The Body Said To Walk

I thought it was going to be a day to "take off" after my big day yesterday. I had multiple short walks of around a 1/4 mile each, went over 6,000 steps for the day and had a restful night of sleep. There wasn't what I would call soreness but something on the side of my hip this morning while I laid in bed. Not painful, not numb nor discomfort ... just a feeling of some sort. As I walked around using the walker in the kitchen making coffee, letting the hounds outside and a few trips down the hallway, the leg and hip started to feel better ... I decided to watch and listen to see what the day would bring.

The hip felt strong again as I turned from the kitchen counter to the fridge, multiple times. I felt strong if I just stood without any support of a walker or cane. I was still willing to give things time today to see if I would continue to walk or take a day off. That would mean no walks to the mailbox, down the street or laps around the backyard ... just steps inside the house with normal activity.

It didn't take Stella long to get back to wanting breakfast at 5am. She unexpectedly let out a loud bloodhound howl as I was about to turn the corner toward the kitchen. It was so loud I was sure she was waking up the neighbors. Once Heidi heard that she woke from a deep sleep then sprinted and slid down the tiled hallway.

I stuck to my guns and told them breakfast would be served at 7am, no sooner ... go back to sleep. Believe it or not they did. Heidi turned back to her bed and Stella snuck into the computer room in the right corner. Both were sound to sleep as sat down with a cup of coffee.

I took it as a good sign that I had walked out on the patio to take some photos and completely forgot to bring my cane with me. I went back inside and moved around the kitchen on my own two feet, putting some things away and fixing some breakfast. Fry's Market would be delivering my online grocery order at 9am so I needed clear counter space.

A friend had told me that Al Roker on NBC Today, had a hip replacement about a week or a few days after me and I should tune in to see how he was doing. He was also walking with a cane but when he was giving the weather forecast he was moving fast, going back and forth, a few steps forward then back. I was beginning to wonder after seeing that if I had been too cautious, too timid at times to stretch my stride out to a normal stride.

I remembered that everyone is different, each recovery is different and to just listen to my body and just walk. By mid-morning Stella has passed out in one of her favorite spots. It didn't take long for them to get use to the new rule of not getting on the furniture. They don't even look and beg to do it anymore.

Heidi loves her new bed from a few weeks ago and spends the majority of her time right there. It doesn't matter what time of day or night it is ... if she feels like sleeping, off she goes to the back of the house.

I could tell as time went on I was feeling pretty good and even better than I expected. I thought I'd feel some soreness after yesterday but didn't. When I took a small trash bag out to the bin, I felt strong walking across the driveway and once again I had forgot to take my cane. In fact I couldn't remember where I had left my cane ... couldn't find it anywhere !!!!

Then the light inside my head clicked on and I remembered leaving it on the arm of the patio chair.

Since Heidi and Stella no longer get their lunch at noon, they like to hang out near the kitchen or in the kitchen close to the door where the dog treats are hidden. I think MJ spoiled them with dog treats where she would pass them out each time she left, which was twice per day. Today Stella wasn't moving until I gave her at least one treat to hold her over until their mid-afternoon meal.

Heidi does not like getting her picture taken. She moved every time that I had her almost lined up for a great shot.

My USPS email notice let me know I had a lot of mail today. A LOT of junk mail but only one envelope of any importance. My body was wanting to walk so off I went with my mailbox key in hand and Stella in the backyard with the door closed. So far this past week she has shown no signs of trying to dig her way out under the gate while she stays in the backyard. I don't think she leaves the patio as she stares inside through the door window until I return.

Not intending to change anything on my walk, I could feel my pace was a little faster and my stride might be a tad bit longer. Going earlier in the afternoon meant less traffic, not that I have a lot, and I could make it back home before two school buses dropped off the kids from school.

By the time I got home I had the usual .26 of a mile and felt like walking even more ... so I did lap after lap around the fence line inside the yard. It didn't take long before I was over .65 of a mile and just clicked 20 minutes total time. Definitely not a speed record but that's not the point. I walked the whole way without any kind of support, holding my hand in my hand just in case I might need it. I could have walked longer if I wanted. The goal is to eventually walk 1 mile without support.

It was my longest walk yet ... 20 minutes, no support.

I'll plan to watch both MLB Playoff games tonight but I will not make it through even the first one based on recent times. I am usually tired before 8pm and definitely before 9pm and I don't hesitate turning the lights off and officially calling it a day. The body is dictating when to walk and when to rest.

I read somewhere today that at 6 weeks I should feel 80% normal and will resume normal activities. That is the exact time for my next follow up appointment with my surgeon. After a year I will most likely forget that my hip was ever replaced. It will take about 3 months for the bone to grow into the implants.

I felt so close of taking the car for a short drive and not too far from the house but once again, I have nowhere I need to be and it cannot hurt to add more days of healing before I try to get behind the wheel.

That's about all for today. Sorry I don't have more photos but the hounds didn't do much and I did a lot of reading.

My progress continues in the Wild West.

Hip Feels Strong For First Time

It was in the middle of the night when I realized my hip is so much stronger. I had moved my right leg in a way that I couldn't just a few days ago, in the middle of sleeping. There was no discomfort in my hip as I raised the leg a little to change sleeping positions. Always before I could feel "something" inside the hip. As I started the day today I could once again feel improvement from how I felt only 24 hours before.

Heidi has various places to sleep scattered throughout the house. This spot is one of her favorites and it's one of the first places I put a blanket down for her when we moved in. She has not slept yet on the tile floor, always finding a blanket or the carpet piece inside the front door. All the bedrooms are carpeted so she likes that.

Just like today, it was beautiful yesterday where the temps spent most of the day in the 70s and only toward the very end of the afternoon did it creep up to 82°. I knew before I moved here, there was great weather here and it would be sunny 300+ days per year but I didn't realize just how nice the weather really is.

I didn't do much yesterday. I walked close to 6,000 steps and took numerous short walks during the day from five to ten minutes each. I decided to see if that huge dog was living in that house or not, so I walked that way to the end of the street and back ... did it again a few times today. I did not hear nor see that huge dog.

I do a lot of laps around my backyard, that is .02 of a mile per lap and takes 1:12-1:23 in minutes and seconds. You can tell the monsoons have been here, look at all that green.

Luckily Stella is not a barker like other dogs in the neighborhood, especially like the one next door. She will stand and listen to all the noise but never barks or howls back at them. Here she is deciding whether to walk with me or stand and watch me.

The new iPhone 11 Pro talks about taking great photos in the dark. Over the past week I have tested my 8+ taking the same photos in the dark and look what I find sleeping next to my bed at 3:30am. I didn't know she was there but just held the camera up in the air from my position on the bed to see if she might be.  That's not a bad photo in a pitch black room. She started then night sleeping in the walk in closet again.

The hounds were up again at 3am for their pee breaks. Ten minutes later all three of us are back in the bedroom sound asleep. We slept so soundly that I almost missed today's sunrise. I was able to catch it about 20 minutes from the time the sun came up.

At this time of day it is now normal to have low 50s as the temperature to start our day. I like that.

In the short time it took to make coffee, the skies had changed and it looked like a storm front or a fog bank rolling in. No rain in the forecast, so it's hard to say what it was.

For the second day in a row I had a really long phone conversation with an old friend. All of us seemed to be finding out that we are aging whether we want to acknowledge it or not. All of use have had some major health issues this past 6-9 months. We are all the same age, give or take a couple of years, are active with swimming biking running or walking.

Stella does a lot of this during the day and once it reaches to the high 70s outside, she will sleep on the tile with no complaints. Heidi? Still on the living room rug or back in the bedroom on her dog bed.

I am not done walking yet for the day and I have walked a total of 2 miles today and 5,538 steps. Each time I was finished walking I did not feel any kind of weakness or discomfort in my hip or legs. All of that was walking on my own slowly, with short steps, carrying a cane in case I need it.

Mexico is looking good today.

Bisbee is looking good today.

Since there is nothing important delivered in the mail today, I will not be making a trip to the mailbox. I think I have walked about all I need to really and I can spend the rest of the day resting and watching the MLB Wildcard game at 5pm.

As I sat down at the computer desk to put this post together, Stella slid into her normal spot anytime I am on the computer. She seems to like the right side of the desk this this week.

I had another person confused today when she read about the heart report I spoke of. She also had the impression that I was ONLY going to use that report to base my decision on what my next move would be. She also felt she needed to remind me that I needed to see a cardiologist and let him make the decision. What is it with people? Was it that hard to understand what I was saying?

I cannot explain it well enough I am sure but I can feel that the hip is stronger than it was just last week. I have no plans to see just how wide I can move the right leg to the right, nor do I plan to increase my walking ... I'm going to continue the protein and collagen supplements to help the hip heal. I cannot wait to see how good I feel by the time I talk to the surgeon again on October 20th.

The hip just feels stable, sturdy and strong.

No urges to drive yet. I don't need to go anywhere right now and figure the longer I hold off trying to drive the more my hip will be healed.

So a pretty quiet two days. Lots of rest, talking on the phone, watching a little baseball and reading some.

There is some great weather happening in the Wild West.

The Good The Bad The Ugly

This post is long, with some rambling or a lot of rambling and some photos I found on my Nikon D3200 from September 27. A lot to read here and believe me it's all good, bad or ugly. I did not post last night because late afternoon I received my 34 page medical report from the hospital I had ordered. At the same time the postal clerk handed me my new Apple Watch Series 5, so I had that to set up and pair with my phone since I now have two watches that have me connected 24/7 JUST IN CASE I might have a medical issue living alone and need emergency services with my sister and friends to be notified.

Where do I start?

I think today I will put the description or commentary BEFORE the photo I am speaking of instead of under it. I've asked before but can't remember the answer, which do you like? I have seen it both ways on the different blogs I read.

This morning's sunrise was beautiful with cloudy skies and well after sunrise. After a restless night of sleep, after letting the hounds outside for their morning trip I went back to bed and they followed until 7am. I KNOW why I didn't sleep well and that will be explained under the Good and Bad categories.

So I'll start with the GOOD stuff and end with the UGLY stuff. How's that?

First of all the hounds are doing great during all of this lifestyle change. They have barely changed their routines while I am recouping from surgery. Yes, I have to watch when I open the pantry door which not only contains food but my ballcap hangs on the inside of the door and IF I WERE to put that cap on, that is a signal to Stella that we are taking HER walk. I don't wear that ballcap at all right now. So yes, Stella would like to walk ... I would like to take her walking but that is for another day.

I am getting stronger on a daily basis. The past two days I can feel my hip is much stronger as I move my leg sideways while laying in bed or walking to the left or right of me in the kitchen stepping sideways. No pain of any kind, no soreness later ... but I am still cautious how I make turns in the kitchen and when I walk.

The past three days I have been taking fewer steps for the day but have spent more time walking on my own WITH MY CANE IN MY HAND JUST IN CASE I NEED IT TO BALANCE !! I have made the long walk to my mailbox on Saturday and Monday. Based on the "workout" mode of the Apple iPhone Activity app ... that walk to the mailbox is a total of .26 of a mile. I walk slowly, short steps and am always aware when stepping off the curb or onto the sidewalk.

A few have asked "how do you feed your dogs if you cannot bend over more than 90°?" Even MJ the petsitter asked to see me feed them last Saturday when she stopped by. She too was worried I was breaking the 90° rule. That rule is set to prevent the hip from popping out while it's healing even though my surgeon told me there is only a 2%-3% chance of that happened and when it does it happens within the first 2 weeks after surgery. I am heading for my 4th complete week after surgery already. Time is flying !!

I have claimed "the grabber" as the best too EVER INVENTED !!!! You can see how I grip the food dish after they are finished eating. I use the same technique when sitting the dish down with kibble inside it. The large water bowl is a little trickier but when I lift that bowl there is never any water left in it. The hounds drink two of those bowls per day. To sit the half filled bowl of water down, I bend no more than 90° with my bad leg raised as I lean on the cane in my right hand. Since I am flexible that is not hard to do and is the same technique I use picking up dog poop to bag it and throw it in the trash bin outside.

I have also started reading books again. I need to read just one, finish it and then go to the next but I don't. I read multiple books at different times. I had two great books about IU basketball and IU football arrive this weekend from Amazon. Amazon Prime has been my lifesaver as well as Fry's Market grocery delivery.

I did get good news yesterday when I called the doctors office with some questions. I HAVE PERMISSION TO DRIVE AGAIN and it will be up to me which car I take considering that I don't break the 90° rule for bending over to get in or out of the vehicle. Also the seat cannot be adjusted where my butt is lower than my knees for hip reasons. I have not decided which vehicle I will drive first.
 

Why TWO watches???

With the latest heart issue that was found on my EKG at the hospital, or really the ultrasound photos of my heart they took Saturday night before surgery ... I thought I'd be completely safe. For once. I wanted fall detection protection 24/7 and I would not have that with just one phone during the 2 hours or so it takes to recharge the batter to 100%.

As I said in previous posts, I found out laying in the ER that Saturday morning with the watch on my wrist and my iPhone at home ... I could not supply the nurses and doctors with contact information (phone numbers) or call anyone to let them know what happened because my Series 4 did NOT have the 'cellular' feature. I was trying to save money last January when I bought it and thought I'd have my iPhone with me most of the time so why buy the 'cellular' feature?

I have both now.

Once the hounds are feed in the morning or afternoon, they do the same thing EVERY TIME ... rest and relaxation in the living room.

That does not mean later that Heidi doesn't come into the kitchen to look for any missed kibble that may have been dropped on the floor or maybe a dog treat. MJ had them addicted to treats because she would always give them a treat before she left after feeding them during the time I was in the hospital and at home recovering.

Before I did anything with my new Apple Watch,  I opened the envelop I signed for as certified mail for my medical report from the hospital ... all 34 pages of it. I read every page and every word. A lot of it was duplicate information but was recorded at different times during the day and night. All of the lab reports were there but was way above my education level to tell whether I had good blood or bad blood. They said everything was good.

I read in detail about the broken hip which more of a broken femur near the hip in multiple places as the hip joint stayed in place. I admit I could not finish reading the description of the surgery step by step with the long list of items they installed in my hip and leg. I felt slightly nauseous when I saw the list of items. I did not want to picture how wide that incision was spread so they had room to fit all of those new items inside me.

I moved on to their report on my heart issue "serious Aortic Valve Stenosis".

I read every word, then went back and read it again. I thought back to the questions I asked the MD when he broke the bad news to me, where he never gave me an answer. I NEVER experienced their 8 symptoms for AVS, ever, even after riding hard on those Friday rides that are recorded on the Strava app.

I kept reading and see the word NORMAL over and over ... almost too many times in their write-up. IF everything is so NORMAL than why is it labeled SERIOUS ????

I had read online about AVS before receiving the report and found out that it is categorized as "serious" when the valve opening is less than 1cm squared.  My valve is .1cm below that ... at .9cm squared. EVERYTHING ELSE WITH MY HEART IS NORMAL based on what they wrote. The word "Normal" stuck out in their written report.

Yet ... I WILL consult my new MD, then a cardiologist and another for a second opinion here in the months of October and November. My new General Practitioner is so booked up that he cannot see me until November 20th and other reputable GP's the hospital gave me to call are no better.

With the valve opening being so close to 1cm squared I felt much better than I would have to see it lower than .6 if you know what I mean. It also raised the question ... how long can I have this heart procedure or surgery AFTER this hip replacement rehab??

Just a week ago my surgical side leg, ankle and foot were so swollen I could barely put on the New Balance shoe I wore from the hospital. The more I rested sitting in a chair the larger they got. When I would lay in bed I'd elevate the foot but that didn't help much because it was not much higher than my heart. To elevate the foot on a different kitchen chair while sitting, hurt too much in my groin/hip area so I did not do it.

But the last of the good news ... the past few days when I wake up, the leg, foot and ankle are the exact same size as my left. From what I read in the pamphlet they gave me at the hospital and online information I was told the surgical side leg, ankle and foot could be swollen for up to 60 days after surgery.

Due to that estimate and the results I firmly believe the supplement I am taking for faster healing played a major role in getting that surgical side leg, ankle and foot back to normal size 20 days after surgery. I am only relaying my story with this product and IN NO WAY am I prescribing it to you ... but this was what was recommended to me to take.

When you have orders to sit only in a straight back chair, one with a slightly higher seat, those wood kitchen chairs can make your butt really sore after a few days. I went to Amazon and searched for an orthopedic seat pad and found multiple ones to choose from. My first one was just a square pad of memory foam 4" thick and it did the trick. Even this morning it might feel better than this seat cushion I bought over the weekend.

Yet, this is also comfortable and has memory foam but is cut to fit those painful pelvic bones from sitting on hard wood a few weeks, forming exactly to my build. This pad can also be used for an office chair or a CAR SEAT !!!!!

So what is the last GOOD thing that happened ????

For the first time ever I ordered a pizza ONLINE last night, paid for it including the tip for delivery and ... used the coupon I received in the mail with Pappa John's pizza. I have now declared them the best pizza where I live by a long shot ... I'll not name here who was my previous #1. I took advantage of the 5 digit code for discounts and bought more than I should have but I can stretch it out into 2-3 more meals and I never get tired of pizza, cheese sticks or those double chocolate brownies that came with it.  Ha Ha

Yes .... I fell off my healthy way of eating ... but I thought after these past three weeks why not?  LOL

Yesterday was beautiful. I stopped on my walk inside my fence to take this photo. The mountains at this angle look so much different than standing on the patio while taking a photo.

Now .... the BAD stuff.

No doubt the leader of the Bad stuff was ordering my first pizza online. It was quick, simple and of course like any other business they gave me "reward" points and the only way to take advantage of them is to buy another pizza. It was at my door 23 minutes after I hit the purchase button on my computer. 23 minutes to the best pizza I've had since my trip to Mother Bear's back in Bloomington Indiana.

I called my surgeon's office yesterday to ask some questions. Those are always answered by his RN staff but yesterday's answers were a little different. Only because this RN didn't have the answer right off the top of her head. On two occasions she had to ask her supervisor. Maybe a brand new RN ???

Since I feel no pain when I bend over near 90° I was really hoping to get approval to bend normal. If I could I then could pet Heidi which is slightly over the limit when I sit in a chair and try to reach her. She needs some pets and hugs since she has a look of confusion when she stares at my skinned up knee which is healing or when I walk with my cane.

That rule would also give me a clear chance of sitting in either of my vehicles and I could drive. In one car I am just inside the 90° limit when I sit in the drivers seat. But it's enough ... no pain getting in or out of the driver's seat.

There was a great sunset last night. I was happy I was able to catch it ... only because the Monday Night Football game sucked.  Ha Ha

I have 7 more weeks before my first General Practitioner appointment. I have been told by various people he is THE BEST MD in town and this town is full of doctors and medical facilities. He is also the doctor my PT works for as he completes his studies to become an RN.

I've told a couple of friends these past three weeks have been worse than a 'caged animal' since I was getting in really good shape riding the bike. If any readers are runners, cyclists or athletes or ex-athletes .... you know how your body craves your activity once it's in shape. Your mind may tell you 'not today' but your body always seems to override that. That is the only reason I rode my bike that Saturday morning when I wrecked.

But since I cannot pace around the house like a caged animal, these three weeks have been even worse. Although I sat still a lot in Indiana during the winter months, that does not mean I like sitting still. I didn't when I lived back there during good weather and with great weather out here it's even harder!!!

That is the hardest part of all of this ... sitting still, resting and letting my body heal. The worst part is I cannot ride a bike even indoors right now and my brain is screaming for it. But listening to my body, it tells me to cool it, back off and let it heal. I will and I am doing that, but it's hard to do.

For many years before all of this happened I use to tell friends when they were alarmed that I did not have a regular doctor that saw me on an annual basis ... I don't do that because it would lead me to medical problems. Since I am over 65 years old I have always believed from what I have seen ... once medical issues begin at that age ... they don't stop ... it's one thing after another NO MATTER how good your diet was, how active you were or how good of shape you were in.

I've seen older athletes devastated after they turned 65 years old with medical issues, sometimes leading to their unexpected death. NOW ... I am NOT saying I am closer to dying but what I am saying or wondering about is ... have I hopped on the "medical problem train" and it's all downhill after this? My dad use to joke with me as he listed all of his medications and doctor appoints that were then part of his life ... he'd laugh and say "so they call these the Golden Years" ... he was a teacher/basketball coach, never smoked, never drank, was in good shape ... until his first Quad by-pass surgery. His next 30 years was filled with one medical issue after another.

Every night as I sit on that chair with the seat cushion watching ballgames, Stella sleeps right by my foot, sometimes on my foot until I go to bed. She never lets me get too far away.

I found these following photos on the card in my Nikon D3200 this morning. This shows what a beautiful day this past Sunday was in the Wild West. I zoom'd in on the Mule Mountains, Miller Peak and the Huachuca's.

I clicked on the green runner icon on my watch yesterday afternoon to record a 'workout' in my Activity App not just a normal walk. I turned left on the sidewalk and headed for the end of the block like I did Sunday afternoon. A lot of neighbors have dogs, large barking dogs ... all standing at their gate of their backyard fence. We all have concrete block backyard fences with a full size steel gate.

Yesterday that ONE IN A MILLION EVENT happened and it could have been ugly really quick.

As I was approaching a house where I had never seen or heard a dog, I hear a bark telling me that the dog was huge and most likely did not like anyone near his/her house or yard even if they didn't live there. I immediately stopped, slightly scared and my brain running through all of my options at the speed of sound. I wanted to keep looking forward just in case this dog made it to the sidewalk. I did NOT want to turn my back while heading the way I came from.

Nor did I want to walk backwards while looking forward to keep an eye out for the dog. I could stumble over those cracks you see on a sidewalk that is between each section of concrete. LUCKILY I hear this ladies voice calling her dog but that didn't help. As the dog, a big mastiff, walked on the sidewalk toward me ... she was there grabbing the dog's collar. Hard to believe a small Asian woman could control a large dog like that.

Needless to say I will NOT be walking that direction again. It was the same direction Stella and I use to take our daily sunrise walk. I never saw or heard that dog until yesterday.

In today's world of social media, texting, blogging and sharing files ... phone calls are becoming rare and emails even rarer. So like many of you probably, most of our communication is by texting or using Facebook Messenger ... or even email for some.

The danger in all of that electronic communication is "misunderstanding" what the other is saying or meant to say. It seems to happen a lot to me over the years, as far back as 2000 when I started a small online business that turned into a failed large online business 10 years later.

Those misunderstandings by both people leads to arguments, something I never like and don't have time for. But I just had a face to face argument with my neighbor last week so I HAVE self analyzed to find out if it is just me that caused that argument or past misunderstandings in electronic communication.

After I read my medical report yesterday, I was happy about the heart news. I KNOW ... GOD DO I KNOW ... until I have a professional cardiologist OR TWO look at my ultra sound of my heart, the EKG and the written report NOTHING can be determined UNTIL THAT TIME and ONLY FROM A CARDIOLOGIST !!!!

My friend did NOT understand that or thought I didn't know that ... she wanted to voice her UNprofessional opinion about it while I was in the middle of texting to her and the other two friends in our group discussion. We have talked in our 4 person group since iMessage was invented. So we all are familiar with texting and sometimes words might not be clear enough.

I was just relaying the information I blogged about here ... the .9cm compared to the 1cm, the word NORMAL scattered throughout the report ... I had not finished typing because I was typing on my phone instead of my computer keyboard, where I can type as fast as any madman.

She cut me off and went off on her own, to lecture to me how I was making my own decisions where a cardiologist should be making them. I had to ask her ... "do you think I am that stupid, really????"

Nothing I hate worse then having to type one key at a time on a small phone keyboard then being interrupted before I can even finish.  This person is notorious for doing exactly that and "hold on let me explain" has been used many times by me and others.

But it didn't stop there ... in fact that texting argument moved into my UGLY section of this post.

These last 4 photos were taken a few days ago with the infamous Canon G9 X Mark II camera that has the large black spot on the sensor ... at least sometimes it does. I only had to edit that black mark out of one photo out of the four photos taken.

I tried to stop typing in this texting argument. Mainly because I wasn't and won't argue while texting or emailing. Two ... I was tired of typing on my phone and the voice texting makes things even worse with inaccurate translation from your mouth to the iMessage screen. BUT SHE KEPT RAMBLING... she was mad and was going to make sure I knew it. Friends huh ????

She finally stopped her madness when she realized I wasn't replying and I might not be reading them. As far as I was concern she had just embarrassed herself in front of me and our two other long times friends, friends as far back as our college days.

What did she finally decide and texted me so I would know ... I was at fault for the conversation turned ugly ME ... all because I was NOT going to let a cardiologist make a decision ... I NEVER SAID ANYTHING CLOSE TO THAT. That I was the guilty one in all of that mess.

So ... to let her cool off for a while I have blocked her on iMessage, phone calls, deleted and blocked her on Facebook ... basically I don't have time for that crap right now. Basically most things said over the recent years have been nothing but confrontational from the Cubs to IU sports.

Thinking back to that medical report, it was UGLY when I saw the itemized list of things inserted into my total hip replacement. I cannot even post that list here without being sick to my stomach. Luckily they sent me two CD of files and my x-rays but with them being in a Microsoft Windows format I will have to research how I can see them on my Apple iMac ... because recently Apple has basically shut off all Window files with their OS and iOS updates.

I can't wait for one reason to see my first cardiologist ... which is it ... NORMAL or SERIOUS??? Also which of the 4 options are you going to do to fix it?

I asked and was told to take the prescribed Bayer Aspirin Low Dosage 81mg for 6 weeks after my surgery. The original prescribed small bottle ran out last week so I bought my own large bottle. WHY DIDN'T THE MD OR THE SURGEON TELL ME HOW LONG TO TAKE THIS BLOOD THINNER ?????

Why did I have to call the doctor's office 3 weeks later to find out I MUST take that Aspirin for 6 WEEKS after surgery. To me that is just unacceptable when the MD cannot tell you that or at least write it out in the discharge papers where they listed the pills they had prescribed !!!!

No worries ... the ranting is over.

It's a beautiful day this morning, it's already late morning since the post took so long to write but I wanted to fill you in since I didn't write a post last night. I'll probably wait until tomorrow night to  post something again so I can get back on schedule of writing about what we did that day.

All things really are good and I consider myself very fortunate to be in the shape I am in now with a bright future ahead. I just didn't plan on being interrupted as I enjoyed life.

The hounds are loving the Wild West ... they like the sunshine!!