She's Feeling Stronger!

Hello, everybody! Today is a gorgeous day. Would you just look at this beautiful fruit basket? It was sent by some wonderful friends from church! I mean to tell you that it was full! In fact, it was so full that neither of us could lift it. When we finally opened it last night, we couldn't believe all of the fruit it contained. Believe us, there were no fillers in here. It was solid fruit--grapefruit, oranges, bananas, pears, grapes, apples of every kind, a huge pineapple with a peach set on top. It was just a lovely thing to see. We thank you, our wonderful friends! A personal note will follow.

The patient is progressing unbelievably well. Now the danger is that she tries to do too much! I know that it is hard to stop doing the things that you do so automatically.

Today brings the physical therapist for another round of exercises. She has now gotten the angle up to 60 degrees! Astounding, isn't it?

When she changes the dressing later today, I will get another picture. The swelling is very minor. She has been excellent when it comes to icing that leg.

Her spirits remain elevated, and she is standing tall!

Ellen wants you all to know that she has received excellent, loving nursing care throughout this whole ordeal! (Sharon is writing this under duress as Ellen dictates!) If it weren't for Sharon, she would have had to go to a rehab unit. There are angels on this earth! Aww, that even makes me want to cry.

Until next time . . . ...

Bathing The Baby In The Kitchen Sink!

Good morning, everybody! Each day continues to be better and better for Ellen. The physical therapist came yesterday afternoon, and worked with her. He, too, was amazed at the strength she has. He did an assessment of the house to see how better to make it for her while she uses the walker and a cane. Thankfully, the toilet is already high, so that was no problem. The one big thing is the bath tub. He recommended a shower seat that she could sit down and then swing her legs inside the tub. We will see how long it takes to get them to bring one out. In the meantime, we will continue to bath the baby in the kitchen sink. There will be several of us who will remember that that used to be the best way to get your kids clean.

Finally, the medical supply people brought a Passive Motion machine that works. It is older, but it doesn't weigh so much, and that helps my aching back.

The therapist also taught Ellen to walk down the one little step to her backyard. So guess where we went after we got all cleaned up? She loves her backyard, and right now the lilies are just beautiful. You know that I went to get my trusty little camera, and that is where today's picture was taken. In front of her is the beautiful geranium that courtesy committee sent from school, along with a gift card from Applebee's.

Her leg continues to show the effects of some really heavy trauma. I asked her what her pain level was and she said, "A 3, and that is negligible!" The swelling in her knee looks better. She is not ready for "Dancing With the Stars" just yet, but it won't be long.

The news continues to be all good from here. Thank you for your special thoughts and prayers. Please continue them for us both. Until next time . . .. . ....

A New View and All Dolled Up!

Oh, wow! Would you look at this pretty thing? Today's views are brought to you by request, so Miss Jenny, this one is for you!

Ellen says that she thinks everything looks good. The color is good. It is dry.
There was absolutely no drainage yesterday. When she changed the dressing this morning, this is what it looked like.
And now, here she is all dolled up and ready to cruise the neighborhood. I am going to have to go get my soldering gun, and fix that passive motion machine myself. It seems they are all standing around looking at each other wondering what we are talking about. ARGGH!!!

She did her hair this morning, and Nichole, do you notice the IKEA bag? That is her trash bag. Sister Carol gave her another pretty bag to cart her things around. We put the phones, pen, and paper, etc. into that bag.

She is looking forward to a visit from the physical therapist sometime today. It is about time. It will be interesting to see what new exercises he comes up with. Until next time, thanks for reading this.

One Week Post-Op!

Happy Monday morning to you all. Thanks for helping me to do this, Joe. I am still sitting at the computer this morning, and so far, Sleeping Beauty has not dinged the ring-a-ding-dinger!

Thank God, we are one week after surgery today!

This is a great way to get exercise without sweating TOO much. I thought you might like to see this passive motion machine in action. This was taken before it quit while Ellie was in it, and it lasts only 30 seconds! I am sure that there is a way to have just the video come up, but I need more help.

Why, Oh, Why Did I Give Her That Ring-a-ding Dinger?

There it is---a cute little bell that was used for 36 and a half years in my classroom. I rang it just once, and every student that ever came through my doors stopped talking, or whatever they were doing, and looked up at me.

I gave it to Ellen to use when I brought her home after surgery. The first night she only had to use it once. The second night --only once; HOWEVER, now that she knows how to use it, .. ....... Poor baby, last night she must have had to get up once on the hour every hour for quite a few hours. The bright side to this is that the swelling in her leg and ankle had really gone down--a lot!
So far today, she has had her leg iced since breakfast; then, after getting a bath, I just put her to bed with the Passive Motion Machine, and more ice. She continues to do well, and right now I put the machine on a 56 degree angle! (I also made sure that she took a pain med.) If I had known that nursing was going to be this much fun, maybe my life would have taken a different path. (Surely, you know that I am teasing.)

For those of you who expected to see a picture of the knee, maybe later. There was no drainage this morning, and she decided to postpone changing the dressing until a little bit later.

That's all for now, folks.

An Angel In Disguise

Meet Shawn and her two daughters, Brynna and Lauren! Yesterday Shawn, the angel, came by to bring two bags of ice for the thermal machine that pumps ice water. That is how I ice Ellen's leg to keep the swelling at bay. We use about two bags of ice each day, and that is a wonderful thing. Shawn brought two more bags of ice today and two of her three daughters. We had a nice visit. The girls were really interested in just what all of this was about. Now they can go back to school and tell everyone that they have seen Nursie-Pooh, and she is doing great!

If you have ever seen a picture of Ellen with both of her eyes open, please remember what she looks like. When anyone says, "Let's get a picture," her eyes automatically close. This first picture is of Joe trying to hold her eye open. Even that didn't work! If you have any suggestions to help her to keep her eyes open, please let us know! She is too funny!

Oh, well, we tried, didn't we, Joe?
She had another really good day. I put the passive motion machine on a 53 degree angle, and upped the speed one level. She had no trouble with that. When I put her to bed tonight, I said to her, "Don't you hurt just a little bit when you walk?" She said, "No, not really!" She is something else.

She's Following Orders! WOW!

Hello, Everybody! It has been a beautiful week here in El Paso! The weather outside has been a little bad, but the weather inside is BEAUTIFUL!

The patient is just great! After a couple of uneasy days, she has mounted a strong comeback! Here is another picture for you, Nichole. It was breakfast this morning, and it consisted of an Egg Beater omelet with cheese, two pieces of turkey bacon, a small whole wheat bagel, one-half of a Pink Lady apple, and Vanilla Bean coffee. My sister, Janice, will recognize the coffee mug. It is one that was painted by my mom, and it is the same one that she drank coffee from on many occasions.


This next picture is of the Continuous Passive Motion Machine. It looks like a giant ski boot. Her foot is strapped in at the boot part. Another picture below will show you what her leg looks like all strapped in with the ice machine running ice water through it.

When I look at this picture below, I just want to holler, "Ouch!"

Poor leg--it has really been through a tough process. She is pleased with how it looks. We go back to the doctor in a couple of weeks. Hopefully, he will be very pleased with her progress, and his own handiwork.
Here is that precious leg all strapped into the machine. The blue thing that is attached to the black hose is pumping ice water all through it in order to keep the swelling down.
By the way, she is doing everything I tell her to do! Astounding, isn't it? She is used to giving the orders, and I am used to doing everything she tells me to do! This has given me amazing power! I kind of like it! (Hee, Hee!) Until next time. . .

I'm Goin' Home

If any of you are American Idol watchers, then you know that the song that is sung when one of them gets kicked off is "I'm goin' home. It's the place where I belong...". That's exactly where I am right now!! When the doctor asked if I still wanted to go home today, there was absolutely NO hesitation on my part. The care was just fine and everyone was very nice and the food ended up being great, but it was still time to come home.

My chauffeur, home helper, nurse, cook, and errand runner all showed up at the same time! Sharon is her name. :o) She has been doing all the jobs with a smile on her face. ( I think it is there because she can finally order me around and I won't give her any grief!) I'm sure she will acquire a few more names before this whole ordeal is over. We had a lovely ride down Mesa street! When you have been inside for a few days with only a glimpse of the outside world, the air feels wonderful.

I wanted to tell everyone thanks for all the thoughts, prayers and get well wishes. It is at times such as this that I realize how thoughtful and concerned people can be. It's amazing how the Internet keeps us connected from all over the world! I know there are still many weeks of recovery to take place, but hopefully the worst part is over. Sharon and I will keep everyone posted on how things are going. I'm sure we will have many tales to tell!

Ellen's Hospital Fun

Okay, this is going to be all about Ellen's knees, so if you don't want to see them, skip over this part. This first picture is taken before surgery last Sunday. You can see the swelling in her left knee. You can't see the hurt.

This second picture is of Ellen and one of her therapists, Hector. He was the nicest person, and was so very sweet to her. He was amazed himself at how well she has done.

When the nurse came in to change the dressing after her shower this morning, I was able to get this gorgeous picture of her left knee as it looked two days after surgery. (Pretty tracks, don't you think?)
Nichole, this one is for you. I just had to take a picture of her lunch today. It is chicken cordon bleu, rice, peas and carrots. For dessert, it is fresh fruit, and to drink -hot tea. Yes, that is a pansy on top of the food. Isn't it pretty?

I thought I should at least show you dinner, so below is dinner. It is seafood newburg served over pasta with steamed broccoli, fresh fruit, and iced tea.

Here are some flowers sent by friends.
I was so excited today because Ellen had an amazing day. She walked longer this afternoon. The Continuous Passive Motion Machine was put on an almost 45 degree angle. She is going to be very hard to keep up with when I get her home. I am thrilled to death for her. She deserves to feel better for awhile. I might get to take her home in the morning. AMAZING! Absolutely, AMAZING!

Hooray for Ellie!

"Hooray for Ellie, Hooray for Ellie. Someone's in the hall shouting, 'Hooray for Ellie'."

Hello, everybody, it is going to be a great day today! This is Sharon writing this in Ellen's hospital room. She is doing great! Her surgery was on Monday morning and it went really well. It took about two hours, she was in recovery for a little more than an hour. Then they brought her up to the room. The only bad thing was the morphine drip. It made her throw up, and they could not find an anti-nausea med that worked. It was agonizing for me to watch. Finally, a magnificent nurse came on duty who worked with the doctor and found one that did. They changed her pain med. I left to go home last night with a heavy heart, but this morning she called me around 6 o'clock. She sounded like a different person! Was I ever excited!!! She ate a good breakfast this morning; at this moment, she is sitting up in her chair about to take a little morning nap. I brought the computer so she could catch up on her email. She put a huge smile on my face this morning. I got to see her scar, and I took a picture of her knees before surgery, and now I have one of her after surgery. I also took a couple of her walking down the hall. She loves her therapists, and they both are really nice.

I will try to put the pictures on the blog, but I wanted to write this first to let you know that she is doing great so far. When she goes home, I will stay with her until she is able to handle everything.

We were sorry to hear about Michael's Aunt Kathy, and hope that she is able to fully recover.

This hospital is small, but wonderful. It is owned by the doctors who are in the orthopedic group. There are only 25 beds, so the nursing care is also wonderful. The food, you ask? Well, it is still hospital food! Those were her words.

Thanks for your prayers, and good thoughts!