Looking back on 2014

This was a much better year than 2013, which was a rather stressful year. Graduating was the high point.

2014 led to many more improvements. I was finally able to get started with jobsearches in mid-January. A few interviews came up including one gov't interview. With this gov't interview which was 3 weeks after the surgery on the right hip, even though I asked for an interpreter, I didn't get one. Still wasn't quite the same even though all the questions posed me were on paper. But when the interpreter coordinator heard about it, she passed it on to a couple other people. From what I last heard, up pretty high. It was about 3 weeks later that I had a second chance at interviewing with them, and made the best of it.

I had an internship with Sprint from June to August, right after I went from walker to cane. Though I used the wheelchair to get to and from my workspace, I used the cane at times to get to a meeting room or someone's cubicle. That impressed my two supervisors and it showed on my final performance appraisal. I managed also to improve one of their badly-written documents by updating it with better descriptions and screenshots.

But it was also the entertainment industry where we lost a number of well-known people.

Perhaps our biggest loss was Robin Williams, what with his madcap style of comedy. We knew him from Mork and Mindy, and I believe it was his oddball audition performance that got him the part. Probably one of his best quotes, and he's right...

"You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it."

And probably one of his best - "O Captain! My Captain!" and "Seize the day!" from Dead Poet's Society.

Thank you, Robin, for being around.

2015 should be a better year for me, health-wise and my jobsearches.

Surgery and the Hips - Part 10

At the recent surgeon appointment, the surgeon said I was clear of all restrictions and that it looked like I had no infection. Just having no infection was a big Christmas gift for just about everyone, considering how it was last year with the infection and antibiotic spacer.

I'm getting back to swimming soon, which will help me in the transition from walker to cane. With home PT, I went from one lap to four, and should be able to get to more with swimming. I also should be going from in-home PT to outpatient, returning to the same place after the left hip's final surgery. Around the beginning of the new year, I'm going from twice a week in-home PT to three times a week outpatient. This should be interesting.

I also had this job interview a week before the appointment, and the only way I could get there was to drive. Since I couldn't find anyone to drive me there due to it being short notice, I had to drive myself against doc's orders to not drive. Fortunately, it wasn't too bad a drive, and I had just a little pain.

Surgery and the Hips - Part 9

I've made some big milestones since my last post back in July with Part 8.

I continued to do swimming and water walking in the local community pool until it closed, then went on to the local rec center which had a hot tub/spa. I kept on going until my next surgery which was November 3, this time on the right hip, right as I predicted back in Part 5.

I started the process for surgery in September, and was cleared for surgery at the presurgical appointment three weeks beforehand. Fortunately, this time, I wasn't in that much pain, but my walking was beginning to go downhill again. The surgeon and I agreed on using the lateral procedure rather than anterior in the interest of avoiding infection.

I finished my internship with Sprint about the first or second week of August. The money was used to pay off the previous bill from the nursing home and a student loan with just a little left to carry over to pay for the next surgery bills. It was a rather educational internship and I met up with three other deaf who also worked within the same campus, but a different building. Two of them were former classmates back at NTID. One person I worked with Sprint knew some sign and was a supervisor, so we talked here and there when we could.

Come the date of surgery, there wasn't a lot of pain, just a lot of improvements. The same nurses and physical therapists from the previous surgery last year were there and it was nice to talk with them at times. For physical therapy, the first few days, I wasn't able to go too far. But with the last day, I was able to make it all the way from my room to the PT room, stopping twice. Right when PT ended, Jamie and our neighbor friend showed up and we all talked a bit before heading back to my room. Then we had checkout and left. Doc's orders were to not drive until cleared, and a few other things related to post-hip surgery including some prescriptions, one being for oxycodone. Strong stuff, but not as strong as the dilaudid I've had before. That was an interesting experience. I had percocet during PT after the spacer surgery and after this surgery.

But it was dealing with Purple's discontinuance of their IP-Relay service (1 / 2 / 3 / 4) that's caused the most problems. This is the most critical time in terms of recovery and communications with doctors, and I'm left without it (Why IP-Relay is Important to Me Personally). I was dealing with the news a day after surgery via my phone and a laptop via wireless in between visits with the doctors, nurses, and PT. This was NOT the thing I wanted to deal with during my recovery period. Fortunately, I was able to change my phone number to the one I use with my Sorenson VP. Shame on you, Poople. Tell the truth to the FCC, please.

With the first home PT appointment, I was only able to do one "lap." Two weeks later, with Jamie watching when she was off work that day, I did seven laps. Later on, I was able to do eight. This means that my swimming and water walking helped out quite a bit. The nurse checked the incision area when she visited, and so far, everything's looked good. The incision area measured was 30 centimeters or 12 inches, using 43 staples. They were removed two weeks after surgery. Jamie wanted to watch the removal since she missed the last three. It wasn't too painful, just had a few areas that were sensitive.

I'm still on the walker, but could be using a cane maybe within the next month. I'm still a little too unsteady to use it. I did manage to do a slow lap with the PT helping out.

I've got an upcoming post-surgery appointment with the surgeon soon. So far, no sign of infection. Jamie and I have been changing the tegaderm coverings of the incision area every 1-2 days. This means that if I go this far without an infection, this will be a big milestone for me and an even bigger Christmas gift for her.

Why IP-Relay is Important to Me Personally

The discontinuance of Purple's IP-Relay service on November 14, 2014, was difficult for everyone to deal with. It's affected many people in many ways, some more than others. In this post, I'm going to be writing how it's affected me.

I got my number sometime around 2004 or 2005. I started using it for job searches, calling medical people, and various other places.

Currently, my usage of IP-relay has two major uses. Job searches and medical. I'll cover the two in detail below.


Medical

November 3 had me enter the hospital for hip replacement surgery on the right hip. I needed to do this to make me more able to work. Before the surgery, I was in constant contact with the hospital and other medical people in preparation for the surgery and for other future appointments.

The day after surgery was when the news broke about Purple discontinuing IP-Relay. I was in my hospital room and was writing messages and other things on a laptop in between visits and communications with doctors, nurses, and physical therapy. That plus keeping in contact with people on my phone via IM. This was NOT how I wanted to spend my time in recovery from major surgery!

I was discharged from the hospital November 6th. Fortunately, I went with the same home health services as before, and the supervisor, nurse, and physical therapist had no problem with my using text.

But this is a critical time post-surgery. Anything can happen. As one can see after reading the previous Surgery and the Hips posts, I'm in zero mood to have an infection again, which required a lot of calls and making contacts with doctors.

Before graduating from Gallaudet University in May 2013, I was in contact with medical people in terms of dealing with a bad and painful left hip joint. All through the surgeries on the left hip joint in June, July (due to infection, replaced by antibiotic spacer), and November 2013 (spacer replaced by new joint), I was in contact and afterwards for post-surgical checkups.


Job Searches

I started my job searches in January 2014 after I was allowed medically to drive and do what I needed to do. Many employers require job seekers to have a phone number, and some won't even consider using email. I had some interviews in that period of time between January and when IP-Relay was discontinued. I had a few employers request that I call them. Many employer online applications require that a phone number be entered. There were 2-3 employers who had pre-screening using Skype.

I have one pending interview, fortunately, for an entry level position. When I told the employer that I could not make the interview due to surgery (this was a week after surgery), they said

"No problem.  Just email me when you are ready."

How many employers would be willing to do this?

That plus a government interview that was just two weeks after surgery when I was more physically prepared.


A Critical Time

Thus, as I've said before, this is a critical and important time for me under these two particular categories.

For those who wish to read comments submitted to the FCC related to IP-Relay, they can be found here:

http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/

Go into Full Text Search and search using keyword ip-relay.

Related links:
The End of Text IP-Relay Services? Say It Ain't So.
Here's Why Purple's in Deep DooDoo!
The Case for AIM Relay

Surgery and the Hips - Part 8

I've had a couple big milestones since my last post.

Swimming and water walking are great therapy. The local recreation center has a more accessible pool that has no steps, while the local public pool has steps. I managed to get down them, however difficult it was. I couldn't do that last year. I'm still a little unsteady in the shallow area, but when I start walking in the deeper area around 4 feet, it gets easier. Physical therapy ended earlier, so I'm doing things on my own.

Then later on, Jamie and I were invited out to a dinner party with some other deaf people. It looked like I just had two steps up into the house. Then I go up the first step, and look inside, only to see several more steps after the first step inside, each going up and down. I almost considered just going back home, but I figured I'd try and see how far I could get, what with all the physical therapy and other things I've done since the last surgery.

I managed to make it up there. Then down both sets of steps to the basement, doing it backwards, with another step to get outside to the porch. Then right back upstairs for dinner. Dinner was good, having also met and talked with various people.

I'll soon be starting the process of the next surgery. All this should help me get through it quickly. But none of us are in any mood to see me go through another joint infection. I'll be talking with the surgeon about doing what I did earlier after the third surgery, which was a month of oral antibiotics.

I've also had an internship with Sprint in Reston as a Technical Support Intern which ends near the end of July. They didn't have any problem with my physical therapy hours and worked around it. Normally, I'd be doing 11am-7 (going 3-7 when I had PT), though I had "class" with someone else, usually going 8am-4. Getting there, I used the Fairfax County Parkway and am usually able to get there less than an hour.

Surgery and the Hips - Part 7

Since outpatient physical therapy started, my walking has been improving. I've transitioned from walker to cane, after around a year and a half of using the walker. Even then, it's still difficult, but it'll improve. I've been taking my quad cane to PT.

When I had in-home therapy, and just two weeks before the late March surgeon visit, I started developing something that felt like when the elbow's "funny bone" is hit, going from the hip area down to my foot. It got to be a bit painful in the foot area if I walked using the cane. Fortunately, the "funny bone" effect went away shortly after I started outpatient therapy. It still comes and goes but it's limited to between the hip and knee and is very minor. The surgeon recommended I see a back doctor, but even with the "funny bone" effect mostly gone, I kept the appointment. At the appointment, the doctor takes one look at me, together with my description of the "funny bone" effect, told me to keep doing what I'm doing.

The same day of that appointment, I kept the walker upstairs and used the cane. I managed to use it all day. Walking was slow, though a bit unsteady. That will improve. Still have a ways to go to straighten out the muscle contractures in the knees, though.

One interesting observation is that sometimes there's a bit of a muscle ache and it'll feel a little like a "phantom pain" like when the spacer was there.

Surgery and the Hips - Part 6

A lot of things have happened since Part 5. Around mid-January, I went from 10% weightbearing to 50% for two weeks, then finally full weightbearing. Fortunately, I'm now in outpatient physical therapy. That last "snowstorm" we had was barely a dusting two days before my appointment.

Then the DC area had FIVE snowstorms. The area school systems had snow days that were 3-5 times more than they were last year. Two of the storms caused my surgeon appointments to be cancelled and postponed. I never went out until the snow and ice melted. I was NOT going to go back to the hospital in pain if I was to fall and dislocate my new hip joint.

And no infection as of the end of January, what with my taking antibiotics for 4 weeks after the November surgery. That plus the infectious diseases doctor said they kept my tissue/blood sample for a bit longer time, about 10 days, to make sure there was no infection.

Now I can do things that I had to put off.

Humor: It was so cold...

This recent spate of extremely cold weather seems to have broken quite a few temperature records. Means everyone has to dress warm and take care of themselves a bit better. Those with walking issues may not be able to get out very well if at all.

Jamie and I came back the weekend morning just before the cold snap from being out at Target and Walmart. It rained some, and the rain let up just enough when we got home. I used my walker to get from the car to the garage into the house, but I had to move slowly due to possible ice. Fortunately, no ice and I didn't slip. I told Jamie later on that I wasn't going to go out again til the snow and ice on the driveway melted. Had I slipped and fallen, I could have gone down for good, needing medical help.

Post-Surgery Right Knee - Part 5 mentions what happened in 1982 when we had a big snowstorm and it was cold. Post-Surgery Right Knee - Part 4 talks about a big snowfall in Kentucky some time ago, 1994 or 1995, I think, where it was bitter cold and I was trying to shovel the driveway.

One of the funniest stories posted on CNN's site is It's so cold, humor edition.

Quite a few "It was so cold..." comments in the article. Most of the time, comments degrade into flame and/or political wars namecalling, and foul posts, but not here. Some are quite hilarious. I came up with a few...

It was so cold, that when I tried using my phone's speech to text software, the battery got very warm and the display showed "[chatterchatterchatter]." (or "It's warm, Jim.")

It's so cold that you don't need an ice cream maker. Just mix up everything and set it outside.

It's so cold that people can retire their refrigerators and freezers, instead just throwing everything outside.

It's so cold and icy that when I go to work, I don't need to walk. I have an oversize slingshot...

It's so cold, that a bullet/round from a weapon never reaches its destination, instead just freezing a few yards away.

It's so cold, that words come out of your mouth visually, no sign language needed.

It's true when they say laughter is good medicine as it warms the heart. It warms the body, too.

Looking back on 2013

The year 2013 wasn't exactly a great year for me. It marked my graduation at Gallaudet and three surgeries.

While college graduation marks a joyous time for those graduates, it was tempered by my nearly not graduating due to a capstone team member miscommunicating something with the instructor (Teamwork in classes and on the job - Part 1 and Part 2) requiring us to change direction mid-semester right before Spring Break. That plus having to deal with the ever-increasing pain levels due to the degrading left hip joint as I got closer to graduation and surgery date. It did help to inform those I worked with about what was going on with me. My team had a second chance at finishing up our project that summer, but my hip had other ideas, including the team leader also having a health issue, so we were never able.

The left hip had other ideas in a way that required three surgeries within 5 months (June, July, and November). Just 5 weeks after I had the original joint replacement, I had to return to the hospital due to it being infected. The second surgery had the joint be replaced by a wrecking ball of a spacer (Surgery and the Hips - Part 3) which was painful and uncomfortable. I had to have pain pills before physical therapy while in Acute Rehab. Fortunately, that wasn't needed when I moved to the nursing home.

I've been infection-free since the last surgery (Surgery and the Hips - Part 5). I don't need another wrecking ball in me. Physical therapy is going along well. I still have a ways to go before I can walk with and without a cane.

2014 should be a better year. The next surgery on the right hip should be near the end of 2014 also, and should go well.

Surgery and the Hips - Part 5

Back in mid-November, I had surgery to remove that wrecking ball of an antibiotic spacer and put in new joint hardware. I was only in the hospital for 3 days, and did well in my physical therapy tests, allowing me to go home sooner. This time, I don't quite remember being in the recovery room, only waking up in my hospital room.

Interestingly enough, it was the same room I had back in July, room 403.

I started again with in-home physical therapy the day after I got home. I'm still using the walker, with a restriction of 10% weightbearing on the left leg. I've been able to do things I wasn't able to do when I had the spacer in me. My house has a wall that separates the living room and foyer from the dining room and kitchen, allowing me to walk around it. I couldn't go more than 4 times around with the spacer. Now I've been able to get 6 times around and was able to get up on the exercise bed and do some exercises I wasn't able to do before. Another is that I'm able to sleep better. Of course, there's still some swelling in the leg and I have to keep them elevated, but the swelling's improved. Sleeping on my side I can do, but not for too long.

I was taking some antibiotics for a few weeks after discharge with pain meds. I've had the staples removed as well. Interestingly enough, the first surgery used Dermabond to close the incision, and the second used stitches. With this third surgery, the surgeon didn't reuse the anterior incisions due to the condition of the skin due to the infection, but used the lateral approach.

Still got a ways to go in terms of going from walker to cane. Next surgery could easily be late 2014.

Surgery and the Hips - Part 4

A week after I was in Acute Rehab, I was moved to a nearby nursing home, where I stayed for 6 weeks. I wasn't able to return home due to the house not quite being set up for my needs.

Enduring 6-7 weeks of IV antibiotics via the PICC line wasn't too bad, but it definitely made things easier with the blood draws.

Physical and occupational therapy in the nursing home helped out in getting me back to being able to do things. It got easier to walk and do other necessary things. At one point, my hearing aid's earhook and tubing decided to go bad. This required me to make quick work in ordering replacements from the audiologist and replacing them on my own. That meant I had a week of not being able to use my hearing aid.

Jamie helped out in bringing clean clothes every week including some other things I needed.

The nursing home had daily activities, but I missed a lot of them due to PT and OT. They had these practice stairs which I couldn't use at first, then finally able to use it. But the spacer prevented me from using them effectively due to the weight limitation. After a bit of research and therapist recommendations, I picked up on a stairlift and had it installed the day after I got home.

Apparently the spacer has other ideas in terms of being able to sleep at times...

Surgery and the Hips - Part 3

Surgery on the right hip will definitely be delayed, possibly til possibly mid-2014.

As it turns out, I returned to my doctor's office to have some discharge from the incision checked out a little over a month after the initial left hip replacement surgery. When the doc took out fluid from my joint and I saw what was aspirated, no one had to tell me it was infected. Fortunately, the doctor's office was within the same hospital I had the surgery, so it was a simple matter of being readmitted.

It was pretty funny when the nurses on the floor said "weren't you just here a few weeks ago?" Yep, and I'm back due to the joint being infected. Even the physical therapist doesn't look worse for wear after my telling and showing her previously how I use the walker on the steps.

After some talking with the surgeon and his fellow, it turns out that the joint definitely was infected. Two days later, I have surgery to replace the infected hardware with an antibiotic spacer. They have to give me painkillers in recovery as I'm in quite a bit of pain. I don't quite remember the trip from recovery to my room.

It was difficult enough getting out of the hospital bed. Their giving me a strap with a loop on the other end for my foot helped out in getting me in and out of bed.

I had a blood drain which creates a vacuum when compressed. I couldn't resist.

"Somewhere out there, a vampire's going to be very happy."

A few days later, I'm told I'm going to be moved upstairs to Acute Rehab, and had to agree to 3 hours worth of therapy daily. I have a PICC line put in for the IV antibiotics and blood draws. Using pain meds helps out in controlling the pain while I go through physical and occupational therapy. They've got this monster of a platform walker that's helped me out in getting back to walking.

When going through physical therapy, remember that they also specialize in wedgies...

Surgery and the Hips - Part 2

Physical therapy started the next day for me, twice a day. I was barely able to make a circuit around the nurses station, going only 1/4 of the way around with the help of a walker. Next day, I made a full circuit before heading into the physical therapy room. Then the day before I was to leave, in two physical therapy sessions, did the equivalent of two circuits. I even scared the physical therapist and may have given her more gray hair showing how I use the walker to go up and down steps, doing it in the fire exit stairwell.

One of the things I had to do post-surgery that day was to sit on the edge of the bed. Just doing that beforehand would have been painful. In this case, it wasn't. But I wasn't able to stand due to my having low blood pressure and the concern I could pass out.

Before heading home, I had to ask questions of the surgeon, his fellow (he learns from the surgeon), the physical therapist, and others. I couldn't resist when one thing that came to mind was on roller coasters. I asked if I could ride them, maybe at least a year after surgeries are done. The answer I got was that I could. Personally, I'd see how the ride was built and go from there, knowing how fast and bumpy they can be. I've got almost no driving limitations except that I not be under influence of the pain medications. The way I am now, probably won't be for a bit.

Most important was the restrictions. Seems I have almost none. Only thing I need to be careful of is that I not have extreme ranges of movement. The fellow said I'd also know if I dislocated the hip and to call 911 to take me to thoe hospital for getting it back in place.  It's also around this time I find that there's not two approaches to hip surgery, but three. Anterior, posterior, and lateral. Seems lateral is approximately between anterior and posterior. Another webpage shows more approaches. I also found out earlier that my incision was closed by stitches under the skin, but the skin is closed via not stitches nor staples, but something called Dermabond.

As usual, I used humor here and there when the time was right.

Other than all that, the second surgery should go just as well as this one. I've got the same people from a home health care agency coming in for nursing support and physical therapy from when I had the knee surgeries.

Researching My Hip Surgery

Like I said in my Researching Your Knee Replacement (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3), it helps to research and ask questions. I started like I did with the knees, looking on YouTube and other webpages. But of course, I went back over to Booktoots' Healing blog, but if she had something on that, I may have missed it. However, Robin's site had some info.

After much research, I knew that there were two approaches to this procedure, the anterior and the posterior. What sealed it for me in getting the anterior approach over the posterior was an article in the Washington Post. As it turns out, it was one of the referrals my rheumatologist gave me, and was also mentioned in the article. I made an appointment with one doctor there. Then when I saw him, we talked about the surgery and I asked him if he does the anterior approach. He didn't, but he passed me along that same day to another doctor who did, and from there I had my surgery date.

About three weeks before the surgery date, I went to the hospital for presurgical testing and met up with a case manager and a physical therapist. I was cleared for surgery. Later that evening, I had a "joint class," meaning they cover what I'm to expect before and after surgery. I was the only person in the class.

It was difficult enough after the first knee surgery when the surgeon had to cut the muscle due to the muscle contractures I had, but after seeing the laundry list of restrictions in effect for 6 weeks...

The surgeon who did the knees does the posterior approach. My surgery date with him was cancelled and went with the current surgeon.

Hills and Wind and Water after Knee Surgery

Booktoots posted Natural Way to Increase Resistance While Walking and it got me thinking...

Where I live is a steep hill going downhill going one way from the house. Going the other way is a gentle hill. You wouldn't really notice it if you weren't looking at it. But it's there. Walking to the store and back I can't quite do yet. Towards the store, you're going up the hill. It's a gentle grade, but it's still some good exercise. Going up my driveway is easier than going downhill. Can't quite do that when it's snowed or there's some ice around.

Where I used to live had hills galore of varying steepness. You could stay on the same street and go uphill a little, then downhill, then suddenly downhill, then turn a corner to another street, and go right back uphill. Then go round a corner, downhill a bit, then go around another corner, steep hill, then gentle hill. Back home, one gentle hill up and down. Wow... Good walking.

Personally, water walking does a great job.

When I was still able to use a bike in high school, I had this paper route that took me up a hill, then down. Think how hard it was for me to go up the hill when the wind was blowing hard. Now think how much harder it is when your bike is stuck in third gear...

Post-surgery Knees - Part 5

Whoa... It's been a few months since I last posted. Been a little busy with an online class and some other things.

I'm improving more here and there, though still using a store's electric scooter. One scooter I used ran out of power halfway through my shopping. I managed to walk to the front of the store to get a cart, take it back to the scooter, transfer the items and finish up my shopping. That was a little easier than I thought. One of these days, I'll do a quick bit of grocery shopping without the scooter.

A few weeks ago, the local area had about an inch of dry snow. I had to see if I could do it. After a little bundling up, I spent 30 minutes shoveling a path through the driveway and sidewalk without help. I had to stop once to rest. Then recently, we had a snowstorm which dumped about a few inches of snow. I managed to get half the driveway done, with Jamie taking finishing the rest. I did it again that morning to get the rest of the snowfall, again getting half the driveway done.

There was also this ASL dinner I went to between surgeries. I went back out there and had to stop a couple times to rest a bit. Getting my tray with food up the steps was a little difficult, but I made it, something I wasn't able to do last time I was there.

I'm getting there in terms of my endurance. It'll take time, though. Let's see how much of the lawn I can mow this summer.

Post-surgery Knees - Part 4

It's been a little time since I last posted about my knees. I've had a couple milestones since then. I'm still swimming here and there and doing water walking.

We have an elliptical, so I'm just easing into the thing. It's tougher than it looks since I can only walk or tread on it slowly at the moment. Riding an actual bike will take a bit more time.

I managed to walk from the house to a friend's place, only stopping for a few minutes to rest, then walked right back home. It was a pretty warm day and I was sweaty by then.

I was also at Jamie's dad's place and managed to walk from his house to the lake. Getting there required me to walk downhill on a gravel and rock path. Fortunately, it wasn't too long a path. I wasn't able to go down it before the second surgery.

Post-surgery Knees - Part 3

I'm feeling a bit more improvement here and there. We have an electric mower and there were some technical problems here and there in trying to mow the somewhat overgrown side of the house due to another mower that kicked the bucket. Normally, I don't do much except to make sure that the extension cable doesn't get mowed and damaged like it did one time, me sitting off to the side.

In this case, I was out there for about 20-25 minutes after resetting the electrical breaker box. Then I started mowing a few rows. No pain, just some stiffness on the left knee, which was expected. Later on, I used the edger in places.

Looks like I could get back to doing at least some mowing next year.

I did some grilling in the back yard's small brick grill with the help of Jamie's young son. He did a nice job in flipping some of the burgers and hot dogs and helping out in taking in the cooked items.

While watching the "See What I'm Saying" documentary at MSSD's Malz Theatre, I didn't use the wheelchair. I walked in, standing part of the time before the show, and standing much of the time afterwards, talking with others. That's pretty much another milestone right there.

Post-surgery Knees - Part 2

It's getting easier for me to do things here and there. I'm able to walk a bit further than before. It'll be a bit of time before I can walk to the store just up the road as it's a one-way walk at the moment. The contracture is still there a bit, but I'm hoping to have it resolved within a couple of years.

I was out at an ASL dinner not long ago and was in line for about 15-20 minutes. I couldn't stand that long before the surgeries.

I also had to help out in getting a new electric mower working properly since it kept blowing the fuse. When I finally got everything working, I even went so far as to do some mowing, thus being outside and mowing some high grass for about 20 minutes. I was beginning to hurt a little and the left knee was stiffening up a bit. I'm hoping next year I'll be able to mow longer.

Will I be able to get to classes without using the wheelchair, just using the cane? I should know sometime soon.

Post-Surgery Knees

I'm seeing improvements here and there on the right knee and it's nearly there in being straightened. The left one still has the muscle contractures, but is straightening out here and there in little bits.

Two milestones came up...

I spent two hours each on a Saturday and a Sunday with Jamie in the back yard doing some planting. While I was sitting at least part of the time, I was helping out here and there in digging holes with something called a garden weasel and removing rocks as I broke up soil chunks. I was able to do more than I could before and just a little pain.

My sister visited with her family and we walked to the building next door which has a playground in back then back to the house. It was a little difficult, but no pain. I probably could walk around the building quite soon.