January - March, 2019

January started out cold and snowy.  Dave used the snow blower twice, (which was 2 times more than last year).  Lucky for us, the snow doesn't stay for more than a day or two.  Even more lucky, we live on the North side of the street, so the sun melts it away quickly.  A neighbor across the street remarked, "I feel like you live in the Bahamas on the North side, and we like in the Artic on the South side.  Our snow never melts."  We spent the month, staying home and keeping warm.  Unfortunately, after one of the storns, Dave was driving to work one morning and was in an accident, a driver ran a red light and hit the front right hand side of his car.  The car was completely totaled, and it took some time, for the insurance to work things out, but Dave is now driving a brand new 2019 VW Jetta.  I was very sad on the 27th to learn that my youngest brother, "Bobby", James Robert Long, passed away from COPD.  There are now only 5 children and my dad left in our immediate family.

February started out with one more day of snow to remind us that it was still winter.  Then on the 8th, Dave got bronchitis.  He went to the insta-care on the way home, and they did x-rays, several breathing treatments, etc. They finally gave him prescriptions and told him to go home and get some rest and plenty of fluids.  He got it bad enough to miss a week of work.  He couldn't get out of bed.  And lucky me, I got it on the 17th, just as he was well enough to get up and about.  I tried to rough it out for 3 days, and finally they put me on the same medication Dave was on.  Unfortunately, by the 3 day I had a bad reaction and broke out in hives all over.  I had to continue the medication to get over the bronchitis.  Then I immediately call my dermatologist, and got in.  I was put on a "cocktail" of 3 different types of antihistamines and a nighttime prescription to help me sleep.  My problem is that when my t-cells turn on, they don't know to turn off, and the doctor had to tell the tell the t-cells that it's time to turn off.  It took 6 weeks, but finally I became "hive free".  I am still on a small daily dose, so the hives don't return, but will so be off the antihistamines very soon.  The saddest point of February was on the 11th when my cat, Callie, finally decided to cross over the Rainbow bridge.  I had her for over 18 years.  Her poor little body finally decided to give out.  I sometimes think the grief of losing her caused my resistance to lower and that's why I caught Dave's bronchitis.  Late one night about 6 weeks after she was gone, I was sure I felt she jumped on the bed, walked up beside me and laid down next to me, (just like she always did).  It felt so real that I reached out to pet her.  Even though she wasn't there in body, I felt as if her spirit was there, and it comforted me to pet her again.  And I once more told her how much I loved her and missed her.

March started our rainy Spring season.  We saw some of the hardest rains ever..  But it was good for the state's water level, which had been below normal for so many years.  We managed to see another Broadway Across America play downtown.  Even with the cold rain, it felt good to finally get out of the house and go somewhere for a couple of hours on a Saturday.  After almost 9 years, our furnace finally decided to start giving us trouble.  On the 21st, we had to replace the blower motor, (expensive).  On the 27th, we drove down to Vegas to help Dave's brother, (Bruce), celebrate his 65th birthday, on the 28th.  Dave got tickets for the 3 of us to see the revised version of Cirque Du Soleil "LOVE".  It was very different from the "LOVE" that Dave and I saw many years ago, very modern, young, and upbeat.  A lot of action this time.  We all enjoyed it.  Dave being a Beatles fan, really enjoyed it.  As usual, we went to several buffets and ate way too much.  But we really enjoyed it.  We came home on Saturday the 30th to a cold house.  The furnace had stopped working.  We called the company that did the blower motor repairs immediately. but they didn't response, (after using them for several years, they will no longer get our business).  The next morning, Sunday, Dave got on the phone to another company and explained that we didn't have any heat.  They had a technician out in 2 hours.  Turned out our circuit breaker had a burned out component.  The tech explained a couple options.  He could get the new circuit breaker today, but to get the parts company to just open the doors, would cost $90., or we could save the money and wait till tomorrow.  It was in the 30s today and getting colder at night and colder tomorrow.  Dave said, "Fix it today".  Dave and the tech talked after all was fixed and we had heat about the repairs that were made this month.  Looks like if we have another big repair, it will be time to replace the furnace and upgrade it at that time.  On a side note - at least all the rain has greened things up, and spring as sprung.  My daffodils have bloomed and the trees are all blooming.  We made it through the long cold winter!

Nothing Good to Watch

Dave and I have satellite television beamed into our home. We get multiple local stations and literally hundreds of satellite channels for our viewing pleasure. Even so, many evenings when Dave and I settle down on our couch, we can't seem to find anything "good" we would both like to watch. All those channels, and yet, there's nothing worthwhile.  Luckily, we have reruns that have been saved to the Joey hopper DVD for viewing.

That was never the case in my family when I was growing up, even though we had only three channels to choose from. Whatever was on was suitable for us and we were enthralled by it all. I remember Saturday and Sunday evenings especially, when the whole family gathered in our living room and watched The Carol Burnett Show, The Wonderful World of Disney and more. Watching television back then was more than a way to pass the time -- it was an event. And it was all good.

And, more importantly, no one ever complained that there was nothing good to watch.

Our Callie

On Monday, our little girl, Callie, left our family and crossed over the Rainbow Bridge to join Rowdy and Gloria.  It was an emotional day, but I knew it was coming.  She had stopped eating on Thursday, and stopped drinking water on Sunday.  Whenever I would pick her up, she was so limp and almost unresponsive.  On Monday morning, she had started to bleed a little from her mouth.  I tried putting water in my hand and giving it to her, but she wouldn't have any of it.  She just wanted to lay on a soft warm fuzzy blanket.  On Sunday, she couldn't even get up to go to her litter box.  I would have to change the towels under her to keep her dry.  On Saturday, I gave her a warm bath, (with a damp cloth), to help her feel better and smell better.  We went to the vet early Monday, and he said that it was definitely time.  By the time the needle was removed from her little arm, she was gone.  A dear friend, (Mike), upon hearing of her passing wrote, "She is now dancing with her ancestors".  How poetic of him to remember her this way.

I brought Callie home when she was just 4 weeks old, in 2001.  Yes, she was 18 years old.  She immediately bonded with my Golden Retriever, (Gloria).  In fact, she thought Gloria was her mom.  She would curl up next to Gloria and sleep, and Gloria would give her baths.  Each week, I would give Callie a bath, (using a warm damp cloth), and clip her nails.  She never resisted.  And as she grew older, it was just a part of her life.  When Rowdy joined our family, they were sisters immediately.  She never came when anyone called "Kitty, Kitty".  That wasn't her name.  She came when I called, "Callie, Callie".  She knew her name.  And when I would laugh, she thought that was my purr, and would come running to me, and jump in my lap.  Dave thought that was the most endearing thing about her.  She loved Dave.  Every night when he came home from work, she demanded that he give her a daily treat and pet her.  She would tell him about her day.  I would be in the kitchen and I could hear her meowing to him and talking.  Then later when we would be watching TV, she would have to sit between us.  In fact, she demanded to sit between us.  And she knew when it was time for bed.  And she would jump on the bed and snuggle between us, next to Dave.  She loved his body heat.  But if I was sad, she could read my body language, and she always would jump on my lap and snuggle, wanting to comfort me.  It was something all my pets did.  When Gloria and Rowdy crossed over the Rainbow Bridge, she searched the house for them.  She was lonely for them.  Now she is with them again.    That little kitten who was the princess of our home and who ruled our lives and had us all trained to her liking is now gone.  And our hearts have a very big hole.  Rest In Peace little one.  I know you will greet me someday when stand at the Rainbow Bridge with my arms outstretched to embrace all of you.

2018 - A Look Back

In January we spent the month enjoying a rather quiet start to the New Year.  We went to a couple of movies, a "Broadway Across America" play, (Something Rotten), and generally had a very easy going month, while staying in from the cold snowing weather.

In February, We took a week and traveled to San Antonio, Texas.  We visited the Riverwalk, (dined on the riverfront at a great Mexican restaurant), visited the Alamo, saw various local landmarks.  We also spent a couple of days, (during one of the rainstorms), just laying around the room and watching movies, and resting.  We ate at some really great local German restaurants, and really enjoyed the cooler weather for the area.

In March, Barb had her 1 year knee replacement follow up, and everything look very good.  She still has some pain, but given that all that she endured, (with the various infections in the left knee and all the multiple surgeries), she's getting around very well.  We attended another "BAA" play, (Sound of Music), and took a fish class from a local fish restaurant / fish market.  The fish moniker showed us how to identify different fish, the freshness, and how to cut down a whole fish.  We were treated to samples of the fish, (cooked by the chefs).  When the raw oysters came around, Dave was in heaven.  While many turned down their samples, Dave gladly accepted them, and when they announced that there were leftovers, Dave was in line for extra.  He want home a "happy camper" for having his semi-full share of oysters.  As always, Barb really enjoyed the fresh salmon and taliapia.

April finally showed us much warmer temps, and my daffodils were blooming everywhere.  Again another "BAA" play, one that the whole city had been waiting for - Hamilton.  Dave and Barb were so glad for the open caption.  Some of the rapping was so quick, that we need the words to keep up.  Yes, we are getting old.  Dave took a quick trip down to Vegas to visit his brother, (Bruce).  While he enjoys seeing his brother, he said he really missed home, and sleeping in his own bed.  We really are homebodies at heart.

May was gardening month.  We turned over the beds are got them ready for planting.  It was a lot of work.  We pulled out everyone of our strawberry plants, turned over the bed, amended the soil, and replanted everyone of the plants again.  We knew that we wouldn't have any berries this year, but hopefully next year, we will be back to getting our usual crop.  Thankfully we still have some in the freezer.  It was also a very sad month in our household.  Our little dog, (Rowdy), finally crossed over the "Rainbow Bridge".  She had been slowing down quite a bit over the last year.  And for the last 6 months, we couldn't leave her alone for more than an hour.  She would get so confused about her surroundings, and then soil her cage.  We never scolded her or raised our voice to her.  She was over 18 years old, and couldn't help it.  We would just clean her up, clean up her cage, and then give her love and hugs.  She could no longer go to the groomer, since the last time she went, she had a small seizes and they couldn't accept her any more.  It's been almost a year, and Barb still have no memory of the events that happened on the day that we took Rowdy to the vet to gently have help her leave this world of pain, and cross over the "Rainbow Bridge".  The house is certainly much bigger and lonelier now.

In June, Dave and Barb took the grandson and his family (Trevor, Audra, and Autumn), out to dinner to celebrate Trevor's birthday.  Every year Trevor always had to celebrate his birthday with his mom's side of the family as a combined birthday and father's day celebration.  Barb always felt that was unfair.  So, this year Barb and Dave decided to take them out to dinner alone and celebrate.  We laughed, told stories, caught up on our lives, an ate way too much.  It was a happy celebration.  June was also a time for a couple of concerts, we saw Steely Dan on evening, and the later in the month Chicago and REO.   Another "BAA" play Jersey Boys came into town.  This closely followed the movie version, but was different from the musical play we saw several years ago in Vegas.  Barb got quite a bit of her garden planted, even though she cut down on the amount that she planted in prior years.  But it will be enough to get us through the summer and rest of the year, when it produces.  At the end of June, we took a trip to Maui for a week.  That's when things for Dave took a down turn.  We were getting ready to go, puttering around the house, etc.  Suddenly, Dave's back just goes out.  He's in horrible pain.  He thinks that if he just takes it easy, he'll be OK., and that he'll just use Barb's cane.  We get to the airport, and Barb gives Dave her wheelchair that she normally uses to get around since her knee surgery.  Good thing she did.  As Dave is getting up to walk through the metal doctors, he drops to the floor.  It takes a couple of people to help pick him up.  He limps through, gets back in the wheelchair, and down to the gate.  Dave has to use a wheelchair the whole trip to Maui.  He takes it easy the first day, and starts feeling better.  The second day, we go to the resort's luncheon, and as we are leaving to go back to our room, he collapses again.  A couple of guests run to help him up..  A girl who happens to be a CNA, helps me get Dave up to our room.  We start looking for chiropractor on the island who can see Dave.  Luckily we find one.  Dave gets in that afternoon, the last slot, (5 PM).  He adjusts Dave, and Dave is doing well.  The last day, he's in pain again.  Luckily, Dave already has an appointment for when we get home.

In July, Jared came out to visit for 4 days.  The main purpose of the trip was for his high school reunion, but Dave was glad to have him stay with us and visit.  Dave spent most of July and August visiting various doctor's getting MRI's, xrays, etc.  They all tell him that he has many problems with his back and they won't be able to help him until he loses at least 50 pounds.

August was a quite month at home.  Dave visited several doctors about his back.  We went to an outdoor ampitheather play of "Oklahoma", with Dave's prior boss.  We have been doing this annual dinner / play date every year for the last 7years.  It's so nice to get away from the hot summer heat and go up into the cool mountains for several hours.  And the Sundance Resort restaurant is very nice. 

The garden is starting to produce.  Every week we were enjoying fresh green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs, new potatoes, zucchini, beets, and onions.  The carrots and squash are getting bigger.






September was another quite month.  A new round of Broadway plays started off with Waitress.  Dave's back was still bothering him.  He finally realized that this will be the new norm for him.  The garden is producing in full swing, and Barb is filling up the freezer and the pantry with jars of good vegetables.  The fruit trees are full and ripe.  We had a strong windstorm one day, and a lot of the branches on the peach tree broke,  they were so heavy with fruit and couldn't take the wind.  Barb had to cut off the branches and remove all the fruit.  She shared bags with our neighbors, froze a lot, and made several cobblers.  Barb also lost her Aunt Cleo, (her father's sister), on the 26th.  She had grown close to her aunt over the last 30 years, and they shared many stories and laughs over the phone.  She misses her aunt.

October  and the temps are finally starting to cool off just a little, making it feel nice again.  Dave and Barb took the youngest grandson, (Ian), out to lunch for his 20th birthday.  Dave and Barb also celebrated their 15th anniversary.  Fearful of an early frost, Barb picked a large box of tomatoes and set them in the garage, with newspaper over them.  They then ripened on their own.  We had fresh tomatoes up to the first of 2019. 

At the end of the month, they took a small week Mexican Riviera cruise with Dave's brother, Bruce.  Dave and Barb have done this cruise before, and  Bruce wasn't much for excursions.  So, everyone just stayed on the ship, or wondered around the ports, when the ship docked.  Once again, we ates way too much.  But enjoyed how much everyone when way overboard with their Halloween costumes on the 31st.





November was time to put the garden to bed.  Barb dug up the last of the potatoes, 20 pounds of carrots, several pounds of butternut and spaghetti squash, and quite a few zucchini and cucumber, and the last of the green beans.  Bruce joined us for the 2 weeks of the months, and helped Barb prepare Thanksgiving dinner.  There was so much food, we ate leftovers for a week.  Another "BAA" play, Come Far Away, played in Salt Lake.  We really enjoyed this one.

December provided a couple of Holiday parties for Dave and Barb.  An evening at the movies, and then Christmas Eve dinner with Trevor, Audra, and Autumn.  Barb and Dave remarked that this was the first Christmas trip to Trevor's that they didn't have to break through drifts of snow to get into their apartment.  The weather was actually nice.  Trevor prepared a wonderful meal on his Treger grill out on his patio.  It was wonderful.  Afterward, Audra remarked, "Well, you just ate a vegan meal.  What did you think?"  Barb replied, "We have meals like this at least a couple times a month.  The only difference is that we add cheese, or maybe egg.  So, it's not to different."  (Audra if vegan, Trevor is very much a meat eater, but eats vegan at home.)  We enjoyed a very quite end of the year.  Dave's back is hurting less and less.  He found a knee brace, and that provides enough stability that he doesn't fall, and his back isn't in as much pain as earlier in the year.

We move a little slower this year.  We still love traveling, but love staying at home also.  As I said, we are getting older, and we are becoming home bodies.

My Brother, Bobby

Yesterday, I received word that my youngest brother, (Bobby), passed away from COPD.  No one had heard from him for several days, so his son, (Dustin), drove over to his house and found him.  So sad.  He was only 54 years old.

His given name was James, (after my mother's father) Robert, (after my father's father).  But from the day he came into our family, (the youngest of 7), he was always called Bobby.

Blond hair, blue eyed, he stood out amongst all of us dark haired and brown eyed older siblings.  He had a quick wit, and loved action.  His motorcycle riding buddies called him "Bizzer", (because of his first motorcycle).  What was not common knowledge outside of a couple of people in our family - was that Bob was not my father's child.  I had long suspected it from the time I was around 13.  Bob looked just like Ralph, (a friend of my mom's who hung around the house alot).  When Bob was discharged, (after serving in the army), he showed me his dog tags, and pointed to the blood type and asked, "Do you know what this means?".  I replied, "Yes".  He said, "So, do I".  And it was never spoken of again, but we both understood well.  My father raised Bob as his own, and it was never spoken of in the immediate family.

As an adult, he was known by his friends as Jim, and James.  Once, (when he lived for a time in Salt Lake City), he was over at my house visiting me, (and a friend of his was building a garage for me).  The three of us were standing outside talking, and of course I was calling him Bobby.  All of a sudden, his friend burst into laughter.  Bob and I both ask "What?"  He replied, "Who's Bobby?"  Bob and I looked at each other, questioning, and I explained that it was Bob's family nickname.  Sometimes, my dad would jokingly  call him as JR, (just as he would jokingly call as Babs).

I know Bob liked to party, and he smoked for years.  But, I hope that when he was in the hospital a couple years ago and diagnosed with COPD, that he gave up the cigarettes and tried to clean up his life.

There are now 5 siblings left.  My father has buried a wife, his youngest daughter, and now he will bury his youngest son  Rest In Peace, Bobby.  You will be missed.

A Look Back at 2017 - July to December

So, Dave and I arrived home from our cruise on June 15th, and around the 25th of June I started to experience diarrhea.  And it started getting worse.  I called my infectious disease doctor on Monday July 3rd, and his nurse instructed me to immediately go to the ER.  The doctor wanted me tested for C-Diff.  She explained that the ER could get the results in a couple hours, where as the doctor's office wouldn't have the results for a couple of days.  Sure enough - I had it.  Turns out, being on so many different types of antibiotics for 6 months, killed all the good bacteria in my system and only the bad bacteria was growing.  And when you get C-Diff, it's very contagious.  Dave and I used separate bathrooms, everything was disinfected, and I did a lot of hand washing.  The doctor put me on a 2 week course of new antibiotics, but at the end I still had it.  So, I had to do another 2 week course.  At the end of that, I STILL had it.  So, I was taken of ALL antibiotics and put on a special antibiotic that was developed only for C-Diff, (when we went to have the prescription filled, the pharmacy had to order it in, and they asked, "Do you know what this is for?"  Dave said, "Yes, do you?").  I had to undergo 2 courses of the special antibiotic before I was declared clear.  At the end, the doctor explained that if the 2nd course had not cured me, I would have had to be hospitalized, and maybe have part of my colon removed or a fecal transplant.  Thank goodness, for prayers and blessings.  By the end of September, I was FINALLY back to myself.

By the end of September, we did manage to get enough from the garden into the freezer, to help through the winter.  We had green beans, tomatoes, carrots, a few potatoes, strawberries, cucumbers, peppers, and 1 nice pumpkin for pies and breads.  Even though I didn't get anything planted until mid June, everything did well.  The garden really liked the hot heat this year, and the night time waterings.  Due to my limited mobility, we cut way back on how much we planted, rather than doing all 5 beds full, we only did 4 of the beds.  But we had plenty for the 2 of us.  This year I didn't enter any breads or exhibits in the fair.  I just wasn't feeling up to standing on my feet and preparing anything for competition.  But, that's OK, with me.

In October, Dave and I went to Cabo, MEXICO and Dave's brother, (Bruce), went along.  A couple years earlier when Bruce turned 60, Dave told Bruce that he wanted to take him to Cabo for his BD.  Bruce was too busy, and in September he called Dave and told Dave he was finally ready to take us up on the vacation offer.  We spent 7 days being lazy, eating way too much good food, swimming, and laying in the hot sun, (like lizards).  But it was a good time for the 3 of us, and Bruce enjoyed Cabo.  We returned on Saturday the 21st of October.

Bright and early Monday morning the 23rd, I was back at the hospital.  This time to have my right knee replaced.  Most people could not believe that I was brave enough, after all the trouble my left knee gave me.  But, 2 weeks before, I was put on a special antibiotic, and in pre-op, my right leg was give a special antibiotic wash.  I was  treated very special to prevent any infection.  This time I spent 2 nights in the hospital, was up and walking the afternoon on the day of surgery, and on Friday, started my outpatient physical therapy.  1 week later I was only walking with a cane and off pain meds, and by the end of December, I was released from P/T.  Every time I went in for follow up with my doctor, the wound was carefully examined, and an antibiotic ointment placed over the surgical site.  By the end of the year, as you can see, the knee looks pretty good.  Today, the scar is getting less and less visible.  I still have some soreness, and I was told it is to be expected for a year to 18 months.  But I'm doing well.

Dave and I still continued to attend Broadway Across America plays.  And we've been getting in home massages about every 3 to 4 weeks.  They have done wonders to help relieve stress and work out our kinks.  And the best part is we don't have to leave our house.

As we've started to get older, we've move a little slower now.  We tend to enjoy staying home more.  But when we travel, we enjoy going to destinations at offer memories and smiles that we talk about for years to come.  Some people remark about how we travel alot, and I tell them, "You will too, when you're an empty nester and are a little older."

Here's to better health, more travel memories, more smiles, and more life.

A Look Back at 2017 - January to June

I was surprised that I haven't posted since the middle of 2016.  But, a friend of ours mentioned to Dave that he missed reading about the garden and my view of travels around the United States and various parts of the world.  So, I dug out the 2017 calendar and thought I'd give an overview of what happened in 2017.

While January winter was a mild and pleasant one, the first part of the year was a very demanding one physically on me.  In the fall of 2016, Dave and I traveled around the Northern Mediterranean, and Dave noticed that while I started the trip with lots of big smiles, as the trip progress, (an my knee pain progressed), my smiles faded and eventually you could see I was just tolerating the trip.  On the flight home, I told Dave, "It's time for my knee surgery".  After several visits to a couple of orthopedic surgeons, January 10th, 2017 was scheduled for my left knee to be replaced, (it was the worse, with no cartilage left and much arthritis).

The surgery went well, and the pain was almost none.  The second day I finally had pain, and was switched to a higher morphine based pain pill and stayed a 3rd night, but went home on the 4th day, (Friday Jan 13th).  Bright and early Monday morning, I started my out patient physical therapy.  I don't remember much about the first day, (due to all the pain medication I was on).  Dave stayed home full time the 1st two weeks to take care of me and get me to my 3 day a week P/T.  Then the ladies of the ward stepped in to drive me back and forth the P/T.  When people say that knee replacement is the most painful surgery there is - don't believe them.  The surgery is easy.  It's the physical therapy that's a killer.  By the 2nd week, I was off the walker and using a cane, and by the 3rd week, I had reached my range of motion goal, (130 degrees).  Of course, I was doing my exercises everyday at home.  On Monday, January 30th, my therapist mentioned that I would probably need one more week and then be released.  I then told him, "By the way, my knee is leaking".  He put me in the exam room on the table, pulled up my pant leg, to look at the knee, said, "I'll be right back".  Within 5 minutes both he and my surgeon were standing over me asking the usual questions, (how long has it been leaking, is it only leaking clear fluids, has there been any blood, yada, yada).  The doctor wrote a prescription for an antibiotic, and said, "I want to see you in 2 days, 8 AM sharp".  I came home, called Dave, and told him what was going on, (so he could go with me to the appointment).

We went to the doctor's office, and in just 2 days, the knee was getting worse.  The doctor took one look and asked, "When was the last time you ate?"  He then left the room for about 15 minutes, and when he returned, he proposed 2 options - stay on antibiotics and hope for the best, or open up and knee and get a good look at what's going on.  After discussion, it was decided to undergo surgery again.  So, that day, (Feb 2nd), I was admitted at 11:00 for surgery again.  2 nights in the hospital and home again.  Tuesday morning P/T started bright and early.  The doctor said he cleaned out the knee and put a strong antibiotic in the knee.  This meant, again learning how to walk and use the knee again.  But, my brain had finally learned the first time to trust the new knee.  So, I was determined to meet my range of motion again, (this time it was set lower to 120, but by end of month I reached 130).  The second time wasn't as much of a set back as the first, other than relying on people to get me back and forth to P/T.  Dave went back to work after a week at home with me.  By February 27th, once again, my therapist said, "I think another week, and we can release you".

But, by Thursday, March 2nd, my knee was hot, red, and swollen.  My visiting teacher was over at my house and I mentioned to her about my knee, and she looked at it and said, "That's definitely an infection.  Call you doctor!"  That evening when Dave got home, I told him about my knee, and he immediately called the doctor.  Of course they were closed.  At 7 AM, the next morning, he called again, and told the answering service about the problem, and asked to be put through to the doctor, and they did.  Dave explained the problem.  The doctor said, get her in the office at 8 AM,  but first stop by the hospital and have her blood drawn, (there was an order waiting), I want to see her results.  By the time we got to the office, the doctor walked in and said, "Have you eaten this morning?"  Dave and I both knew that meant a 3rd surgery.  Withing 2 hours I was in the OR.

This time when I woke up, Dave said the surgeon found the knee was completely full of infection.  He cleaned it out, but left the knee open took several samples, and put in a "wound vac".  They would leave the knee open until they could figure out what was wrong.  They called in an infectious disease doctor, and every hour the samples were being monitored.  It turned out that the next morning they discovered I had MSSA.  When the doctor told me, my heart dropped.  But, the good news was - it was treatable and curable.  It would mean running a "PICC line" to my heart, and giving my high doses of antibiotics several times a day.  I would also need to keep the line in for 7 weeks, and be house bound.  That meant have physical therapy at home.  This time, learning to walk, and move was very difficult.  I was in the hospital for 6 full days.  The next day, a nurse and a physical therapist were at my house assessing my needs, providing my medical needs, teaching me how to address my PICC line, etc.  I was very weak and overwhelmed.  Everything took a toll on me physically and mentally.  Just going to one of my doctors would wear me out.  My knee scar was so large, and unsightly.  I cried, wondering, what did I do, why did I do this, I should have learned to live with the pain.

Finally by April 18th, the PICC line came out and I would start going back to outpatient physical therapy again.  I would only need 1 month, since I had made fairly good progress at home.  My range of motion was set at 100.  I was still doing my exercises everyday at home to build up my knee.  On the last day, I was taken for a P/T walk outside to evaluate how I could do on grass, rocks, uneven surfaces, stairs, etc.  I mentioned to my therapist that I was very depressed that I was only able to reach a range of motion of 124 degrees, I had been hoping for 130.  He stopped, looked me directly in the eye, (and I will never forget his words), he said, "Barbara, that's remarkable.  most people after 2 surgeries on 1 knee only reach 120.  You've had 4, (counting the one to remove the wound vac).  When we, (the P/T team), met with your surgeon, we told him you would only reach a range of 100 at best, and you would most likely walk with a cane the rest of your life.  And look at you.  You haven't used a cane for the last 3 weeks.  You are remarkable.  But, please use a cane for a couple months when you are outside, just for safety.

It's been over a year.  The scar is still healing.  At the top, where the wound vac was, is an indentation - there's very little tissue under to hold the skin.  I still have some pain.  But, at my annual checkup, the xrays showed all was good.  The surgeon said normally it takes 1 year to 18 months for a knee to heal, but in this case it will take 2 or 3 years for the knee to be completely healed.

Some people after hearing my story have said, "I'm not getting my knees replaced".  And I tell them, don't let my story be the reason you don't do it.  I am just the 1 in 1,000 that got an infection.  My surgeon said he had done thousands of replacements, and I was the first to ever get an infection.  He was so apologetic, and felt so bad about what happened. I was officially released by the surgeon and all doctors on May 17th.  But I must say, the one person who really helped me through it all, and was there for me was Dave.

Then 3 days later, Dave and I took what would be our vacation of a lifetime.  It was a brand new ship build for Princess Cruise line, and it was being relocated from Barcelona, Spain to Australia.  We booked a 28 day cruise for a portion of that started in Rome, Italy and ended in Singapore.  We flew to Atlanta, then into Rome, then we had stops in Naples, Athens, Santorini, a passage thru the Suez Canal, Jordan, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Cochin, Sri Lanka, Kuala Lumpura, and Singapore.  From Singapore we flew to Hong Kong, (spent the night), then flew home to Chicago.  We actually flew around the world, (and them some).  We saw 3 of the most riches countries, (those in the UAE - where gold was piled high for sale), and some of the most poorest, (Cochin, India - where garbage lined the streets).  But we both agreed that nothing in the world compared to the beauty of our own country, and especially our own little backyard.  I made sure to visit the ship's exercise room a couple times a week to keep up my exercises.  And I wore a pedometer everyday.  When we got home, I stopped in to see my physical therapist.  He asked how the trip went.  I told him about the visit to the island of Capri, Italy, (during our visit to Naples), and that I logged 13, 200 steps that day.  He smiled and told me that I basically walked 5 miles and that we was so proud of me.  I told him about visiting a Buddhist temple in Kuala Lumpura and walking up 250 steps to the temple and back down 250 steps.  He high fived me, and said "You go girl.  That new knee is really working for you."  Dave and I have many, many photos and many, many memories.  We returned home on June 18th.

I did manage to get just a few plants in the garden during those last 2 weeks of June.  I knew that my new knee wouldn't allow me to kneel and I would have to bend at the waist to do most of the work.  But, Dave tilled the boxes, I bought 6 tomato plants, some carrot seeds, green beans, squash seeds and called it good for the year.  We did have a pretty good yield.  Things came on very quickly, (due to the hot temperatures and the daily watering).  I told Dave, "Maybe I've been doing things all wrong, getting my garden in early in the Spring.  It seems to really like a late planting better."

We also attended a couple of Broadway Across America plays.  Dave really loves those.

Overall, I felt like I lost the first 6 months of 2017 due to so many surgeries, various doctor appointments, physical therapy appointments, nurse visits, and so forth.  The cruise was just the thing that Dave and I needed to get away from everything that had happened at home.  And, we didn't mind the 28 days on a ship.  In fact, we enjoyed it so much, that we've talked about doing more of these long duration cruises.

Well, that ties up the first half of 2017.  I'll post July to December in the next post.

Hope this wasn't too boring, or too much information.