My goodness, Helene! I’m so sorry you fell, but relieved you didn’t seriously damage yourself! I hope your chiropractor is able to get you back to feeling good again. As for the tooth and future implant, I have 2 implants and was very happy with the outcome on them. I had a great endodontist who did my implants, and my regular dentist then made the crowns that went over the implants. It was a fairly lengthy and expensive process, but the outcome was worth it.

My first hand PT went well. I liked the therapist. Today was mainly an evaluation and I was surprised I have more damage than I thought. After evaluation, she did soft tissue massage from the elbow down. I was surprised at the tightness and tenderness that far up my arm. I had decent range of motion moving a flat hand towards the pinkie finger. Moving the same fingers towards my thumb didn’t do as well. I have a list of stretches and flexing exercises to do at home.

Seeing the chiropractor yesterday was a good move. My pain level is reduced and the pain level is much less. I go back to see him again tomorrow.

I have 2 implants already and I’m glad I went that route. They must do them differently on the east coast. The finished implant looks like a real tooth. There’s no crown involved with the implants.

I took Christmas down today. That's always a little sad but at least I can check one thing off my list.

We got snow AGAIN last night. I've had enough already.

If his sister doesn’t drive you crazy, I would accept her offer. Her presence will allow you to get out of the house during DH’s recuperation. Maybe she can spend some one on one time with him freeing you up for errands and meal prep. He may spend less time whining in her presence than he would in your presence. If he’s up to visitors, friends might make short visits. Fingers crossed all goes well.

PamS53 wrote: »

Our snow is melting and will probably all be gone by tonight. We may get more by the end of the week.

I need to put away my Dickens Village displays, but it’s a lot of work and I keep putting it off. DH likes them and thinks I should leave them up awhile longer, but I’m kind of tired or them since they’ve been up for more than 2 months now. Since inheriting his mother’s collection along with my own, it’s gotten to be a much bigger job to put them out and take them down. Many, many trips up and down the stairs!

We finally have DH’s shoulder replacement surgery scheduled for January 29th. I think he will stay in the hospital for the night following the surgery, then back home. He’s a very needy patient when he’s sick or in pain, so I am dreading the recovery period. And I found out today that my friend whose mother passed on New Year’s Day has scheduled her Celebration of Life service on January 31st, so I probably will not be able to attend. DH’s sister has offered to come out to help when he has the surgery but I’m not sure if she would be more of an irritant than a help. If she does come, that would allow me to attend the service. He has a pre-op visit with the PA on the 23rd, so we will make a decision about whether she comes after that visit.

DH has started griping that I'm not doing the heavy duty decorating I used to do. This body just isn't up to it.

I hope the surgery goes okay! I sure wouldn't want DH's sister descending (even though she's a nurse).

I'm sick and tired of winter already. We have been spoiled the last couple years. If it wasn't for the colonies I wouldn't worry about it but the colonies mean I have to care!

I'm also getting sick and tired of these newly empowered men who apparently find women like us with brains and education to be terrifying and want to put us in our place. Most of them are married. Who ARE those blank blank women who kowtow to them?

Smokie had her three month flush at the internist this week. She got an overall fairly decent report (we know we're on borrowed time but we'll take all the time we can get!) Hopefully that will be the last time I have to drive up there in the dark for awhile. Not my favorite drive.

I posted yesterday but it seems to have disappeared into cyberspace. How did both of you make out with the snow. We had no snow but it’s been 25 degrees below normal and we had cold rains the last few days. I hope more seasonal weather returns next week.

I went to PT yesterday only to find I was a day early. Most appointments are T/Th so I was on autopilot. Better early than a day late.

We didn't have a ton of snow but it's lingered. If I didn't have to feed the colonies, I'd just stay home. We're finally supposed to start having some days that get over freezing. COME ON MARCH!

Pam - I don't envy you having a spouse with shoulder surgery. That's awful that Medicare is so unhelpful. I still have meds left from when I broke my heel but that was awhile back and I guess I wasn't on Medicare yet.

I know at some point I'm going to have to have back and/or hip surgery and I just don't know what will become of the colonies. The p/t they sent me to was a joke and the place I always used to go no longer exists.

Pam, maybe you could use one of your pills between doses of his to stretch his out. That’s just in case yours have lost any potency. Could you cut the sleeve out of an older shirt? Then he’ll only have to get his arm through the arm hold instead of a sleeve. It would probably put less stress on his shoulder if he has to go to the doctor for a refill.

Todays the first day since we arrived that temps are normal. It’s been a good 20 degrees below normal most days and lots of rain. Hoping to get more days like today.

Pam - I'm glad your DH made it through surgery. You've surely got a lot on your shoulders.

The guy across the street apparently has early stage dementia. I've never been close to the wife. Part of me wants to say "if you need anything let me know" but between my decrepit hips/back, my full-time job and running CROM I realize it would sort of be an empty offer.

We came home mid afternoon. For a while it looked like inpatient rehab was going to be recommended because when the OT person worked with him this morning it didn’t go very well. He had great difficulty getting off the bed and walking to the toilet and around his room. I think it was largely due to the pain meds and muscle relaxer he had gotten about an hour before. However, later in the day when the PT person came by he did much better and she had no qualms about sending him home. So shortly after that the discharge papers were in our hands and we were on our way home. So far it’s going pretty well, but I think night time may be more challenging. His dementia is usually worse at night and with pain meds on board that will not help. Hopefully we will both survive tonight and figure out how to manage.

We will have home visits from an occupational therapist as well as a physical therapist, at least for a couple of weeks. They will start tomorrow. We made it through the first night fairly well. For the time being, he is more comfortable sleeping in his recliner than the bed. He does need a little help in the bathroom, so he woke me up a couple of times during the night to help him. He’s not needed much pain medication, surprisingly. We have an ice therapy machine that seems to work better than pain meds, so we will use that as much as possible. He is keeping me busy fetching and carrying things for him. Hopefully that will slow down some as he gets more independent.

Pam, so far it sounds like home care is going well. I hope things continue to go smoothly.

The last couple of days and especially nights have been tough. His dementia is most noticeable at night, making it difficult for him to sleep. I get up with him several times a night because he’s confused and can’t be trusted to keep his sling on and not do forbidden activities. He’s sleeping in his recliner while I’m in our bed in the next room. Mostly I hear him when he starts stirring, but not always. He usually comes looking for me if he awakens and is disoriented, but not always. Last night while I was helping him shower I noted that his right calf was noticeably swollen. This was also the case while he was being prepped for surgery last week, and the nurse pointed it out to us and questioned if we had been aware of it, which we were not. I had been noticing for a while that his ankles looked swollen and puffy, but he had dismissed my concerns. After he finished his shower last night I wrestled the compression sleeves that the hospital sent home with us back on his legs, and this morning I called our PCP’s office for an appointment. We were able to see the PA in her office this afternoon and she ordered a Doppler imaging of his legs but we weren’t able to get that scheduled until tomorrow afternoon. So we returned home and met with the occupational therapist, as scheduled, for the first time. Unfortunately, neither of us liked her very much, but I guess we will just have to deal with her. She’s very knowledgeable but we both thought she was very condescending. Neither the PA nor I think he has a DVT, but the OT was adamant that we have to rule that out before he’s allowed to do anything more than walk back and forth to the bathroom. I understand that she’s concerned about possible malpractice, but found her attitude extremely off-putting. DH concurred. I’m hoping for a better night tonight, but don’t really expect it to be much different since we haven’t changed anything. We see his new neurologist next Tuesday and I’m hopeful that his meds will be changed. I don’t think the current regimen is working very well.

I needed to pick up prescriptions for both of us today before going to the appointment, so I took DH with me. He stayed in the car while I quickly ran into the store and got them, then we went to a restaurant and ate lunch before going on to his appointment. I think the change of scenery and lunch cheered him up a little. I enjoyed it too.

Last night I slept on the couch next to his chair and he still managed to get up a couple of times without me hearing him until he was almost out of his chair. He was climbing over the side of it, with the footrest extended. I don’t know if a baby monitor would really help if I didn’t even hear him when I was right next to him. I’m going to investigate a chair alarm that will sound when he tries to get out of the chair. Similar to the bed alarm and chair alarm they use in hospitals for patients who are fall risks.

The PA didn’t ask me to measure his calves or ankles yet. In fact, I don’t think they measured them during his appointment. We will know more after the Doppler imaging this afternoon. I anticipate they will order a diuretic, which he is not currently on.