Another short update on knee progress

One of my RVing & blogger friends, Horizon Seeker, Vickie, sent me this card.  If it's too blurry it is a flamingo bending over and it says "I hope your knee feels better soon."  I got just a laugh out of it when I opened it.  I showed it to Jonathan and he had a puzzled look on his face.  Had to explain the symbolism of the flamingo.  Thanks Vickie, that was such an appropriate card.

According to the Doc whom I went to see on the 17th April, I'm doing great.  I'm w/out walker and don't even need a cane.  Physical Therapy is HORRIBLE!  But I'm doing three days a week at the PT center and then doing the same exercises at home.  My ROM is 111 and my goal is 120.  I got my staples removed which gave some relief.  I am having difficulty sleeping, just getting comfortable I guess but it would be nice to have just one uninterrupted night of sleep.

Best thing is that I can go to TN after May 17.  Now all I have to do is get a way but I may be able to drive by then so a lot can happen in a month.  Yippee, home sweet home.

Later...

Post Sugery Update

My knee replacement surgery was April 10.  The replacement center is terrific and they have their act together.  My scheduled surgery time was 7:00 a.m. and just at that right time I was being wheeled away.  Prep was easy, I got a little sick to my stomach in getting the IV inserted which was unusual for me.  They gave me an epidural block in my left leg so I wouldn't be in such pain when I work from regular anesthesia.

I stayed three days in the hospital and had therapy the very day of surgery.  The staff at the hospital was terrific and the food wasn't bad either.

I had 36 staples and the incision was 6" long and I think he made it pretty straight so it should heal nicely.  I go to the Dr. on Thursday and get those removed so it should be easier to move.  My therapists said my ROM is at 107 and we are shooting for 120 so not far to go.  And I can practice walking around the house without my walker.

So I'm doing really doing well but don't have specifics when I'll be back to TN.  Jonathan and Taylor are looking after me very well.

Later...

Total Left Knee Replacement

It's amazing how quickly things can change, on a dime I think is the saying. Anyway, Tuesday, April 10 I will be going in for left knee total replacement in Brunswick GA. I've had a few problems with my knee for about the last couple of years and now I'm having surgery. When they talked surgery at first I thought they were talking about arthroscopic surgery, not replacement for heaven's sake!  I was going back to TN and had an appointment in Knoxville on April 9 but I didn't make it that far.


I had to have someone tear down the rig, hook-up the car before I could leave Citrus Ridge to come to Jonathan's. I was going to head back to TN via a friend in N FL and via, Sarah's in Huntsville. Nah, my son had different ideas. Unless I could present him with an acceptable (to him) plan, I would be staying here for surgery & recovery! Talking about role reversal! I'm lucky to have him & I know it. So I'm here in Kinglsand GA and will be here until I can drive the rig back to TN. Doc says a 3 month recovery but I figure I'll stay here for about a month and will return to TN for the remainder of PT. But we will see. I've had may "plans" change so much lately and the phrase "plans in jello" certainly rings true for me.

Anyway, remember me and my family in your prayers. Pray that I'll be nice to those who are willing to put up with my arze for oh those many weeks. Pray that we don't kill each other. Pray that we still love ea other after this is over. Pray that God guides the Doctors during the surgery & after.

My 15 yo DGD, Taylor,  told me last night that she would take over my coaching as far as PT was concerned and that I couldn't cheat! Huh, wonder what gave her the idea that I would do that????

There is so much for me to do in TN at the Lodge in Crossville, I keep thinking of those things and just write them down.  My neighbor in Crossville, Linda, has already raked leaves and mowed the yard there.  She said she didn't want me to come back to something like that.


I had a class sponsored by the hospital this week.  It answered questions about the surgery, knee replacement center and PT.  I know that my pain that I know now will be gone but I also know that I have different pain I will be experiencing after surgery.  I dread the PT but I also know that w/out it I won't get on the road quicker and be able to resume my lifestyle that I love.

I'm so grateful to have wonderful friends and family.

Later...

My Roger's...

I've told you before about my FL hubby, Roger and my TN hubby, Roger well, the other day as I was getting ready to leave Citrus Ridge to head to my sons in SE GA.  My knee was giving me fits, well actually more than that, it had more or less quit working.  I was having a fit trying to get everything torn down and hooked up to get ready to leave.

TaDa..to the rescue, FL hubby Roger sends MI Roger (not hubby) to my rescue and he and his wife, Betty, help me tear down and hook up my toad and get me on the road.

Now since I've been at Jonathan's in Kingsland I've had time to think, 'with this many Roger's in my life, is the man of my dreams going to be a Roger??'

Later...

Vinyl projects at Citrus Ridge

In addition to glass etching, we were able to do some vinyl projects.  Sue has a Cricut machine that cuts different shapes, words, characters, etc.  We took double walled tumblers and decorated them.  I made one for me, reminding me of FL when I'm in TN; one for each of my sisters, just because and one for my granddaughter.  Here they are.

Sisters are different flowers from the same garden.

From Baby Sister

My FL tumbler.

I'm thinking of...

Sue's set up with computer and Cricut machine.

Sue's looking on as Margie works on her tumbler.

The class

Sue's good at details.

Looking good, Margie.

Tiger, oh so cute.

From this to...

...this.

I might see a vinyl cutting machine in my future.  Who knows.
Later...

Moving on to Myakka River State Park

Yes, I realize it's been a while since I have posted but when you are busy, you've gotta set priorities!  Anyway, here's one update.

When I left Citrus Ridge I headed to the West coast to Myakka River State Park.  The park has three campgrounds, one for big rigs complete with 50amp, water, sewer connections.  If I still had my big rig I wouldn't have been able to get in but because of my size I got in the campground close to the water deep into the park.

When I pulled into my site #8, a fellow camper came around and asked me where I was from.  Told him TN & he said where, told him and I said and what part of TN are you from.  Just the way he said it made me think he must be from TN too.  He said, "oh you wouldn't know, it's a small town."  He said Seymour TN and turned it into about 20 syllables.  I said oh yes, I know where that is and we chatted.  Of course he couldn't believe I was all by myself and offered help in anything I needed done.  I seem to get that a lot.

Then as Sedona and I were riding around on the bike I stopped & talked to this "single" woman and found out she was from Cleveland TN.  It's a small small world.  I love riding my bike in FL where it's so flat.  I rode 5 miles a couple of days.  To some of you that may seem like nothing but to be it's a milestone.

The park put on a lot of programs for campers.  One interpretive program was on the snakes of the area, mostly the diamond back rattler, bird watching and star gazing.  At least those were the ones I attended.  This particular area had many gators and after a while, you seen one gator, you've seen them all.

Being close to the river made it easy for me to walk over and take a big airboat tour and a tram ride through the park.

Prairie area of the park.

Roseate Spoonbills & buzzards

Birds-that's what I call 'em.

More birds

The boat

Sunset from my campsite #8

While I was in the area I contacted a fellow womenrv.com forum friend who winters in Sarasota and we got together.  She and her husband Bob, aka, tGM (the Great Man), came to the park and we visited for a while and then in a few days I went to their park in Sarasota and they took me around the area and showed me their town.  We went to the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens but not before we had lunch at a great little place on the water.

Sarasota Bay Front

Sittin on the dock of the bay...

Entertainment

Carold and Carolyn

WWII monument in the Bay Area.

Downtown Sarasota

Dreamin'

Banyan tree down my the shore.

Koi pond

1932 Banyan Tree w/Carold in the foreground

Orchids

Bonsai tree

Beautiful bonsai

We drove over to St Armand to drive around the circle and to see the beach.  It was a wonderful day.  I really like this area of FL.
Later...

Is it really that cold in FL?

Yes, it is.  It got down to 32 degrees last night.  This morning I don't know what the wind chill factor is but, baby, it's cold outside.  I took Sedona out and between the wind blowing and my knee, as soon as she did her business we were back inside.  None of that walking for 30 minutes. 

So what does one do when it's so cold outside?  Here is my latest project for the Lodge in TN.

This is the front side

Of course I had to include Sedona and her little paw prints.

the Lodge with leaves.

My name with butterflies and a swoosh.

Sue in Citrus Ridge was nice enough to have a lesson yesterday for me and Margie since I was not going to be here for her class next Friday.  She uses a Circut machine, cuts vinyl and then we put it on our glass and use acid specifically for glass to etch.  Hummmm, could there be a new portable craft in my future?  Could be but we'll see.

Here is a picture of my wine glass.  Glass etching is very difficult to photograph but I think you can kind of make it out.

One side is It's 5 o'clock; other side is Somewhere!  Big surprise right?

Tiny flip flops on the bottom rim of glass.

Sue let me come over and make a little vinyl sign for the back of my car.  I used the software, Make the Cut, to type out the words and character and then used her Cricut to cut the vinyl.  Then I used transfer paper to lift it from the back of the vinyl paper.  Then I cleaned the window and put the letters on and it's straight and it looks so good.  Gee, vehicle detailing.  Hey I might be on to something here.

In between all the crafts, Margie and I went to Zephyrhills FL to our blogging & RVing friends, Karen and Al to pick up an ice maker they had for sale.  It's portable and will travel well with me and will probably find a home at The Lodge in TN.  It is a Magic Chef and makes ice very quickly.

There are 3 selection for sizes of ice.

Nice capacity for ice and water reservoir.

It's been a good couple of weeks and more fun to come as I'm leaving on a short cruise on Thursday with my son and granddaughter.  It will be good to get back to warm weather but alas, the cold front will be gone in two days and we will get back to "normal."

Goodbye Whitney Houston!  What a loss & what a shame!

Later...

Blizzard Beach, Super Bowl, and Roy's Visit

One of the ladies in Citrus Ridge, Lagonda, invited me to go to Blizzard Beach with she and Bernice.  It was a beautiful day and I was up to it, especially since it was free.  It was a fun time.  Got a bathing suit top on sale and then a discount so it was a perfect day.  The weather, company and beach was such a good time.

One of the slides at Blizzard Beach, nope didn't do it.

Bernice, Lagonda, Carolyn

Bernice, Lagonda, Carolyn

Bernice's slide

Lagonda and Bernice in the wave pool.

Our nest!

Margie and Roger threw a Super Bowl party!  Go Giants!  There were about 18 people from the park at the party and it was a blast.  Lots of good food.  Watching the game on a 55" TV was awesome.  I love Margie's new park model.  It suits them just fine.

A few of the watchers.

Just a little of the food!

Wouldn't be a super bowl w/out wings.

The boys out in Roger's "man cave."

Denise with Buddy and Anne.

Fruit is coming in all over the place and a favorite that will only be around for a short time is the Honey Bell orange.  It is seedless, juicy and delicious!











One of the projects I've done while at Citrus Ridge is glass etching.  I did a wine glass that says "it's 5 o'clock somewhere" and on the base of the glass is tiny flip flops.  Margie also did the glass etching and her wine glass said "Happy Hour" and on the other side is large flip flops.  We did a great job and can't wait to do more.  Stay tuned for a lantern we are going to complete this week.

Prepping the glass

Stencil is applied.

Acid is applied and now wait, 30 minutes.

Margie's getting her prep done.

Cutting out the details.

Margie's back, Flip Flops.

Front of Margie's, happy hour.

One of the things that I have had trouble with in the Whim is the mattress.  It was thin.  I put a topper on before I left TN but it was not enough.  I had an extra topper and I put it on but it wasn't thick enough either.  I found a mattress on Walmart's website and decided to take a chance on it.  It's memory foam and is 8" thick.  As the bear in Goldilocks said, "it's just right."  I really like it and I sleep well on it and Sedona seems to like it too except she has farther to jump from the dinette to the bed.

Picture is a little fuzzy but you can tell the thickness.

My nephew, Roy, came for a visit this week and we have been busy.  He didn't come to stay with me, he came with his cousin, Mike.  They were here for a heavy equipment auction.  I went over the first day and drove around with them to check out the equipment Mike wanted to bid on.  It was an interesting place to visit and to find out how it all works.

In the evening we went to Boston Lobster Feast which we will never go to, it was not good and I would never recommend it.  It's over on Hwy 192 in Kissimmee, FL.  Then we hit Old Town and did a little karaoke, well, Roy and Brian did the singing and Mike and I were there for support.

Roy is in his element on the stage.

Once again, Lagonda, gives me a call on Thursday morning and wants to know if I want to go to Hollywood Studios.  I told her that Roy was with me and she said to bring him along.  So off we go to Animal Kingdom first and then Hollywood Studios.  No pictures here as they were taken with Roy's iPhone and I don't have the pix yet.  We had our pix made with some of the characters, rode some of the rides and saw some of the shows.  It was a terrific day.

Later...