K and I are off to drop her at dialysis for the evening. And that's our big holiday, in a nutshell. Maybe if somebody has a public fireworks display (most are canceled), we'll get to listen to that, or maybe see one from the deck, if the haze clears up a little.

Wounds

Kristan was doing her regular foot check Friday morning after showering, and noticed several wounds on her left foot. Looks like there's a blister on her ankle from the orthotic boot, and two wounds on the side of the foot, probably from the compression stocking. She saw her new podiatrist on Tuesday and he's not too concerned, but we're a bit freaked out. She needs to watch them closely.

Leap Second?

I hope everyone got a lot of productivity out of their free "leap second" on Saturday night! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leap_second

Progress

I just accomplished walk #4, along the South Platte River, in a regular sneaker. Progress! — at Mary Carter Greenway Trail.

DeKoevend Park

This place is an nice walking alternative to Willow Spring Open Space, especially considering that Willow Spring is submerged today, under several feet of water, from the big storms over the last few days! — with Freddie Dempster at DeKoevend Park.

Looking good

Ortho doc says the ankle looks really good. I can start using a low shoe! :-) Not sure why it's still draining. :-/ But he says it's not deep. Use a little triple antibiotic on it for awhile. See what the ID doc says at the next appointment.

Garage rearranged

Thanks to Ken and Amy, for helping me rearrange the contents of the garage this evening, in preparation for tomorrow morning's garage door replacement. We had a little "event" awhile back on a snow day, when someone was getting a running start to back up onto our slippery driveway, and they overshot and rammed the little door. Doesn't look or work too good any more, and not repairable, and they can't replace just one and have them match. So we're replacing both with new doors tomorrow, and while we're at it, we're adding some extra gadgetry...

Walking the South Platte

We had a bagel at Panera Bread, then headed off up the South Platte River trail. We're halfway... One mile down, outbound, one to go back. — at South Platte Park Weber Rest Area.

Walking Willow Spring Open Space

Beautiful day for a walk around the park. We're just keeping our eyes on some rapidly building cumulus clouds... — at Willow Spring Open Space.

PT Session

I can walk backwards again! Maybe this PT is helping, after all! — at HealthOne Englewood Occupational Medicine.

Freedom Day!

Went to Infectious Diseases for my sixth weekly appointment, after taking my last dose of IV antibiotic this morning. My labs from last week were normal. And, they pulled out the PICC line. Woo hoo!

Blood Draw

Saw my new Neurologist about my numb toes. Then I stopped at a nearby lab, and (it seems!) had almost all my blood drained, so they can screen for what's causing the neuropathy. I've never waited so long, to serve a Vampire before. The lab tech was really apologetic about how many vials of blood she took, so I stopped at the drugstore on the way out, for a bottle of orange juice. — at LabCorp.

Visited David

Visited with my old friend David, for a few hours. We're both having tough times right now, but we both enjoyed seeing each other. I think he enjoyed the slide show I gave him, of dozens of pictures on my iPhone...

Memorial Day

Silently thanking everyone who served and didn't make it back. Our Memorial Day walk around the park started with a rousing set of bagpipe music, as the pipers warmed up for today's ceremony. — at Ketring Park. As we got halfway around the park, the bagpipers across the park were playing "God Bless America" ... and then my heart started to ache. — at Ketring Lake. The unexpected bonus today, was the flyover of a couple of F-15 jets from Buckley Air Base nearby. They went exactly over our heads, as we stood in the parking lot, listening to the end of the Memorial ceremony nearby. Stirring.

Just a few more IVs

All setup for my afternoon IV. Only four more days of this... 12 more doses, every 8 hours... 96 more hours... until my IV freedom day!

Walking the Platte

Venturing farther than ever! Two miles round trip. Only a few stabs of pain, when I happen to move my ankle a certain way. — at South Platte River.

K&S at Ted's

I took K for a welcome K&S dinner out this evening, after her "girl's day out" with a friend. No waiting on Saturday evening. Go figure! And now nice. — at Ted's Montana Grill.

Walk at Clement Park

Got a nice walk, mostly around the lake at Clement Park. Looking forward to getting all the way around sometime soon.

First PT session

OK, so let's see what this prescription for Physical Therapy can do for all my pain. — at HealthOne Englewood Occupational Medicine. Update: PT was... Fun?! She didn't push me too hard, but my ankle, and all the muscles and ligaments around it, definitely had a workout. Oh, and I had it completely wrong about it helping with the pain. PT is about mobility... apparently. The pain's worse than ever today, but there are some nearly pain-free moments, which I trust will increase, as my foot gets used to being walked on again.

Leaving the walker home

Took my first fairly long walk, without the rolling walker. Pain is clearly a bigger factor, during this second recovery period. I guess I've just been off my right leg too long, and it's complaining about everything, from the toes to the knee. — with Mikele Hushing-Kline at DeKoevend Park.

Happy Mom's Day!

Wishing all my Mom friends out there a very special Mother's Day! Thanks for all those special moments you took to help out your kids (any everyone else), when nobody else even noticed that things weren't perfect.

Denny's

Denny's is a nice, easy, place to stop for lunch, after a good checkup at South Denver Infectious Disease Specialists (SDIDS) nearby on Old Hampden Ave.

Back to the boot

Saw the Ortho doc this morning. Mikele came too, since she was visiting. Well, the good news is, I'm out of the splint, and the same old Ace bandage that's been holding it on for the past two weeks. And most of the stitches are out. And I'm allowed to resume putting weight on it, as long as I use the klunky black Ortho-friendly boot with 5 Velcro straps. "Listen to the pain," he said... Huzzah! And the pain says, "Ow! Ow! Ow! Get that weight off me!!!" Dang. Well, we'll hope to see some improvement over the next 3 weeks, until I see the doc again.

Walk at Clement Park

Gliding on the walker, on the trail around the lake at Clement Park. Well, at least my left leg is getting a workout these days.

AEHF-2 Launched!

Today we launched AV-031, an Atlas V carrying AEHF-2, from Cape Canaveral LC-41

Gliding along, singing a song

This morning, I was gliding along (using my rolling walker) on the South Platte River Trail after breakfast, on a beautiful sunny cool morning, with my friend Ken, and the Mandy dog. Delightful. But I will be still be so glad, to be able to put weight on my foot again, in 5.28571429 more weeks!

Tape allergy

Turns out, I'm allergic to clear tape. Major rework at my IV site yesterday, to work around a huge rash, and try a different tape. Nothing seems easy, these days...

Hard to swallow

Just as I'm settling into this six week period of self-infusing antibiotics every 8 hours, something new develops. I've been having difficulty swallowing since last night, with a big lump in my throat, and my throat's also swollen and tender on the outside, under the jawline. Maybe my lymph system is going nuts. Made an appointment with my new primary care doc, who barely knows me at this point. Well, this is one way to get more familiar...

Creepy

I just learned how to self-infuse my IV antibiotic. — at Office Infusion Center.

S-Last day?

Hoping to be discharged today. They need to leave me enough time to get to the South Denver Infectious Disease Specialists office. The SDIDS folks will give me my first week's supply of Ancef, and teach me how to administer it, before I go home.

S-Mosty done here

I got a bonus this morning, while down there waiting for surgery. There was a short delay, so the ever-resourceful OR nurse Mary Sue called the IV team. They rushed Patty down to install the PICC line that will be required before I can be discharged. Then they stuck on a Scopalamine patch behind my ear, to head off nausea, and took me into the OR. The doc said it looked good, so he closed the wound. So now I'm just waiting for them to call me stable, overnight at least, before I can be discharged.

S-Another surgery

Survived another surgery! They took out the Wound Vac, eyeballed the wound, which must've looked good, since they closed it up. Bonus event: while waiting for surgery, IV team came and installed the PICC line. Two X-rays indicate placement is good. If you've got to be here, at least you don't have to worry about your food. Wow, the meals are really *good* here! — at Littleton Adventist Hospital

S-Painful night

Fitful night at the hospital, with a few high pain scenarios thrown in, just for the thrill of it. The Doc stopped by with his PA, answered some questions, laid out the plan for the next few days. Install a PICC line, remove the wound vac, close the wound, figure out an antibiotic, send me home Monday, maybe Tuesday. Here's something I found on the WebTV in the room, breathtaking night footage from the International Space Station, short and sweet, well worth watching.

S in Hospital

My Ortho doc agreed yesterday, the ankle had signs of serious infection. He scheduled surgery for this morning, only waiting because I'd already eaten lunch. He opened up the right side, where the plate and most of the screws were installed, flushed with antibiotic, and removed the plate, he said, which I'm guessing means he removed all the hardware on that side. I'm at Littleton Adventist Hospital, probably for a couple of days. That'll give the wound time to start healing, probably get me off the Wound Vac, and allow time for the culture to grow, so they can send me home with the right antibiotic. I'll be on IV antibiotics at home for 4-6 weeks, which hopefully will kill anything left in there. I've already got my appetite back, which is a good sign, I think.

S-Pain

Someone asked, with all the walking I've been trying to do, if I'm pain-free now. The short answer is "Hell, no!" -- But I'm getting out, anyway. Someone else asked if I'm taking Ibuprofen, and my answer was that I haven't taken any pain meds since week 2. They were causing me other troubles with the side effects, and I wanted to know when my foot was trying to tell me something with the pain. -- A work acquaintance said he had the same break and surgery, and was still in pain and with limited motion two years later. So I've got that to look forward to. Oh joy. -- And, well, today, OK, I have to admit, it's really hurting!! I couldn't put any weight on it last night. For the first time in a week, I brought the rolling walker back to work. Maybe it's an infection, maybe I overdid it with all the walking last weekend. I took an Ibuprofen this morning. My first pain med in six weeks. And man, did I need it!!!

S-Pushing it?

We walked around Johnson Reservoir at Clement Park today. I cleverly told myself I could turn back at any time, as we made our way around the lake. Once we were halfway, however, I was committed to the full loop. — at Clement Park.

Home again!

She's home! And thinking about turning a cute little Easter bunny into a headless little bunny. Oops. Too late. The deed is done. :-)

Cheery

K is alert and pretty cheery. Her BP is still low. Glucose has been extremely high, but has just come down to the normal range, as I arrived this afternoon. White cell count is off the charts. They're keeping her overnight again, as they attempt to control possible eye and lung infections.

Squall line

The fun never ends. It had to be this night, with K in ER, and me needing to get to bed early, to head into work in the early morning, that a squall line blows through around midnight, knocking at the windows so loudly, that I thought it might blow them out.

Back at ER

Oh for goodness sake. Here we are back at the Littleton ER. She was having very low blood pressure during dialysis. I ran over to dialysis to get the whole story, and her tech was convinced this was different than other low BP events. They also were having a hard time getting her blood oxygen level up into the normal range. The hospital has decided to keep her overnight, to rule out some of the more frightening possible causes. — at Littleton Adventist Hospital.

Happy Easter

Thanks to Freddie and Ken, for our tasty Easter brunch! A hard-boiled bunny, cutie slice eggs, and as many hot cross buns as we could eat. Yum!

Scary day

K went for a Fistulagram today at Colorado Renal Access & Imaging Center. They put her down with Valium. When she didn't wake up after the procedure, they pushed her out the door unconscious. Carol wheeled her to the car, went back to get help lifting her into the car, then drove her home, slumped over in the passenger seat. She had to keep calling to her, reminding her to breathe, without getting a response. She got her out of the car and into the house, with a little moral support from Jen and Ken, while I was rushing home from work. Now she's zonked out in her bed, breathing peacefully. You just never know when the next scary moment will come. -- The good news is, today was warm and gorgeous, and I wore a regular shoe to work, for the first time in six weeks!

Fat Frog Cafe

The chicken cordon blue crepe, and the cafe pick dessert crepe, are both delicious! As is the French onion soup. — at The Fat Frog Cafe.

Wearing a shoe!

I saw the Ortho doc today, for my six week follow up visit. He said No, that's not an infection around your wound, it's normal redness from a broken ankle healing. He also said I could start wearing a shoe, instead of the big black support boot I've been wearing for the past five weeks. Happy day!

Snowy blossoms

The pretty blossoms from yesterday have become the snow covered blossoms of today.

Pretty blossoms

Pretty blossoms outside work. Strange contrast, having these little snowflakes swirling around at the same time.

Fat Frog Cafe

The new breakfast menu here looks great. Especially the crêpes and Belgian waffles! — at The Fat Frog Cafe.

Sunny day

Mandy's basking out on this sunny 80° Spring day, enjoying the rich fragrance of our plum and crabapple tree blossoms, that have magically appeared since yesterday.

Snow?

Wuh, oh... Chance of snow in the forecast...

Foot's getting red

The foot was looking pretty good this week. Then this morning when getting out of the shower, I noticed a band of red starting up around the suture site on the right side. I'll be soaking it in warm water a few times today, and hopefully that'll help.

Romano's

Long time away. Glad to be back, having dinner at Romano's!

House didn't burn down

Unbelievable. Kristan and Jen walked out of the house this afternoon to leave for Dialysis, and the landscaping on the West side of our driveway was fully involved in a fire, 20 feet high. Jen jumped in her car and moved it, to avoid having it explode. Then she grabbed a garden hose, and with the help of a passing good Samaritan and our neighbor, doused it until it was completely out, then Jen's husband got here, and he doused it again, since the wind was quickly drying it out. The fire department showed up just in time to do nothing. The paint on the side of her car is all bubbled up, and the interior has little char marks all over, since the window was rolled down and sparks were blowing into it. The 10 foot dwarf Mugo Pine is only half burned to a crisp, thanks to a strong southwest wind, but probably dead anyway. The best news is, the house is untouched. It would've been on fire too, if the wind were blowing the other direction. Dumb luck that everyone is OK and we had just a little landscaping damage. I think Jen will be MUCH more aware of what she does with her cigarette ash from now on.

S-Driving!

Day 33. Drove myself to work for the first time this morning, after practicing some more yesterday, and convincing myself that yes, I really am competent driving with my left foot now. Too cool, getting around town independently! Also, per doc's orders, have been putting a little bit of weight on the injured foot at first, and have worked up, over several days, to being able to cautiously walk without aids for short distances. Now that's some real progress! :-D

S-Back at Blueberry's

Finally enjoying breakfast at Blueberry's on a beautiful Sunday morning! Even if I had to drive...

K Home

Home at last. It was very satisfying to come home after spending most of our night and day at the hospital, to find the man we'd hired to clean our gutters and windows, still hard at work. At least someone got something useful done in the past 24 hours. Our shiny clean windows make our wonderful mountain view look even better.

K Miserable

Well, things sure didn't go well for K at the ER. The paramedics gave her IV dextrose to bring her blood glucose up. When it came up, they expected her to become lucid. When she didn't (she hadn't slept in 3 days due to her sleep disorder issue), they decided she had a narcotics overdose, and gave her Narcan. This narcotic antagonist binds to the same receptors that her pain meds (and even her natural anti-pain endorphins) do, and prevents them from working. This is good, when someone is dying from an overdose. In her case, it exposed her to all the pain she could ever feel from the neuropathy, that she's been fighting for the past 15 years. She went into a terrible state of being in torturous level 10 pain for four hours, before the ER doc finally started getting it under control. They checked her into a room, so they could monitor her, and she finally fell asleep probably around 2:30am. By that time, my foot was in pretty intense pain too, as it had been down all day, especially as I was hurrying around the hospital ER, trying to advocate for her. Ken took me home, and I got to sleep around 3am. Oh, what a night...

Kristan to ER

Kristan's enroute to Littleton Hospital from dialysis. They measured her as she was coming off, and her blood glucose was 15, godawful low, and they said her heart "wasn't working right". My neighbor Ken will be picking me up in 5 minutes. More later.

S-Day 29, seems better

Day 29. The downtime seems interminable. Getting a little better each day, I think, but like watching paint dry. I started putting a little weight on it yesterday, per doc's orders. Seems to be going ok, with the occasional electric shock sensation when it twists too far, or in the wrong direction. The picture's on Facebook.

S-Day 21, back at work

Day 21. Caught rides to work the past two days. Glad the days were shorter than usual. Hard to control the edema when not just laying around with my feet up. I think it looks better, otherwise. Check Facebook for the picture.

Sleepless in Denver

K is having serious trouble getting sleep at the right time of day. It's really affecting her in many ways, not the least of which, is her inability to interact with all the people she sees in a day. When they tried to wake her after dialysis tonight, she thought she was coming out of surgery at the hospital.

I got my first shower in two weeks this morning. Heaven. Way better than all those silly little sponge baths.

S-Day 14, stitches out

Well, the stitches are out! The nurse came into the exam room, and I gave her two options for assessing my foot: 1) why the hell didn't you get in here sooner, and 2) hey, not bad. The Nurse, and the PA, and the Doc, all agreed on Option 2. Unfortunately, my friend Bill wins the previous Option Lottery (held on Facebook), with his unsolicited option 3) Looks good, but let's keep the weight off it for awhile longer. The Doc said the green tinge is expected, and should be gone soon. That was a relief. I thought the green meant my leg would be falling off soon. So it looks like I'll be laid up for another month, before I can put any significant weight on it, although I do get to start trying a little weight at a time, in two more weeks.

S-Different. Huh.

My two feet are still looking quite different, today. I wonder what the doc will say tomorrow? Options are: 1) Looking good! Let's start putting some weight on this thing! 2) Ew (a highly technical medical term). How come you didn't make an effort to get in to see me sooner?!

S-Not easy

Second day off pain and anti nausea meds. Not bad. Still off my feet (in bed) 99% of the day, after 11 days. Ugh. This is not even a little bit easy.

K Home Finally

Nice to FINALLY have her home again. She went into St Anthony hospital for a simple test (catheterization) on Tuesday, and didn't come home until yesterday afternoon.

RxMindMe

I keep missing doses of my meds, generally while I'm sleeping in the middle of the night, or sometimes when things get busy around here. I'm sure my angry red leg isn't happy that I'm missing doses of antibiotic. I'm trying a new app, RxMindMe, that's supposed to help with it. We'll see...

New boot for S

I've been so good, staying off my broken foot the past few days. And it seemed my ankle was doing better, except for a nagging sharp pain that would suddenly strike, like a trapped bumblebee under the Ace bandage. Then this afternoon, I leaned over to grab another dose of pain/nausea pills by my bed. As I stretched for it, I felt another sharp sting, and something went "pop!" Then my foot started hurting/stinging more than it had all day. I got scared, and went in for a pajama consult. The Doc said "good call" and gave me this fun boot to wear home, and some antibiotics.

S-Really Messed Up

I was walking down the hill, along the edge of our street, to get the mail Thursday night. Took the dog out to pee, multitasking as usual. The dog went the other way, and when I turned to call her back out of the street (a car was coming, saw the headlights coming around the curve, I slipped on the ice, and went down hard. My right foot folded 90° sideways and broke bones on both sides of the ankle. Bad news at Black Rock. Intense pain! Big pieces of bone pushing outwards on the skin at the sides of my ankle. I grabbed the foot firmly and gently aligned it, then massaged the ankle bones back in line with my foot. The foot was hanging down in whatever direction gravity pulled it. Nice neighbors driving by helped me drag myself out of the cold, back to the house, called 911. Paramedics took me to nearby Littleton Hospital ER. I did such a good job of aligning things, that the paramedics and the ER doc insisted it could just be a dislocation. "Hah!" I said, "take an X-Ray!" The X-Rays confirmed bones broken on both sides. Luckily, an Orthopedic surgeon and an operating room freed up at the same time, so he put in a plate and 7 screws on the right side, and 2 screws on the left side, to hold everything back together, within hours of the accident. The Doc said the surgery went well. Sent me home Friday morning, with orders to avoid weight bearing and driving for two weeks. Now I'm just writhing around in bed, between being in intense pain every time I move, and being so nauseous (from the pain medication?), that I can't keep any food down.

My first new doc of 2012

I visited my first non-Kaiser doctor in decades, today. Thanks to Mikele, I've already got some appointments lined up, with the dermatologist today, and my new primary care physician on Friday. Today's doc did some of the usual freezing, then recommended Levulan Kerastick for future treatment of AK spots. I guess I'll probably go for it, if our new insurance covers it.

Mikele and Bob gone

I dropped Mikele and Bob at the airport early this morning. We had a nice breakfast at Pour La France in the Denver main terminal, and they headed off to their gate with lots of time to spare. I called Ken for a later morning walk to Blueberry's for coffee, and we found out the hard way, that they started closing Blueberry's on Sundays, two weeks ago. Boo. That was the last place we could walk to with the dog, and sit inside with her, on a cold snowy Sunday morning. I guess we'll have to rethink our morning walks on those bad weather Sundays.

Better

K's left foot is starting to look much better than it did a week ago, when I was getting worried it was degenerating into another infection, right around the surgery site.

The Last Toe

Surgery day. Mandy already knew something was up, in the morning. This surgery removed her only remaining toe, which had already developed a wound. The Ortho doc said there were no complications. I discovered that driving from my new work location in the Denver Tech Center, to the new hospital (St Anthony), up I-25 to 6th Ave, is perhaps the most crowded route in Denver in the evening. The supposedly 25 minute drive (estimated by Google Maps) took me well over an hour. The rest of the drive, out 6th to Simms/Union wasn't so bad. I tried a different way home, and found myself disoriented in little neighborhoods with lots of loose deep snow. Big adventure!

Mikele's here!

Sher left on the 2nd, and my sister Mikele arrived on the 3rd! Mikele has offered to help us with the painful transition from Kaiser Permanente to Anthem. Then her hubby Bob will arrive on the 15th, and hopefully, we'll all get to play a little.