Well, I'm back to full responsibility, if not full function or fun. That's okay; my guys 'held down the fort' for a little over four weeks, and I really do like caring for my animals. My knees actually feel better after I potter around at half speed doing chores, so following chores up with a PT session works well. Monday, the day the shop floor got poured, I got over 12,000 steps, my daily minimum pre-surgery. Even though my steps are shorter and slower now, I am hoping that more movement gets my resting heart rate back to its usual range in the mid-50s instead of the post-surgical low-70s. It would also be nice to sleep better, but I have wished for that for years so there's probably not much hope there. 😏
Getting back to full fun would mean agility with Poppy and riding Stella; I'm not there yet. As my SIL pointed out, our cementless artificial joint(s) need time for bone to grow into them for full strength and stability. I have an appointment with my surgeon May 22 and I plan to ask him about time frames. In the meantime, I put Poppy through some of her tricks/paces in the house, and as of Tuesday, I am doing regular groundwork with Stella to refresh our partnership before I get back in the saddle.
On Tuesday I decided to get Bernice and her Bryan outside to get decent photos. Bryan appears to have won the lottery in the genetic gamble of (unintentional!) in-breeding, concentrating the good qualities instead of the bad. His structure, ear set, tail, and especially fleece all look good, and in my experience those early indicators can be counted on into maturity. If he keeps developing well, he'll be kept intact as another available breeding ram. Like Bench, he is too closely related to almost all of my ewes to be used here but may be too nice to wether. Here he is, less than 40 hours old:
I had big plans to finish up garden prep on Wednesday with the starts and seeds I purchased the day before, but that and everything else got shelved when I had to take Brian to see a doctor and then to the ED. We left at 10:00 a.m. and didn't arrive back home until almost 8:30, me with very unhappy knees. No certain answers yet, but lifestyle issues are strongly suspected (plus ZERO tolerance for pain). At least Rick was kind enough to do evening chores for me. Thursday morning I did get the starts in the ground (burpless cucumbers; oops, I didn't realize Rick already planted some!) and stock tank planter (basil and lettuce). Maybe I'll get the seeds in the ground today, but I have lots of other things on today's to-do list as well. I do still take a little time to 'smell the roses'.... (We only have the one out by the entry gate; it was there when we bought this place 30 years ago!)
Brian is holing up in his room focusing on his misery, so we're down to two of us (one and a half?) at the worst possible time. I can't do much to help Rick stack hay (our local hay producer has 107 bales waiting for us, and we're down to seven bales in our barn), or move all the cabinets and shelves from the old clinic that are stored in the barn aisle up to the shop so we can stack hay. I don't know any local lads we could hire for muscle, either. We'll figure something out; we have to. C'est la vie, again (that seems to be my theme).
That's it for now from . . .
9 comments:
Glad you are out and about. Sorry about the complications though.
Just part of life, Donna—at least that’s what I keep telling myself!
I know I sound like a broken record, but please try to not overdo stuff. Sorry your son is ill enough that it required a trip to the ER. Ugh. Anymore that's hours and hours, I know - and sorry to hear that whatever is going on is most likely lifestyle-related. :-( Bryan, on the other hand looks awfully cute. Lambie knees are so knobbly! :-)
Wow, baby lambs grow fast. And he is a cutie. So glad you family pitched in when it was most needed. I suspect my own recovery when I do this will not be as fast. Setting aside the fact I am 78 - my life style is no where near as active as yours. I am really happy you are doing so well - even if there was a set back going to the ED with your son.
I appreciate your concern, A; just know that far more people UNDERdo their therapy and activity, thereby recovering only a fraction of the function they could have had if they worked through the stiffness and discomfort. My PT says I'm doing great.
Being younger and more active was definitely in my favor according to my surgeon, Elaine. I do hope the best for you, and know you will work the program given you to recover optimally.
I love seeing lamb photos!! He looks gorgeous! And your flowers are lovely; what flower is the top photo? It looks like purple stars!
I hope Brian is doing better by now. Your healing is coming along well despite the bumps in the road.
That's Centaurea montana, also called perennial cornflower or mountain bluet.
AWWW! Little Bryan is absolutely adorable! I've looked at all the pictures you showed of him, over and over!! I'm sure he will grow up to be a very handsome dude!
How long do you think it'll be until you can try riding Stella?
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