I'm not dead yet

Things have been fairly quiet here lately. We have a boat picnic to go to tomorrow, so should see some friends we haven't seen in ages.

To fill more of the post for the few folks who stop here, some photos I've taken lately.

First, a butterfly that was wandering around the back steps and the raspberry bushes:

We're pretty sure it's a Great Spangled Fritillary.

And then some of our sleeping kitties. Especially amusing is the fat fuzzy one's hind toes which can be seen in the upper photo.

It is rather disturbing how much dreck in the carpet doesn't really show to the naked eye, but when you take a photo using the flash it pops.  Just proving why I want to tear the whole thing up. It's crap carpeting anyway, and I know the wood underneath is in fairly decent condition.  Worst comes to worst, and we can buy a few cheap area rugs, but anything to make it easier to clean up the cat hair and hair balls.

Independence Day

Somehow, this seems more appropriate with every passing year.

New cat

Last weekend we got a new cat, and after only a week she seems to be getting on with the other cats without much growling and no bloodshed.

She's about 6, and has come to us rather severely overweight.  Today she tried to get into the bay window which apparently involves standing on the Wii board, climing onto the paper shredder and then into the window.  This morning she fell off the paper shredder. Twice.  So when she tried to get up later you could see her spending time calculating whether it might not be easier leaping over the rabbit cage. Thankfully she figured out it wouldn't be, and this time she didn't fall.

The weather is iffy today, and the husband had to work, so we're going over to the parents' place for the barbeque tomorrow when the weather is better and no one is tired.

On the shoulder front, it still hurts like the dickens.  I am really, really looking forward to being able to sleep for more than 5 hours at a stretch.

The "T" in "PT" stands for....

supposedly, therapist.

Terrorist or torturer work just as well.

I got home from PT and a visit to the DMV to get my new handicapped tag and took a six hour nap.

This morning I woke up after only 5 hours sleep, having taken 800mg of ibuprofen right before I fell asleep, because I was in too much pain to stay asleep. It took several hours before I could move the shoulder.  I know it's improving, but the work to get it there isn't fun at all.

Post-Op Day 26

I had my three week check up today, and was cleared to drive. I probably could have done it earlier; as I suspected since it wasn't written on my instructions, my doctor was leaving it up to my discretion. But it's only in the last few days that moving my arm as you have to to drive hasn't been painful.

My mother and husband are happy that they don't have to drive me everywhere anymore.

So now it's off to job hunt in earnest, second shift and/or part time so I don't have to drop any of my classes for this fall.

Post-Op Day 12

I had my first post-op PT session yesterday. It wasn't as not-fun as I'd thought it might be, but it was not-fun.  I've lost some range of motion, though not as much as my PT guy had expected (probably because I'd already started doing some very gentle stretching on my own), and stretching it out hurts.  My PT guy has requested the op notes from the surgeon's office, which required me signing a release because his name wasn't specifically in their files.  Damn HIPAA, because he didn't need a release what with being one of my medical providers for this particular issue, but many providers have gone overboard on requiring patient releases because of that damned law.  He agreed that unless the op notes showed something very different from my understanding of what was done, avoiding using the sling as much as possible is the better plan.  I just find that the sling is actually more uncomfortable than no sling most of the time.

On a much lighter note, this means that there is a good chance I'll be able to drive by sometime in early July, so I can start job hunting again.

As it is, I'm sitting on the sofa listening to the sirens go by on the main road and watching my cat in the bay window as he loses it every time a bird goes by.  He has this hysterical little a-a-a-a noise he makes when they tease him. My husband has today off, so we're going to get caught up on dishes and laundry, most of which require the pushing, pulling and/or lifting I still can't do so, surprise, we've gotten a little behind. Once that's done, I'm going to make liver and onions and bacon with mash for dinner.  Which reminds me we need to order more Beef Roast seasoning from Penzey's.

Post-Op Day 9

I took the steri-strips off today and the incisions seem to be healing nicely. There are some very diffinite lumps under them which would be where the stiches are tied. Hopefully they will absorb properly, unlike the stiches when I had my deviated septum repaired last year.  I'd rather not have my surgeon have to make incisions in the incisions to remove them.

I'm definitely doing better, though I'm still using the sling, though not around the house (I'd like to keep my balance, thank you), and I'm being very careful about trying to remember to NOT "push, pull, or lift" with my left arm.  The doctor didn't say I should stop using the sling, but she didn't say I had to continue, and there is nothing in the post-op instructions about it, just the no "push, pull, lift" bit.  Since I think the sling can actually make things worse, I'll keep it handy, but not use it if I don't obviously need it.

I have my first day of PT on Monday, with a re-evaluation, so that will be interesting.  I can tell that the shoulder is a lot more frozen/stiff than it was before surgery.  I don't think PT will be fun. 

At least I feel that I can now start job hunting, since I should be driving well before the beginning of the fall semester. It just needs to be a second shift/weekend position.

Post-Op Day 6

I saw my doctor yesterday about the fall. She checked out the arm, and the verdict is that I didn't seem to have done any damage to it, so I don't need to go in on Friday for my post-op check, and I'll go back in three weeks, which will be after 2+ weeks of physical therapy. So I think the take-away from this is that, if it doesn't hurt, I might as well do it.

So I've stopped wearing the sling around the house, which allows me to move the elbow and hands much more easily, as well as keep my balance better.  I saw my GP today about the increase in my idiopathic peripheral edema, and the best advice she can give is that all my labs and other tests look fine, so I really just need to lose weight. Even if I don't lose weight, if I get more active the swelling should improve, which I did notice after walking to the local mini-mart. So I guess I need to find my Reeboks and start taking a daily walk as well as using the Wii.

I can already move almost as much without pain as before the surgery, so PT should now actually increase my movement and strength rather than have to just focus on keeping the joint from freezing. All told, so far at least, this is going much, much better than I feared it might.

Post-Op Day 5

I tripped over my own damn foot yesterday evening and made a five point landing inluding my face (didnt break my glasses and don't seem to have a black eye, but a bruised and swollen cheekbone) and of course extended the operated shoulder and landed on the elbow since it was in the sling. I go see the doctor after lunch to make sure I didn't do anything too horrid.

Ouch.

Post-Op Day 4

This is my shoulder. You can't see the little cross in the back over the third hole. You can see the incision. I'll find out on Friday exactly why the doctor had to make one, though I was warned it was a possibility. I suspect it's related to the bone shaving.

Quite sore this morning, but the sling loosened overnight and I think I shifted my arm in ways it wasn't really happy with. Today will be a take it very easy day.

Post-Op Day 3

Still stiff and sore which is hardly a surprise. I got to take off the bandages to find that in addition to the three ho;es I also have a 2+ inch incision. I was able to get most of the orange sterilizing stuff off, though I probably wont get all of it until I can do a proper bath or at least sponge bath which I'm still too tired to deal with. I'll try for that later today or tomorrow. Right now Im going to relax and watch Amazing Stories on Netflix.

Post-Op Day 2

Damn, but I want to stretch my left arm.  I've found that ibuprofen does indeed work quite well on the pain, which is more ache and sore and stiff than pain, though I did add half a percocet last night so I could sleep. I get to take all the padded bandages off tomorrow, so ice will have a little more effect, and I'm supposed to be moving everything from the elbow down, just no pushing, pulling, or lifting with the left arm.
   sore

Quick up-date : post-op day 1

All things considered I'm feeling pretty good. I woke in a sling rather than an immobilizer so that in itself was good news. The percocets aren't doing anything ( or at least anything noticable) so i'm switching to ibuprofen. 800mg half an hour ago seems to be having more effect than the percs do after the same time lapse.

i am realizing just how much you use your shoulders to get out of chairs.  I'm also giving up on capitals when typing one handed.

Today's the big day.

Bathed, dressed, and ready to head off to the hospital in a few minutes.  Yay!

Of course I haven't had enough sleep, but then it's not like I have to do anything myself, except lie there asleep.

I wonder how long the nerve block is going to last. It can be up to 24 hours. I would just like to avoid pain as much as possible.

Two more days

I hope.

I woke up this morning with a scratchy throat.  So I'm bundled up (it's June, damnit, it's not supposed to be in the 40s at 7am!), have had my coffee, and plan to spend the rest of the day drinking copious amounts of Camomile tea to try to head this thing off.

I do NOT want to have this surgery put off.  I've already had to start taking the percocet in the evening if I'm going to have a hope of getting some sleep. I'd like to not have to start taking multiple doses a day before hand.

Which reminds me, I've got a nearly full script of tramadol to get rid of, since I see no point in keeping a med that doesn't do what it's supposed to while giving me a nasty headache and an upset stomach.

Time to prep

So, school news first.
On Monday I was able to check the grade for Finance, and since I managed to get an A on the final, that was an A for the entire course.  I got an email from my Accounting prof to let me know that I had been given a 95 on the project (a few minor issues, but as he said at the last class, if anyone got everything right about it, they should be up teaching the class rather than taking it), and a 92 on the final (which meant I got to drop the exam with the 87), for an average of 95 something, and another A.  I finished the Quickbooks review, took the exam, and when I checked it Tuesday morning, I'd alsso managed an A in that class.  That left Statistics, but I had to wait until after the last day of class to see the uploaded grade in the unofficial online transcript.  Sadly, that was only an A-. Awwww.

Now I get to concentrate on prepping the house for surgery and getting younger child through her Geometry, Algebra II, and some grammar before the start of school in the fall. I was able to get an unofficial copy of her high school transcript, and they've double counted some stuff, and not given credit for other stuff, but when I added in her home school stuff, she's not doing too badly, and if we get through all the stuff for the summer, she'll be in great shape for next year.

I need to do a fair bit of work to get the house ready for surgery, and of course now that classes are done and I don't have anything else to procrastinate from, it's much harder to find the will power.  Typical. I tried the pain med I was given for pre-op, and I'm not taking that one ever again. The nausea and headache were/are terrible, and there's no real pain relief.

I've got an appointment with elder child and her ortho in a little bit to see if her upper spine curve is behaving, or if it's why she's having so many shoulder and neck issues lately.  If it's the problem, I hope we can still use Children's.

And we're getting there....

Also known as 4 down, 1 to go.  I just took the last Finance exam, and feel pretty good about it. I only needed a 78 to get an A in the overall course. There were 20 questions and there was only 1 that I totally guessed on, and two or three that I wasn't completely comfortable with.  So, fingers crossing and all that.

We made it to New Jersey yesterday afternoon, later than I'd planned, but not too bad, and that was in spite of the best laid plans of New Jersey signage.  Their road signs and what the GPS thinks things are called don't seem to match in the Piscataway area.  However, having to pull over when it looked like we'd screwed up for a third time was actuallly a Good Thing, as just as I pulled over to the break down lane a large piece of scrap metal went careening through were the car would have been, and while I think we would have survived it, I don't think the driver's side of my car would have. So there was that.

And then the hotel turned out to be at the beginning of a major remodel, and lots of stuff had issues. But being polite but a little loud and very unhappy got many things fixed. The staff are great, but it seems that upper-upper management isn't giving them much to work with.  So I'd probably avoid the Hotel Suomerset Bridgewater until later in 2016 after they've sorted it out and reopened as a Crown Plaza.

My daughter got her makeup and costume on and I got her dropped off and checked in to the Steampunk World's Fair, and went back to the hotel, (which was when I was polite upset and got a new room), moved some of our stuff, and then went and had a half price G&T.  I felt much, much better after that.  I picked the kid up around 10 after the dinner with the band and heard all about her photo with them, and her selfies with them, and meeting all sorts of people she knows from the tumblr group.

Today I got her dropped off fairly early for the meet-and-greet, and she wasn't planning on coming back before the concert is over, which will be around midnight.  So I'm going to head down shortly, as soon as it hits 5, for another G&T and some dinner.

And then it's going over the last three chapters of QuickBooks, so I can (hopefully) take the test in the morning while kid's over at the fair, and then we'll head home sometime late afternoon/early evening. Even if I don't get the test done until Monday (it closes Monday at 23:59), after that it's all over for the summer.

School, that is. My school. I still have to work with younger child on her math, and get the house and stuff ready for surgery on the 4th. I want to not have to worry if I do wake up in an immobilizer, and then if it goes as planned, everything will be fine too.

Slowly, slowly...

Two finals down, and one more tonight, leaving just two. I'll take one online tomorrow and try to get the other out on Saturday, but I've got until Monday evening for that one.

I spent a busy morning today getting my car its oil & lube, tire rotation, and a new cabin air filter.  Then I spent an exciting hour at the DMV getting my new license. Lord but CT is expensive. $72 for six years. The photo doesn't hide the pudge, but at least I look like I'm alive, rather than something that was poorly embalmed a few months back. And then over to the outpatient lab center for my pre-op workup of blood and an EKG.  I had to fill out a full H&P, again.  It would be so much easier for me if the hospital would just give me a print out of my last one with spaces for changes.  Really, I haven't had any new surgeries since the last one done there.  I suppose I should be happy that (at least so far) they've only asked me to fill it out once. For one of the last two surgeries I gave up when it happened a fourth time, and just wrote in big letters "SEE PHYSICIAN'S COPY!!". I had done one for the surgeon, one for the OR, one for anesthesia, and I don't remember who the last one was for.  They never got back to me to complain, so I have to wonder if anyone even looked at it.

I had the pre-op with the surgeon yesterday. Apparently what radiology calls tears is, in my case, more like fraying hems. So if it turns out to really be that I won't be immoblized for weeks, and will be able to use my elbow and wrist pretty much from day one. On the other hand she may get in there and find it looks very, very different. I'll only know for sure when I wake up and find out whether I'm in a sling or immobilized in lots of black strapping.

So, back to last minute studying and notecard creation.....

Procrastination

is something I'm usually pretty good at.  

I procrastinated on my Finance paper until 8 hours before it had to be uploaded. I spent 5 hours writing three pages (I did have an outline already) on a topic I know next to nothing about.  That final portion of the project was worth 60 points. (The earlier sections were 5 points for chosing an acceptable topic, 10 points for the title page, abstract, and outline, annd 25 points for the first draft/portion of the paper - I got 40 out of 40.) The final paper was to be at least 5 pages long. My 1st draft submission was over that.  I needed to finish the last sections, because I still don't really write drafts, I write the paper, or at least each section, in one go, and then I copyedit. So anyways, after 5 hours I had an 8 page paper in APA format with lots of inline citations, a corrected outline, because of course it changed a bit as I wrote it, a slightly changed bibliography, because I used some things I didn't know about at the beginning, and I didn't bother with some stuff I had included, and the original abstract and title page for a total of 112 pages.

5 hours work got me 60 points out of 60.

I really can't decide if this is because I'm just that good at writing papers, or if it is saying something about the quality of paper expected at the undergraduate level these days. Or maybe it's a bit of both.

Not that I really care, I got the grade.

So now I'm down to studying for the accounting and statistics in-class finals; at least stats isn't cumulative. And I have two online tests to take. I was going to start all the studying on Friday. It's now Sunday. Oops.

I hope to have everything done by Thursday night so I can spend the whole weekend sleeping or Netflixing except when I have to chauffeur my kid someplace at the Steampunk World's Fair. After that I can take real pain meds for my shoulder until the surgery; it's not like I have to worry about being charged with housecleaning under the influence.

The end is nigh!

At least of the semester.

I'm finished with microeconomics. I got a 95 on the last test (it would have been higher but I reversed two numbers, though at least I remembered what they were) so my average for the semester is over a 93 for the A, and I don't need to do the take home cumulative final to get one of the earlier test grades dropped.

Last night saw the accounting company financials presentations, and my group didn't do too badly; we went over the last test after handing in the answer sheet so know I missed 4 out of 42. I'm kicking myself because one of the answers was obvious if I'd read the question one more time. It was one of those where you are given a fair bit of extraneous data, and I didn't get rid of quite enough.  But I've also got the trial balance project completely done, as well as the school's accreditation exam, so all I've got to do is show up next week after doing some (relatively thorough review) and I may not even have to take the cumulative final in this class either.

So.  All that's left is going over the last three chapters of Quickbooks for the online exam which opens on the 12th, finish the last chapter and it's homework in Principles of Finance, and review for the online exam, which opens on the 12th, and study like mad for the Statistics final on the 14th. At least class tomorrow night will be completely review.

On the 15th I drive down to the Steampunk World's Fair with my eldest, and other than chauferring her (which may not be too necessary as the hotel we're staying at is a satelite Con hotel so there may be at least some limited shuttle service) I should be able to sleep.  Especially as I'm going to ask my doctor at the pre-op appointment on the 13th for some decent pain meds. 6 hours broken sleep a night is getting ... interesting. And not in a good way.