The big obstacle

 As was reported to me once or twice, there was no way to get my car started. Instead of running it on some errand weekly, K chose to try to start it two or three times over the many weeks it sat in the garage. She even bought a special battery to try to turn it over, to no avail. She thought probably I'd lost the alternator, too, and suggested I look into a new car.

I'd had the car into the garage back when I was not driving much due to those horrible back spasms. I had full diagnostics run on the car, for a pretty penny, and it was declared completely healthy, save a battery at 50%. I was pretty sure I still had a good alternator. So I went with my plan this morning.

First the basement steps. K went down in front ("You can't bust through me!") and L went behind, holding the back of my sweatshirt. Then she went back up for the walker, and I sat in my car and called AAA. They were one cold hour showing up, but I got what I wanted: a new battery. My car started right up and I drove to the front door and went back in the house. The only bad news, the check engine logo is on. I doubt it's serious; probably involves the new battery. I cannot get it checked until next week.

Back indoors, I set L on washing the blue toweling off the loom. My job this morning was rescheduling all the doctor appointments I cancelled from the hospital bed. Dear Lord, they all wanted to smoosh six weeks of appointments into the first half of January!

The I cut up the toweling, hemmed a couple and put them on my website, sort of. I got the dusty blue towels posted, but cannot get the program to record the quantity available. A problem for Blake!

I ask after Toby from time to time. L spent the day at Bekka's yesterday and came home with a couple of pictures. He looks a few treats over the limit, that's for sure.

On the other hand, he sure knows who he loves.

Late to the party

 I came home to a house with L and K, but several more anticipated. K's two boys, her brother and his wife and their daughters. I did a vaccine status and found all at three shots except the nine year old girls. Nevertheless, I kept my distance, especially when friends appeared and gathered in the big room.

Christmas was a choreographed affair. Other folks' events are interesting. Gifts at nine, dinner at two. We had the tree Laura cut.

The girls solemnly distributed gifts, each wearing a Santa hat. Sweet.

You know who before I moved on to the studio.

The fluorescent lights were tough on K's migraine. We turned them off and she removed her sun glasses.

K's oldest son got two caps he put on one after the other, and looked like Sherlock Holmes.

I finished the run of blue towels, but need L home from visiting her siblings to get them through the washer and dryer for finishing. It will be so nice to start filling in the web site again.

Tomorrow I have PT at 10:30. I am looking forward to it. I am most curious to see how one manages steps with a walker. That probably will not be tomorrow.

So good to be home

My sister brought me home Tuesday afternoon. I cleared ten weeks of mail and took a nap. Laura sorted through the frozen foods accumulated and picked a small pizza. One errand accomplished last October was picking up a week's worth of suppers. K put them in the freezer for safe keeping, though she was concerned about my eating such "old" food. I'm not. The pizza was decent. On the whole, food is food. I survived therapy food!

Kai owns my chair now. Her bone is stashed partly down the edge of the chair. She said hello, but little more.

Wednesday I spent putting away the two large sacks of belongings I brought home. L did a load of laundry, that I put away today. I took a nap and woke up late for dinner. L showed me how to use the toaster over, and I was set to handle the other half of the pizza. Except for plugging in the device at the start, it went well.

I had my first visit from home therapy today, and we set my goal as return to the cane and mastering the basement steps. The therapist thinks that will take about three weeks. We'll see. So, twice a week, beginning next week.

Laura and K went off to find a tree at Heritage Farms. It was felled and put in the truck and now is in the Big Room. I will go take a look, then retire to my studio and weave some towels!

Home sooner than later, it appears

Last Tuesday, the doctor upgraded me to 50%  weight bearing on that leg for one week, and 100% thereafter. This truly is the most simple math you ever will do. When you stand, 100% of your weight is on the ground, 50% carried by each leg.

To put less than 50% of your weight on the leg in question is more difficult, but not imposible. It's like walking with the walker for a cane. A matter of getting the hang of it.

Long story short, my therapy has gone very well. I have been very well behaved and have tried so hard not to reinjur my leg; I can go home on Tuesday. 

I do not know how well things have gone on the home front. I wonder of L andd K have put together my new chair? K had been thinking of installing an upstairs washer/dryer, but in the event that has not occurred, I will engage the local laundry to do mine.

And then there's my poor car. AAA jumpd it twice for me and I drove it to Goodyear have a new battery installed. They told me the battery was new in January, 2021. They charged it to 100% and sent me on my way. When I arrived home that night, I broke my leg. Enough said on that. I asked that the car be started weekly, but of course that did not happen.

When they did start the car recently, nada, zip, zilch. I told K I have AAA, but she had purchased a "jumper" battery and it was at work. We'll see. never a dull moment!

How to slip out, but only from bed

I've spent my career ruining my back. That's simply one more item to note, seventy nine odd years later. In addition to broken and crushed bits, or perhaps because, my body tossed in fibromyalgia. I wonder how we dealt with it a century ago?

I was referred to an arthritis doctor at least thirty years ago, and kept fairly comfortable with minor arthritic pains. But the day my back went into spasms, like wash boards across each other, the only doctor who listened was my arthritis doctor. Fibromyalgia, he declared. He prescribed a mild dose of Lyrica.

A drug addict I'm not. But I am dependt on several meds for my well being, for relief of back pain. I've used Lyrica the longest, more than twenty years. I'm on my third or fourth doctor; they move or retire. I've weathered several protocall  changes by the federal government, essentially defining which kind of doctor can prescribe different tiers of drugs.

My drug history follows me around fairly well. However, the breakdowns are awful, most especially to me. Three nights ago I looked into the pill cup and saw the ubiquitous statin, some vitamins, and no Lyrica. I inquired, and was told it had been ordered only for thirty days, then they would take me "off" and see how I did. None of this had been discussed with me, the verbal patient who understands, or the prescribing doctor.

Nothing I could do at ten at night, so I closed my eyes and hoped for sleep. I've done withdrawal in the past of narcotic pain meds. It bascially involves one sleepless night and life's the same thereafter. Of course, I hadn't taken the narcotic for twenty years. 

I fell asleep straightaway. When I woke it was not morning and I was not raring to go. It as an hour to midnight, my back was in full spasm and I lay in a pool of cold sweat. That was my night, doze, wake, feel my back in motion, sweat, wet pillow, wet sheets.

The last time I woke was 6:30 ish. I sat up and slid to the edge of the bed, unaware the bed pad and sheet came too. I came to the edge of the bed, then over, like over a vanishing edge. I held the bed rail all the way, and and sat down with (I hope) a gentle thump. Nothing hurt more or less than before and my  back kept on grinding.

No harm, no foul, but what to do now? My roommate, a light sleeper was awake, but neither could reach the call button. Carole commenced pounding the wall and yelling. I scooted across the floor and found my New Balance. Let me tell you the kind of noise that comes from the heel of a NB, slammed to the floor. And it still took three or four minutes before five people came through the door, simultaneously!

I waited for them to check me over and put me back to bed.

Then it was my turn to tell them their job. The arogance of checking nothing, telling the patient nothing. I was assured it woulel be resolved before the day's bedtime. "I have a bridge in Brooklyn" I said, to almost every "promise".

Knowing the resolution was days away, I called Laura to sneak in my private bottle of Lyrica. She did a wonderful job, in her best underhand, duplicitously producing them among a pocketfull of absolute trash.  And I was right. No fix Monday, also no fix Tuesday. I'm promised tonight. We'll see.

In the other meantime, Carol's son sent us flowers. No one can believe I've been here mostly on my back in bed for ten weeks. So, it can be done!

And Laura and Kamaria visited, with a gnome. Handsome fella.