Me, myself & I-update

Well, folks, it only took 2 weeks home to have me climbing the walls! There is just so much knitting (3 pairs of baby socks and the front of an adult sleeveless Aran vest) , reading (Barbara Walter's memoirs and a MC Beaton murder mystery), playing cards on-line, watching old tv shows & movies and napping that I can do. I've even started cleaning what I can reach from the wheelchair. Our lower kitchen cabinets have never been so clean! I went to my 1st MD appointment Thursday & saw my regular cardiologist who said ok, you're doing fine, see you in 3 months. When I asked if there were limits on my activities due to the artificial heart valve, he said no, I no longer had a heart condition. This coming Tuesday I have appointments for lab works, etc with the cardiac surgeon in Cooperstown. Hopefully, he'll just say Bye. Today I got a card in the mail registering my artificial heart valve! That'll leave the orthopedic surgeon...who's really in control of my life right now...to see at the end of April when the cast is scheduled to be changed and the screw that's holding the ligament in place across the front of my ankle is removed. I wonder if I could ask for it as a keepsake? Oh, that card actually identified when the valve was replaced. Seems I've lost another week of my life...it all happened a week earlier than I remembered (2/25). Hey, I just thought of something: when should I now celebrate my birthday 2/25 or 4/9? More next week. Mary T

Me, Myself & I-update

The rehab center didn't want me to leave so I had to sign myself out against medical advise. By the time I made it to my appointments in Cooperstown the sealed envelopes they had given me to pass on to my doctors had opened and I could see their point of view clearly. When I explained my attitude re rehab both my doctors questioned why I had gone there instead of straight home...never posed as an choice to me. (Sitrin wanted me to keep the appointments w/Bassett but return to them for a few more days, too.) Anyway, I now have a red walking cast and a brand new walker... sold to me by Sitrin that Bassett's ortho MD doesn't want me using too much. He wants me 'walking' while seated in a wheelchair as much as I can. Everything's looking good except the ligament on my right instep that was torn in the fall and is being held in place by one of the screws for another month. The ortho-man told me I did a damn good job on my foot! But the heart valve replacement looks good. My next cardio check up is next week in Herkimer and the big one with all the tests is at the end of the month in C'town. The foot is my big problem right now. It's going to keep me home for at least 10 more weeks! But it's great to be home! Last night was the lst night I slept all night in a week! Nursing homes are very noisy at night! Mary T

Me, Myself & I-update

Well, I got out of rehab on 3/16! I had an appointment at Bassett with the cardiac NP at 1pm and then another at 2pm to have a walking cast put on my foot and then I headed home! I thought that I'd continue with PT coming to the house a couple of times a week for a month or so. I am so happy to be going home! I haven't slept all night in almost a week. (I've been here, what 9-10 days?) What's worse, I've only knitted 1 1/2 baby socks in that time! The lighting is awful. And the public pc is dial-up! What could be worse? (Talk about being spoiled!) I want to thanks everyone for their good wishes. I promise to keep you posted! Mary T

Me, Myself & I

I just want everyone to know that I'm back in the land of the semi-living. Around Feb. 23rd, I had a 'cardiac' moment in our kitchen. When I came to, I was on my back and my right foot hurt like hell. I couldn't put any weight on it so we called 911 and I went to LFH/ER for the evening. Later that night I went to Bassett Hospital in Coooperstown. The next day I had a plate, 2 pins and 2 screws put in my right ankel and my metric heart valve replaced. I spent 2 weeks in Cooperstown and then was transferred to the Sitirin home in Utica. I still had a no-weight bearing cast on my right foot for another week and an appointment to get my cast changed and a cardiac eval and hopefully sent home. To make matters worse, our dog died while I was hospitalized and Mom got stuck taking care of that. John Fiore helped her with the dog and while we're both sad, Teddi was almost 16 years old and we knew this was going to happen anytime. Thanks to John, Teddi got buried with our other dogs...something I might not have been able to do myself.

Mom is doing very well at home with the help of some family, neighbors and friends.
Not much else new from me.Hope to hear from all of you. Mary T