My thoughts are all over the place. Not sure where they will land.
My parents have lived in the same house for 56 years. It is the same house where my sister, brother, and I were raised. Lying here alone, waiting for sleep to overtake my overactive thoughts, in the same room where I was raised, is a little like being in a time machine.
My young self could not imagine my much older self lying here tonight with my mom, who is sleeping alone, snoring the night away in her bedroom next to mine, while my dad is spending the night sleeping alone in a room at the rehabilitation center across town, where he has been recovering from the stroke he had on the 14th of last month. This is the longest my parents have slept without each other in their 61 years of marriage. The good news is that my dad has worked hard with the PT and OT to improve his strength enough to come back home to my mom this upcoming Sunday.
It will be a relief for them to be together again. I will get to return home to my husband, who has been holding down the fort while I have been staying with my mom. Our daughter, her husband, and our young grandson have stayed at our house since before Christmas. After this weekend, everyone will be back in their own homes with their loved ones, and life will return to a somewhat normal state…with the unsettling knowledge lingering in the back of our minds, however, that our dad still has a blocked artery in his neck.
We don’t know what the future holds for our dad, but what we do know is that we are not going to take him for granted and we are forever grateful to God for the tender mercy of this extended time our parents get to spend together in this beautiful little house where they created a loving home filled with unforgettable memories.
It is a good thing Google Maps took us a shorter way to get to the hotel tonight. It usually directs us to get off at exit 304 and meander our way through town until we finally arrive at the hotel up on the hill around the corner and several blocks away from the hospital.
Tonight, I followed the instructions to exit at 307 and merge onto another highway that avoids all the downtown meandering. I was quite excited about this shorter trip. Until⌠I missed the final exit and had to drive an extra 3 miles to the next exit to turn around and head back to the correct exit. Then, when we âarrived at your destination on the rightâ it was not the hotel. Apparently, I put in the wrong address. SMH
We finally arrived at the hotel a few blocks away. All that extra time we made up by taking the new first exit was eaten up with missing the one exit and arriving at the wrong address! Oh well! We are happily resting in the hotel room, now.
My husband needs to arrive at the hospital by 10am tomorrow, so not too early! We can sleep until 7am instead of waking at 5am. Yay!
Wish I had remembered to bring my blanket from home. I always like to bring my own blanket to spread onto the bed and sit on. Oh well. đ
The bed is a bit “ghosty”. Perfect for Halloween month! đ
This link shows a map of the best places to see the annular eclipse on October 14th. It appears the best place for the longest viewing would be Corpus Christi, TX. The closest place for us to view would be around Elko, Nevada. My daughter and son-in-law rented an AirBNB and plan to arrive the night before, then come home after the eclipse is over.
Since my husbandâs surgery is this Tuesday, I am not sure that we will make it to see the eclipse this year. I am keeping my fingers crossed that my husband will feel up to the drive. If not, c’est la vie. You canât always get what you want. (Humming a tune in my head, now.)
An interesting fun fact about Elko, Nevada, is that my parents were married there in 1962. Who gets married in Elko, Nevada? Well, apparently, back in the day, that was the place to get married. I have met several people over the years who were married there. It was inexpensive and easy to do.
My dadâs brother and sister-in-law picked up my dad and mom with their green â57 Chevy and drove the few hours to Elko where my parents were married by the Justice of the Peace. My mom had enough money to buy my dad a shirt, her dress, and her $11 wedding band. What a crazy way to start a life of 61 years together!
Anyway, in 2017, a full lunar eclipse passed directly over our town. People came from all over the United States, filling up the AirBNBâs, hotels, KOAâs and any open area they could find to camp. My husband and I, with our eclipse glasses in hand and camp chairs in the trunk of the car, drove over to my childhood home, where my parents still live, and readied my parents, our daughter, her husband, their 4-mo-old baby boy, and ourselves on the front lawn for the perfect view of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
I remember, as the moon fully eclipsed the sunâs light, feeling a bit of a surreal, sort of spiritual, deeply moving unexplainable experience. I understand why hundreds of people came from all over the nation to experience that one brief moment. I remember, after that moment, hearing clapping and cheering up and down the block in our neighborhood. It was almost as if there needed to be a release of all the incredibleness everyone was feeling from that amazing experience. I still get goosebumps thinking about it. đ
I am not sure if this eclipse event next weekend will have the same effect since it is not a total eclipse, but it would be fun to compare!
Road Trippinâ
The night before a road trip is usually spent finishing up the last bit of laundry, then packing the suitcase. It is a night I should go to bed early to get the best nightâs sleep possible. Instead, I find it difficult to fall asleep. Probably, because I am too busy thinking that I need to fall asleep so I can feel rested for driving the next day. Ha. Ha.
Tomorrow, I need to wake up at my regular early time, get ready for the day, and head to work. After I am off work, around 3pm, we are headed to U of U. Our daughter will keep an eye on the house for us this week.
Even though this is a relatively short three and a half hour âroad tripâ and we have been there several times before, I am not looking forward to leaving after work. It will make for a long day, plus we will arrive around rush hour. I suppose that will make for a good nightâs sleep, however, before my husbandâs surgery the next day.
We hope he only needs to stay in the hospital a day or two, but I made the reservation for a few nights, just in case the surgery is more complicated than expected. My husband and I are very hopeful for a positive outcome that will mean less pain and better movement in his knee once the patella debris is removed and the healing begins. Fingers crossed and lots of prayers!
There are so many thoughts rolling around in my brain that I wanted to write about this week, but did not have time to write. These are the topics for tonight: My Husbandâs Surgery and Hotel Reservations. The next blog post will be Eclipse and Road Trippinâ
My Husbandâs Surgery
Do you know that It is highly unusual that a person would have a total knee replacement and then get an infection in that knee? Do you know it is even more unusual that a person would get an infection not only in one knee, but in BOTH knees after the infection turned septic? Do you know what the treatment is for that? Besides the obvious loads of antibiotics, both knee replacements must be surgically removed. âSpacersâ need to be inserted into the knee joint. The spacers are impregnated with two or three different kinds of antibiotics that are left in the knees for several months. Once the tests for infection in the knees come back clear of infection, the spacers are then removed, and the new knees are replaced. That is a total of 6 surgeries my husband had last year and the year before.
His walking has been going downhill (no pun intended) ever since the last surgery in June of 2022. Especially in his right knee. He cannot straighten his knees. He walks with a walker. The walker barely keeps him somewhat upright. Falls are quite common for him lately when not using the walker. He wears striped shirts, so I can tell whether he is walking or rolling! đ Just kidding!
After a several tests and X-rays in the last month or so, it was determined last week that the patella in the right knee has Avascular Necrosis, which has caused the patella (kneecap) to basically disintegrate into pieces causing the three screws which were placed during the last surgery to hold the patella in place, are now âfloatingâ around loose in the knee joint. My husbandâs surgeon said with a sense of urgency that those screws need to be removed before doing damage to the knee replacement parts. I quietly thought to myself with a smile on my face, âYa think???
Surgery is scheduled for this Tuesday at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.
Hotel Reservations
Thursday night, I did a Google search online for a number to call to make reservations at the hotel near the U of U. I called what I thought was a direct connection to the hotel. I made the reservations, gave my credit card information and everything to this person who gave us an amazing price for our hotel stay. He stated he would email the reservation number to me, so I gave my email address to him. I thanked him and we hung up. Guess what! No hotel reservation confirmation number arrived in my inbox.
The next day (yesterday), I called the front desk at the actual hotel and asked them to confirm if the reservation had indeed been made. It had not. They said it can take a while for the reservation made through a third part to reach their system. I gave it 5 hours and called again. They suggested I call the reservation number back that I had called the night before. I called and followed the automated system to the point where it told me no reservation could be found with my phone number.
Tonight, I called the front desk at the hotel. They still could not find a reservation for me under my name. So, I said letâs just make a new reservation. The night manager at the hotel said he would be happy to help me make a reservation. Unfortunately, they cannot make the reservations from the hotel. He would need to transfer me to the âreservationsâ number. I was thinking, âOh no! Here we go again!â But, the call was transferred and the reservations are made. And, this time, I have a confirmation number AND an email with all of the reservation confirmation information. (Say that three times, fast!)
A couple of weeks ago, my husband was doing some yardwork outside. He was working on pulling out some dead stems from one of the rose bushes in the front yard when he lost his balance and fell into the rose bush. His left arm caught the brunt of the fall. After picking himself up out of the rose bush (and, of course, doing a quick look around to make sure no one saw him), he began the tedious task of removing many thorns from his scratched up forearm. The next day, as he continued what he started in the rose bush, he fell again! Same process followed. Then, a few hours later he fell against the door frame of our door leading from the garage out to the back yard, scraping his arm in the same location where the thorns were removed earlier in the day, as well as the day prior.
A couple of days later, his arm began to swell. It became red and hot to the touch. It became obvious the next day, a Friday, that ignoring it probably was not a good idea. He went to our family doctor, received a shot of a strong antibiotic and an oral one to start taking that same afternoon. He was told if it worsened, to go to the ER over the weekend.
Good thing he had a shot. After all, Friday night is card night with my parents, my sister and her husband. We don’t miss card night unless we are sick with Covid or something equally as serious. Apparently, my husband did not put a swollen, infected arm in that category. đ It was a great game, though. The women won! (There is a story there…for another day.)
Saturday morning, I drove my husband to the ER, where an abscess was lanced, that formed overnight in his forearm. He was admitted to the hospital so they could watch how he responded to the antibiotics already given, as well as administer additional I.V. antibiotics. Long story, short. I brought him home from the hospital this afternoon, a Tuesday.
Before leaving the hospital, wound care met with him to clean and re-dress the wound in his arm. The nurse who worked on him explained how important it is for him to eat more protein during this healing process. He requested steak for dinner tonight. I obliged and added salad and hash browns to his request.
Below is very interesting information from a pamphlet he was given by his wound care nurse about WHY eating more protein and a few other nutrients is so important for wound healing.
How Do Good Nutrients Help To Heal Wounds?
Eating well during wound healing helps you heal faster and fight infection. During healing, your body needs more Protein, Fluids, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Zinc and L -Arginine to name a few.
The best source of these nutrients is food and water, but if you are not able to eat a good balanced diet you will need to add a supplement. Ask your healthcare provider about taking supplements or multivitamins.
PROTEIN
Protein is used to build, maintain, and repair body tissues, as well as help to maintain a healthy immune system. You should eat protein-rich foods with each meal and snack. Eat the protein portion of your meal first in case you become too full.
Extra protein is needed for wound healing. Wounds can cause a loss of up to 50 grams of protein per day. If extra protein is not taken in from an outside source, the body will break down existing proteins stored in your muscles, making them weaker.
Protein requirements almost DOUBLE while there is an actively healing wound.
A 100-pound person requires 36 grams of protein per day.
A 100-pound person with a wound requires at least 68 grams of protein per day.
Protein can be found in: meats, milk, cheese, yogurt, eggs, poultry, fish, beans, peas, tofu, and powder.
FLUIDS
Fluids are needed for oxygen profusion, hydration to the wound bed, as the transport medium for nutrients, as a solvent for vitamins, minerals, glucose, amino acids, and to transport waste away from the cells. In addition to providing calories and protein to promote wound healing, fluid intake is equally important. Achieving hydration needs and preventing dehydration is vital.
It is important to drink at least 8 cups of water or non-caffeinated, non-alcoholic beverages every day.
VITAMIN A
Vitamin A stimulates collagen and increases your defense against infection.
Vitamin A can be found in: milk, cheese, eggs, fish, liver, dark green veggies, oranges, and red fruits.
VITAMIN C
Vitamin C plays an important role in collagen synthesis and formation of new blood vessels (angiogenesis), as well as strengthening tissue in the skin and muscles.
Vitamin C can be found in: oranges, grapefruit, citrus fruits and juices, tomatoes, leafy veggies, potatoes, broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower.
ZINC
Zinc increases skin cell production and wound strength, it increases tissue growth & healing, and helps the immune system.
Zinc can be found in: red meat, fish, shellfish, milk products, poultry, and eggs, as well as fortified cereals.
L-ARGININE
L-Arginine is an amino acid. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein throughout the body. They enhance protein metabolism, helping to reduce muscle loss and help to strengthen the wound.
L-Arginine can be found in: nuts, seeds, dairy products, turkey, chicken, beef, oats, corn, and brown rice.
Adequate nutrients will help achieve optimal wound healing rates, so by eating well it gives your wounds the best chance to heal.
REMEMBER:
Eat a wide variety of foods every day to get the protein, vitamins, and minerals you need to heal your wound and stay and keep it healthy or add supplements.
*If you have diabetes, kidney disease, blood thinners, or need to limit your fluid intake, talk to your healthcare provider before follow these tips.
That was the question that I asked myself for nearly an hour tonight before finally decided to go for a ride. My bicycle is over 25 years old. But I like it! So, I keep riding it. My husband and I bought the family bicycles when our kids were younger, so we could ride the nearby trail. We lived in the upper Midwest. The joke there was that the mosquitoes were the state bird. Riding on that trail made me a believer! Riding in the heat and humidity was not my favorite, then add the mosquitos to the mix, and I really was not a fan. We live in a western state now, so the humidity is not high, and the temperatures are much more comfortable for riding.
My sister lives in the same subdivision as I do, which is my great fortune. We get along well and enjoy riding bikes and going for walks in the neighborhood. Tonight, she and her husband went for a ride with me. It was a short ride, only about a mile or two, but enough to get out and enjoy the fresh evening air. I love it!
My only beef is the bike seat. Why does it have to be so small? I am not a small person. The lower half of my body seems to wrap itself right around the seat. Sometimes, I think people wonder if there is even a seat on the bike when I am riding.
“Look at that! She is riding her bike, but where is the seat?”
“My body swallowed it, OK?? Sheesh!” Oh goodness! The price we pay for exercising! đ
Why do we need sleep? I wish it weren’t so. Can you imagine all that we could accomplish if only we did not have to spend several hours sleeping every single day?! As each day winds down, so does my body. It’s like a rechargeable battery winding down and needing a re-charge before a new day can begin, but why? Could our bodies not have been made to just keep going, like a solar-powered calculator that never needs recharged?
Alas, that is not the way it works. We need sleep to recharge and maintain good health. Yet, here I am burning the candle at both ends. When I was younger that candle sure could burn a lot longer. Guess I should just be grateful it still burns…and that I’m not a bear! đ
What could you accomplish if you did not need sleep every night?
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