MY OPERATION AND TONI'S PASSING

Operation: I had the corrective surgery on my knee replacement as planned. The knee was turning in so much it threw my back and hips off and made walking difficult. I was very impressed with the facility, the Spine and Joint Hospital. They have an excellent staff and take good care of you. My nurse only had six patients to tend so you got quick and efficient care. I was in the hospital for two days and then brought home. I teased Zoe, calling her Nurse Ratchet but she really took excellent care of me. She was run ragged doing both of our usual jobs plus caring for me. I was able to walk right away but the pain was even greater than the original operation, to my surprise. The climbing (and pulling) up and down the steep stairs on the cruise ship seemed to have strengthened my muscles. I received aids at home to help with my recovering. A flexor, nicknamed the rack, worked my knee to keep it flexible and get back to the correct bending. (I got it to 110 degrees). Then there was the icing machine that helped keep the swelling down. After two weeks, the original machine went back and I got a portable one to keep. All of these with the addition of my sleep machine for sleep apnea make our place look like a mini-hospital. A nurse came to the rig and took my vital signs for two days a week for two weeks. A physical therapist also came four times a week for two weeks. I felt very cared for.

Toni: Our detailed plans for the summer are as usual thrown into disarray. Our friend,
Cap’n Toni, finally succumbed to the cancer riddling her whole body. Anyone that ever met her, liked her. She will be missed. We have been coordinating her small estate with two other women and Zoe has had to fly to California to help. Right now everything is up in the air but it looks now like we will be heading to Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde soon.