A Busy Couple Of Days

I don't know how it happens but you can get pretty busy in a day of retirement and before you know it, it's already past 6pm and dinner isn't ready. I didn't have a lot planned for Monday except ride my bike, walk the hounds and do some reading. That all changed after my first phone call to Sierra Vista Medical Group billing department. Like all other companies I wasn't talking to anyone that was working in Arizona, let alone in the town my doctor is located. This time it was a girl in Colorado. I had her confused in no time.  LOL

She promised to make the adjustment to my balance due for a payment I had proof I made November 21st but she did not see it anywhere on my account. Yeah, I know holidays get in the way of work but come on ... 11 days??? She also told me she would send me a confirmation of her adjustment so I asked "how, in what manner are you going to send it?" ... the word "manner" threw her off, she didn't answer so to make it easy for her I suggested EMAIL !!!! What a concept. When she did NOT ask for my email address I gave it to her because I'm such a nice guy after 45 minutes of confusion on the phone just after 8:30am. See where I'm going with this?  HaHa ... thought so.

I decided I'd give her a chance to process all that she was going to do ... a simple posting of my payment 11 days prior making the balance due ZERO. I had another cup of coffee to calm down, discussed philosophy with Stella as she stared back at me ... then called again. I knew I'd get another billing trained professional that could tell me if it was posted on my account or not. After all it is 2020 and most financial transactions can post in a fraction of a second as long as you are doing your job.

Why did it not surprise me that he didn't see anything that I told him about. Nor did I receive an email confirmation. The pieces to this puzzle was coming together fast and the final piece was to get some kind of warm clothes on, get in my car and head out to the local doctor's office so they could fix what their billing department could not. I knew the process and so did they ... you know how?

I'VE HAD TO DO THIS ONCE PER MONTH EVERY MONTHY SINCE MY SURGERY AND FIRST BILL.

Let's just say things turned out the way they should with some guidance from yours truly. I felt like I was working a job again, enough to know that I don't want to work any job again.  LOL

The best thing to relieve stress in my case is to ride a bicycle. It was a perfect time when I got back, almost 60°, sunny and very little wind. You can read about that ride if you want on my bicycle blog located on the sidebar.

I knew by the time I got back a few hours later, FedEx would have delivered my rock rails ordered for the 2007 FJ Cruiser. I am slowly building this to what I had in 2014, my first FJ Cruiser.

When the sunshine disappeared today, Stella was somewhat irritated. You can see she is upset and can't find a spot to lay done to sleep. She likes to sunbath not sleep on rocks in the shade.

Heidi may not look like it in this picture but the past week I have not seen as much energy from her in years as I have the last 4-5 days. She barks, sprints around the house faster than any camera can catch her, sleeps all through the night without waking me up and eats her kibble in half the time it takes Stella to finish.  She is also going on every morning walk that Stella and I take. She has walked more here in her new home than she did in years back in 'the tropics'.

The rock rails had arrived when I got home. They are in the boxes on the right. Shelving on the left is still waiting for my friend to come and get them. He told me again last week he would be over and wanted them for sure ... it's been two months now.

I had this vision I could do this job myself. 6 bolts on each side, can't be that hard. I didn't realize how heavy that rail was and with the brackets already welded to the rails, made the job even harder. Especially when I am laying on my back doing a bench press on the rail and trying to get it up and over one of the bolts so it can slide down in place. My hip was screaming louder than I was, although it was not cussing, like I was. It did not take long to decide to load everything up in the cargo area and call Toyota for an appointment to install them.

It took them a little under an hour to install them and pull the FJ around to be picked up. Another good thing about having them do it, as they applied the brakes I noticed I had a left brake light out. So while I paid the bill for installing the rock rails, they replaced the light bulb at no charge.

Right before I bought this, the previous owner bought and installed brand new stock Toyota wheels that come with the FJ. They look great but I prefer black wheels like my first Voodoo Blue had. I'll sleep on that question a few nights and see what kind of vibes I get.

This FJ is in awful good shape for a 2007 and only 97,xxx miles on it. If I was told I could only have two cars, I'd keep this FJ and my Mini Cooper S ... the same combo I had a few years ago.

Here's a picture of that first FJ I had ... rock rails, same color with black wheels.

So what happened today ... besides the appointment to Toyota, I was too busy for grocery shopping so I ordered online and they will be here between 5pm-6pm and it's 4:49pm as I type this. The biggest thing was my 3 month followup with the surgeon this morning. Again the hip and femur look fantastic, he is thrilled I am back to riding my bike like I was before my crash. I should feel completely normal in 8 months and he finished by telling me to come back and see him a year from now.  December 3rd, 2020.

Fry's is on the way ... that's all for tonight.

Hounds Have A Spa Day

Stella was all set for another night of 'on call nurse' but within minutes decided that I was okay and decided to sleep instead. I am going to stop giving every day updates about my rehab since the first two weeks are over and it's another 4 weeks before my next appointment. There is not going to be a lot of different news until then. Yet, for the first time in a long time I had 6.5 hours of solid sleep last night, all because I could sleep on my side instead of my back. The hounds slept through the night until 1:43am ....

How do I know the exact time? The clap of thunder was so close and loud when I woke up from the sound I swear I was 3 feet in the air (joke). I had no doubt that lightning had struck the house or somewhere extremely close. Within that minute I hear what I think is a bloodhound trotting down the hallway on the tile floor toward the bedroom. It was Stella, who was sleeping in the computer room when I went to bed. Once she saw things were okay she laid beside Heidi's bed and slept the rest of the morning.

A little after 6am the winds were whipping from the SE and it was a cold 52°. I was wide awake at 4am while the hounds slept until 7am. It was going to be a big day for us today. I was going to get a lot of walking done inside the house without the walker and the hounds were going to be picked up by Sierra Dog Grooming at 10am so they could have a spa day.

I planned on alternating between the walker and my trekking pole inside the house but once that my neighbor saw that he said "wait a second, I'll be right back" ... a few minutes later he handed me a metal adjustable cane to use. With the curved handle I found it much easier to walk compared to the flat top of the trekking pole. By noon I had over 5,000 steps, almost twice as much as my biggest day.

Remember the doctor told me to walk as much as I wanted as long as I did not feel fatigue in my right leg or hip.

Kelly arrived right on time with a Jeep Grand Cherokee. I told her all about Stella and Heidi and like everyone else that has met the hounds, she loved them. Once she put my leashes on each hound Heidi started walking to the car while Stella wasn't so sure. Was she being given away again?

Heidi jumped up in the back seat like it was her car and with Stella's hips Kelly was able to lift her just enough to get her in the back floorboard where Stella stepped up on the backseat. Each hound was then buckled into their doggie seatbelts. I was going to be houndless for about 5.5 hours, for the first time since September 2018.

Right after they left I had my groceries delivered by Fry's Market and once again they pulled 34 items from my online shopping list and didn't make a mistake. That service is well worth the $9.95 service fee plus a tip.

I called the doctor's office to confirm that I could take a real shower. I had forgot to ask him yesterday during my appointment but assumed I could since he said the incision had healed very good and he took the surgical tape off. I had no problems losing balance or feeling dizzy. It is a walk in shower not one in a tub. It felt great to feel really clean again. With everything I  had done in the morning it was time for some rest, and a possible siesta.

An hour later I was vacuuming the house and then I put every jacket I brought with me in the washer to prepare for our winter. I can pull the jackets or any kind of laundry out of the dryer with the grabber.

So by the end of the day I was going to have a clean house, a clean me and two clean hounds !!!

Around 3:45pm the Jeep Grand Cherokee pulled up in front of the house. Luckily it wasn't raining so I grabbed my cane and headed outside to grab Heidi's leash while Kelly got Stella out of the backseat. Within a few minutes Heidi knew where she was and trotted away as I let go of her leash ... right into the living room.

Once Kelly was at the side walk I told her to let go of the leash and Stella would run to the house, which she did. Both hounds were soft and shining with an added Halloween scarf around their necks. Heidi's nails looked shorter than I had ever seen them. Stella's were still short from her vet visit a few weeks ago.

Kelly took her time and explained everything she did for Heidi and Stella. She thinks that Heidi might be starting to have an ear infection. Both hounds were happy to be home, wagging their tails and checking to see if I had any treats for them. I asked how they were in the kennel and she said the both of them were the best dogs they had ever worked with. They stayed in the same kennel after they were cleaned.

Both liked getting a bath and both didn't mind getting their nails cut. She said that Stella loved having her ears cleaned and Heidi didn't mind it either.

I will definitely be using their service again, only next time I should be able to drive them to their facility myself. They say don't bath a hound as often as other dogs because it takes the natural oil away but I usually try to bath them when they start smelling like a hound.

There was some other surprising news this morning, adding another thing I can do.

My hound sitter/feeder MJ The Pet Nanny sent me a text this morning that she was going to be late due to an emergency with a client that has five cats. After that she had to take time to feed horses of two clients. Like she told me last week, horses are different than dogs when they are hungry ... they don't whine or bark, they kick down gates and fences so she had to feed them before she stopped by to feel Heidi and Stella.

It was getting pretty late, past Stella's breakfast time so I looked at the situation and grabbed an empty dog dish with "the grabber" ... no problem sitting it on the floor and picking it up to clean after their meal. Would I be able to bend over to dip the kibble out of the container into their dishes without breaking the doctor's 90° rule?

To make sure I leaned over on my good left leg while keeping the bad right legs off the ground  ... no problem. While the hounds were eating I had the neighbor watch me and confirm I was not breaking the 90° rule when bending over to get the kibble out of the storage container.

I had to try another thing. I grabbed the poop bag and headed outside. I like picking it up as soon as possible and knew I'd be doing this once I moved to Arizona. Stella would  no longer have that 7 acre field she like to crap in.

So once again I leaned over with my bad foot/leg off the ground and was able to pick up what I needed to without bending more than 90°. I was close to feeding the hounds again and cleaning up after them. Since I have been sitting things I need up waist level or higher around the house so I can reach them, I decided I needed to sit the kibble container on something a couple of feet tall so I would barely have to bend over to get the kibble out.

I had the perfect solution. I have a hard fiberglass case that I stored camping stuff in that was just he right height. I had my neighbor bring that in from the garage and it worked out perfect. MJ was giving me a discounted price for coming twice per day since I was here and could let the hounds out during the day and later at night. She loves Heidi and Stella too but she has a lot of animals to take care of besides all of the ones she owns.  I will also call her when I need her in the future to take care of Heidi and Stella.

So the hounds are shiny, clean and sleeping. I am clean and can do the majority of my walking with a cane and sometimes with only my two feet. Once again I feel stronger than yesterday, still following the rules for making turns and using the walker as an alternative. It's been raining again so I expect another good night of sleep and we start all over tomorrow.

Comment or email me if you have any questions about hip replacement surgery or rehab.

It's a rough day spending all of it at the doggie spa ....

It's cold and rainy here in the Wild West.

Heidi's Secret Admirer Suggests Blanket For Heidi

For years the hounds have had a secret admirer going as far back as Winston. I don't know who loved Winston more, him or me but I know I loved that basset hound more than anything. So the "admirer" has always had a keen eye when looking at the photos of the hounds. His thoughts are relayed to me through emails and shows me just how much I miss in the photos I take. So last night there came a suggestion.

He thought Heidi looked great in her new bed but he is also familiar with Arizona weather and believe it or not our nighttime temps are dropping into the 50's now. He suggested I bring out her blanket in case she needed it. So with with temps in the 50's instead of single digits, Heidi is starting with her fleece blanket with the wool Mexican blanket cleaned, folded and ready to go when those temps drop to the 30s at night. We sleep with the windows open at least through the 50's.

Bloggers ... you never know who is reading your blog. This "special admirer" of the hounds has always kept me on my toes.  HaHa

I know I am suppose to and I really am when I tell you that I am improving every day. I may not be sleeping any better but I am feeling better and getting stronger. Tuesday I needed to take a book back to the library and I needed to go to the bank to get some cash, something I rarely carry. The cash is for tipping the grocery delivery and my pizza place only takes cash for deliveries.

Soooooo I decided it was time to expand my horizons.

I told Gerry to park his Jeep Liberty at the curb because I would be walking (with walker) down the driveway and would let myself in. I think he was more nervous than I was.

I opened my front door, felt good on the front porch (no steps anywhere) and then took my time walking 'down' the driveway. Every driveway is slanted downward for the monsoon rains to clear to their gutter system in the street which makes the curb just a little higher than normal. I remembered to step with my good leg first off the curb, the bad leg followed.

The Jeep Liberty seats are the perfect height for me to stand with my back toward the door, holding my bad leg out straight as I sit, as I was instructed to do every time I sit down. Just like getting in bed, I slid into the seat that was all the way back with the back of the seat tilted back a little. Swung my feet into the passenger side and we were off. He folded up my walker and put it in back.

I felt no pain getting in and out of the car, nor walking 'up' the driveway when I got home.

I forgot to tell you, with "the grabber" I am able to change clothes and put on my left sock. The right foot and ankle is swollen so much that with the compression sock I had to have help putting that on. Shoe??? I took the shoe laces out of the flat soles, rubber grip New Balance shoes when I left the hospital on Sept 9th. With the grabber and the long extended shoe horn  I can get both shoes on with no trouble.

I wanted to concentrate on taking less steps during the day and adding more of those 30 minute rest periods flat on my back even with my eyes open. By doing that, by the end of the afternoon I felt much stronger on Tuesday than any other afternoon. By the end of the night I still had over 1,300 steps for the day.

During my afternoon siesta I was in a weird dream and either pain or the dream woke me up, only to find my bad leg raised in the air with that swollen foot higher than it had been in any exercise. I just waited for the pain in my hip to hit me but it never did. The only pain if you call it that, that I had all day, was a numb feeling deep in that hip that was replaced. To be expected of course.

I did spend some time walking around the kitchen and around the table when I needed to pick up something without the walker. I'd have one hand barely touching the table or a counter or a wall while I walked. I am still following the rules they gave me for making turns, moving laterally and reaching for things. I may have broken the 90° rule a time or two when I was bending over but it was a slow bend.

I am suppose to sit in chairs with straight backs and a seat that is a little high. The kitchen chairs work for that but they are hard and almost uncomfortable without some sort of seat pad. I tried putting a couch pillow on them but that was even more uncomfortable. I also remember every time I sit either in a chair or on the bed, to keep my bad leg straight out then bend it once I am seated.

I know I cannot just turn and pivot when walking or making a turn. I have to turn in short increments keeping my feet parallel with the side of walker and my knee/foot straight. Like I said yesterday, there are many times I am sitting at the table or computer and forget that I am using a walker. I still would do anything to be able to sleep on my left side instead of my back. I remind myself when moving to get in bed or out of bed not to go fast and follow the protocol. I can feel how much stronger my right leg and hip is each day by the exercises I do.

I was able to do all 10 of the leg slide outs this morning for the first time. That's the toughest exercise of all I think. The most discomfort. When I walked down the hallway toward the kitchen my right leg was walking normal and felt normal !!!! So the thigh muscles are getting stronger just doing those with 10 reps each and no weight or resistance of any kind, just normal movement.

Stella seems to think she can help me and will follow me from room to room. The only "close call" was last night when she planted that 85# front paw of hers right in the middle of my swollen right foot. It was so swollen that it did not hurt and I figured she was trying to move the fluid around. I have been extra careful that she does not fall, rub or lean into my right leg when I am petting her.

With my lack of activity I can feel the weight I lost coming back. I am eating healthy food but it doesn't take long to add the pounds when I am not doing anything. It should drop just as fast as it did before once I start walking, hiking and biking.

I tried my first online grocery shopping and delivery this morning.  I bought 32 items online, using my Fry's discount card, paid online and less than an hour later he was at the door bringing my groceries right to the kitchen counter. He picked the order just like I ordered, not missing a brand name nor size. It was well worth the $9.95. I did ask him if the local store really did give him the 5% tip automatically added at the checkout and he said he did but since he was fast and accurate I had to give him an additional tip.

Later in the day I started feeling so good it was scary just how good. I moved around the kitchen putting the groceries away, in some cases without the walker but it was nearby if needed. The times I have intentionally walked the hallway, the stride felt normal with very little to no discomfort. My standing marching leg lifts (slowly), my right leg had never gone higher. I am only moving that leg to the point of discomfort and then backing off.

I had a few 'rest periods' and was having a pretty solid siesta until my twitching left leg woke me up. That the non-surgical side. The hounds didn't do much outside their normal routine. It's been warm this week so they spend most of their time inside enjoying the cool air conditioned room.

Of course Stella always finds time to get a little sunshine therapy in.

Another good day in the Wild West.