April 1, 2014

Well, it's April Fool's day and I decided to update the ol' blog.  Quite a bit has happened to me and my family since my last blog back in December.  Even though today is April 1st, this isn't an April's Fool joke.  

I've always tried to keep this blog light and lively.  There's enough bad news, pain and suffering all around us and I didn't feel the need to contribute any more, but now I'll share some of what's been going on.

Okay, where do I start?  How about with pain...oh yeah, I had a lot of pain in my right hip and knee.  As soon as we got back to Madison after being in the Northland I went to have my hip checked out.  The Physician Assistant I saw was convinced it was a muscle problem because I still had good range of motion.  But he decided to have some x-rays done just to be sure.  Well, when he looked at them, he said "you're going to make me eat my words".  You could see arthritis all around the ball of the hip joint.  Next stop was to see the orthopedic surgeon and then the wait until February 10th to get my new hip.  The waiting was two months of hell.  Every step I took hurt like the devil.  I could no longer go for walks and just going shopping about did me in for the day.  My hip joint felt like a round peg in a square hole.  It HURT so much!

So February 10th finally came around and I spent 3 days in the hospital...which was the first time I've been admitted to a hospital since I was born!  Everything went great and I'm all better now.  I have one more physical therapy session to go to this week.  I've been doing my exercises twice a day and feel stronger than I have in quite awhile.  It's so good to walk without a limp and feel normal again.

Now for some bad news.  My older brother Bruce had been battling prostate cancer for quite a few years and finally in early December he knew that cancer was not going to stop attacking his organs.  It was in his bladder, liver, bones and who knows where else and he could no longer walk.  That was the day he went to Hospice.   We had many great visits with him during the holidays and he lost the battle on January 9th.  He was way too good of a guy to have to go through this.  But he was at peace with his decision and we all respected that.  I shed a tear and miss him so much every day.

This was taken last Easter.  Bruce is on the right and my other brother David is on the left.  

Poor Molly got old, full of lumps and bumps, blind and if there's such a thing as doggie dementia, that's what she had.  Once in a great while everything connected and she was her old self, but that was for short periods compared to when she was disconnected.  We knew the time had come to put her down.  Like with my brother, I shed a tear and miss her everyday too.  Right now we don't think we'll be getting another dog, but that may change.

So now for some good news!  With my new hip working like a charm, I've got traveling to do!  In three weeks my travel buddy Betty and I will be off on the first of three bus trips this year.  The first one is to New York City, Atlantic City and Hershey, PA.  You'll have to wait awhile to find out where the other two will be.

I'm going to try to add to this like I used to, mainly with pictures, but only if they're interesting.  We're still waiting for the snow to melt up north at the cabin.  Last week we heard there was still 27 inches on the ground.  Yes you read that correctly...27 on the ground!  Hopefully when I get back from my first trip we can go up and start living the rustic life again.  I really miss the critters, scenery and our northern friends.

Thanks for reading this.  I hope this is the only time I have a bummer of a blog for you to read.

Cindy