Summer Finally came to Terrace!😊

It's been hot and lovely for the last 3 weeks. The weather is changing but..we do need some moisture. We hesitate to say that here as it never knows when to quit😁 Our grand daughter Holly Lynn Watson and her Scottish boyfriend Chris have been here from Glasgow for three weeks and they head back Monday morning. We've had a good visit. The daylilys and many other flowers are blooming madly and the garden is producing. Fresh home grown blue berry muffins and three jars of fridge dills and zucchini pickles from the garden. Tomorrow I'll can some beans. Tonight I'm making scalloped potatoes and zucchini fritters with dill and feta. Lots of New Zealand spinach, carrots, potatoes etc. Just puts a smile on my face😊

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Chris is a trained chef and here he's deep frying halibut and chips.

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Eric keeping an eye on Chris and Holly😁

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I made the salads and the fish and chips were delicious.

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Chili dinner at our house last Thursday.  Terrace provided a warm, breezy and bug free evening.  Just lovely.

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Daylilies, helenium and rudbeckia.  Everything is blooming like crazy.

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Blueberry, oatmeal,bran,orange muffins for Eric's breakfast.  The tomatoes aren't mine as it's not warm enough here but they do grow in town.

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Cucumber and zucchini dills from the garden.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes on Facebook!

Thanks for all the birthday wishes! We had a lovely dinner at our daughte Erika's with her husband Wade and daughter Abby. I got a nice carry bag from Scotland, an apron from Portugal and all sorts of treats...oh and a case of beer😊

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Ribs for dinner!

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Eric and I with Abby and Wade.

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Shrimp.

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Abby and her lap dog Flynn🤣

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Mochi.

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Abby's strawberry sensation cheesecake!

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As yummy as it looks!

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Happy Gramma..my favorite!

Happy Birthday to me and my elbow😁

 On Monday I had my 3 week xray and yesterday I saw my doctor.  The radiologist says the hardware is in place and the bone is healing...hallelujah!  To say I've been worried is an understatement as it's been 3 months since my fall in March. So...Onward.  it will be a slow journey this time and to everyone's surprise I'm actually doing as I'm told😁!

Today is my birthday and I am always reminded of the following poem.

I was born on a Friday and today is a Friday.  I do love to give presents and I keep my love a bit hidden but it's there and it's fierce❤

Since we arrived home Eric has been busy burning the huge stump piles next to our new driveway road.

I of course have been gardening and mowing lawns with one arm!!  Eric says I'm going to have a Popeye arm by the time this over 😁

This evening we'll be at our daughter Erika's along with son in law Wade and granddaughter Abby for dinner.

This was June of 2020 and my cheesecake that Abby made for my birthday...yum!

The elbow saga continues!

 I had my second surgery in Kitimat on May 16th to fix the broken ulna just below the elbow.  All the pins and wires placed in Mexico were removed as they were lifting and a plate and screws placed on the broken bone. Went well I guess but since I didn't talk to the surgeon who knows. Production line!  They had trouble getting me out of post surgery pain(morphine, fentynal and tramadol.)  They gave me some written instructions and a prescription and said bye bye and we made a one hour drive hime to Terrace,..sure not the care I got in Mexico but it cost the travel insurance plenty!.  T Lots of bleeding from the bandage that night at home but some compression stopped it. Saw my GP on Wednesday the 18th and he thought it was OK but that I should have a bandage change on the 23rd or 24th.  Turns out wound care at Public health does that...who knew because no one told me I could call them for help.  By Sunday the 22nd it was bleeding too much so I went to the ER.  They did the x-rays that the surgeon had called for and unwrapped the arm.  Soaking wet with blood!  Wounds can't heal if they're wet! New bandage and home. Public health called and wanted to see me the next day...now everyone was on high alert.  Changed again on the 24th and still bleeding a bit. Yesterday the 26th my GP changed it again and it had bled but was dry.  X-rays showed the hardware is in place and healing has started.  The big worry is getting infection around the metal plate.  Today a bit more bleeding. 

Am I tired of all this...you bet!  Next week light physio and more bandage changing😁

If I'd been informed about what to do from the start I wouldn't have been so worried.  My big fear was that the metal wouldn't hold and I'd be back to square one.  Lots of pain this time but slowly getting better.  Lucky for you that I'm not posting pictures of the unwrapped wound🤣

Elbow update

 So...how am I doing...well...could be better.

We arrived home April 28th and I saw my GP on the 3rd of May, had x-rays on the 4th, spoke to my GP on 5th about the x-rays.  At this point my hip is OK but my elbow is not. There has been some closure of the broken bone but it is fibrous tissue and it is a non union that will not get better...  So yesterday the 6th granddaughter Abby drove me to Kitimat to see the orthopedic surgeon there as Terrace does not have one.

So..more surgery.  Fibroid tissue between broken bone and it will never heal. I could leave it but pushing movement would hurt. More than just the initial break happened. Joint and bones displaced and some damage to the wrist which may require orthoscopic surgery in the future. So I choose get it as close to normal as possible and hope for the best.  Remove pins and wires, clean up the bone so it can join, a plate and screws and remove fibroid tissue. Not a small task.  Did physio contribute to this mess..maybe..maybe not.  In any case what's done is done and now I'll garden like hell for ten days and have day surgery in Kitimat by the orthopedic surgeon Dr Van Der Merwe on May 16th.   

Fingers 🤞

Not a great outcome but...life goes on! 

Made it back to Terrace.

 

So...how did the trip home go you ask?  Well all things considered, as planned.  If we could get rid of all the forms, apps, tests and scans it'd be pretty easy but after 9-11 and the pandemic everyone feels a bit like a criminal when they travel. Such is life today.

Left Mazatlan at 2pm on Wednesday, landed in Phoenix, through customs, dropped luggage  went through security and flew to LA. Landed, picked up luggage and finally got a shuttle to the hotel. Straight to bed!  Up at 6am, continental breakfast, shuttle to the airport, checked luggage, through a long line to security and landed in Vancouver at 1pm. Through customs, picked up luggage, checked luggage and through another huge line to security. Vancouver was the worst security with officers yelling at you the whole time. Managed to find some pizza and 3 beers for 84 dollars!   Into Terrace at 7:30 last night and back to our daughter and son in laws for the night.  We'd better be able to drive next fall!!!  

Eric was off to the house to get the power and fridge on this morning.Tomorrow we'll start the water.  Erika and I were off to get groceries and insure the Jeep.  Since I'm limping (physio screwed up my right hip) and my arms in a sling I needed help.  A fast $1200 dollars and we had 6 months insurance, groceries and beer.  Gas is 2$ a liter and groceries and beer are silly expensive.  However I am really glad to be home.

    Beautiful coming up the coast getting close to Kitimat. 

          There's Terrace and the Skeena river.

That's looking east on highway 16.  If you look on the top right you'll see two clearings. The top one is our 40 acres house, barns and fields.  The one just below it is the acreage that Eric logged, cleared and planted and sold.  If you zoom in you can see our house and buildings.

   A close up.  Pretty amazing considering I took the pictures with my cell phone through a dirty airplane window!

    Terrace down below and it's even sunny!

  Farms along the Skeena.

 

     Landing at the airport.

Looking out towards the barn at our daughter's.  Flynn and Maple are keeping an eye on us. 

     Shrimp has grown since last fall.  Chloe (aka Schmoopie) the other Swiss mountain is sleeping in the other room and Olivia the other cat is outside.

Flynn...he's a big boy!

     Erika and Flynn.

Shmoopie.

         Maple.

  So all in all..we're glad to be home.   I see my doctor on Monday and then....?

The Bad, the Good and the Ugly..with an end that I didn't expect or want!

This is a bit of a mishmash of photos but here we go.  I just finished three and a half weeks of physio . One hour sessions four times a week.  The first forty minutes are exercise and the last twenty Tens and ultrasound or massage.  It is very very difficult physio.  My therapist Isela works me hard and if at all possible I will regain most movements.  She keeps a running photo album and encourages me with pictures of my improvement week by week.  The hardest thing is closing my hand to my shoulder which she does with pressure.  On Friday it was done and there was pain but it was bearable.  On Tuesday the pain was more intense. I saw Dr. Mojarro for a final visit this Thursday.  I am very impressed with the physio here however in the end there was a downside to this. 

This is where I go to Quality & Life.  Consults upstairs, gym downstairs and next door reception and Tens/massage/ultrasound.

Walking north to go to Walmart and the wall is covered in bougainvillea blooms. 

Marina Mazatlan Hospital where I had surgery. 

Isela...she's small but she's mighty!  

Part of the gym!

Taltha on the left is a therapist and Eileen the very capable bi-lingual receptionist.

That is Arturo on the left.

Odd photo but this is a chachalaca which we used to see in the RV park.  This guy flew up the ten foot wall behind us, onto our house and then onto the light standard where he proceed to call his friends!  They can fly but not usually this high.

Another beautiful vine on a fence.  

This is my arm now.  Hardly even a scar and if there is.... the wrinkles hide it!!!

                               This was just after I got my stitches out at week two.  

So and now for the ugly.  Yesterday I finished my physio appointment and continued on to the hospital to see Dr. Mojarro the surgeon.  Physio on Tuesday was very intense and it was very sore after, especially in elbow where it has not been very sore.  Turns out there was a reason for that.  When I arrived at the hospital Dr. Mojarro was out on a call but he instructed the staff to take x-rays and have me wait.  That was done and I went upstairs to wait.  Dr. Mojarro arrived and called me into his office.  First he asked how I was doing and inspected the elbow. I said that I was experiencing more pain now that I had over the last week or so.  I could see he didn't like what he saw.  He had a look at the x-rays and said there is another break below the original break and that the wires have been displaced.  As I have not fallen again or bumped it I would have to guess that the physio exercise when Isela was forcibly closing my wrist to my shoulder caused the damage.  This of  course is just a guess.  As the bone is already weakened from the placement of wires drilled into, it a break occurred.  After conversation with Dr. Mojarro I have decided to do nothing until I get home next week.  There is pain but it's manageable  and my motion is adequate at this point.  However, the elbow is now deformed and I will likely not gain full motiion even after the bone heals.  I am uncertain as to what I, and the surgeon in Terrace will decide is the best plan.  Dr. Mojarro suggested that if I have surgery I may only gain a small amount more motion.  As well I would be back to square one with healing and physio.  I am not a happy camper at this point!  Needless to say..physio is over.

If there is an upside to this the integrity of joint has been maintained by the wire fixation.