Tuesday, July 30, 2013

July 30, 2013

Time To Travel
Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Today was the first time we have traveled out of town since the Cochlear Implant was activated July 2 & 3.  I have a Wednesday appointment at the Houston Ear Research Foundation at 12:30.  We are both tired and decided it would be best to drive up Tuesday and home Wednesday after the appointment instead of trying to do up and back all in one day.  Naturally, we did not get away as early as planned, so we decided not to go all the way to Houston, but rather to go most of the way, so we will have an easy drive in the morning. 

On the way, we discussed some of the reasons we might be tired.  We got to talking about what all had gone on in just these last two months.  Let me back up one week further though to include Memorial Day weekend when we were out of town for five days, going to see our son David and his family in San Antonio, and then from there we traveled to Dallas to see our son Stephen and meet his girlfriend, Kristina.  Next we went to Houston to pre-register at Memorial-Hermann Hospital for my Cochlear Surgery scheduled for June 10. 

Tomorrow is the last day of July.  On the first day of June I fell and broke my left elbow - badly.  There were several broken bones and dislocations.  I spent four days in the hospital.  The surgery to put in a plate, pins, and screws was done on June 3, a Monday.  I came home from the hospital with my arm in a cast for the next two weeks, and in a sling following that. The Monday after I had that surgery, I had surgery in Houston for a Cochlear Implant to take care of the deafness I suffered in January.  Of course, that meant a trip to Houston for the surgery.  We left home on Sunday, June 9 and we returned home on Tuesday, June 11.  Stephen, Kristina, and David met us in Houston to be there for the surgery.

June 11, we picked up our daughter-in-law, Vickey, in Houston and she came home with us for 8 days.  After dropping her off at the airport to fly home, June 18, we headed to the orthopedic surgeon for a check-up and removal of the cast.  That came off, but lots of restrictions went on: don't lift so much as a spoon, don't push or pull with that arm.  Several of you brought food during that time and it really helped. 

Early July, Ron's brother Don and his wife, and Ron's Aunt Viva, came for a visit for several days.  They did not stay with us, but we got together for several meals.

Ron had a skin cancer removed during early June, and another spot removed a couple of weeks later.  I had a dental appointment for a broken tooth.  We returned to Houston for 3 days, in order to have the Cochlear Implant activated.  We had 5 house guests from Denmark for 3 days.  I had another appointment with the orthopedic surgeon.  Our son Stephen and his girlfriend came for 8 days to visit.  I started physical therapy.  During this time we had countless family dinners so everyone could have time with the out of town guests.

I returned to work, trying to catch up on weeks, if not months, of half done jobs.  My return to work allowed Ron to go on jobs he had been putting off.  Ron continued to teach his Sunday School class, serve as Chairman of the Deacons, serve on the church school board (which met several times over the summer), and serve on the church building committee, which had some projects to consider.  The
church started a revival this week.

Besides my physical therapy sessions, I have exercises to do at home.  I have training sessions on the computer for the Cochlear Implant, and books to read with instructions for the care and operation of the implant and sound processor.  I am practicing listening (hearing) skills with Immersion Reading on my Kindle Fire.  I have sewed a couple of quilt pieces together.  I have loaded my dish washer more times than I can count.

Maybe it isn't our age that is making us tired!!!  We would not have missed a minute of the visits with those so dear to us.  What precious times we have had these past few weeks.  But, we are tired.  So tonight I am writing from a nice motel a little way from Houston.  We had a nice, relaxing dinner at Olive Garden.  We enjoyed the good food and Ron is delighted that I can hear him again.  Of course that sometimes gets him in trouble. 

God is good.  I told Ron I didn't think I could have coped during this time if I had not adapted as well as I did to the Implant.   I am so blessed to be experiencing such great success with it.  Don't get me wrong.  The hearing is not perfect.  I can't hear the melody in a song.  I misunderstand many words.  Crowd noises are overwhelming, but this is so far ahead of the last few years.   I do mean YEARS, not months.  My hearing had been very bad for a long time.  We thank God for blessing us in this way with the improved hearing and with a summer we will never forget!  And we still have August to go!

I almost forgot: I started this out to tell you that this was the first time to travel with the implant and I did not do well about getting all the supplies together that I should have brought.  I got off with out my phone charger.  I forgot one to the batteries for the sound processor, and a couple of other minor things.  That is what started our discussion of how tired we are.  :)

6 comments:

  1. All I can say--OUCH! Glad you survived! Love that picture of Ron toasting you with a coffee cup!

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    1. It did help to talk about it all and know that there really was a good reason we were tired. As I said, we really enjoyed the visitors and were so glad that my hearing was good for Henning's visit and for Stephen's and Kristina's. What a blessing!

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  2. Dear Linda,
    I think the past couple of months would have made a 20 year old tired! Also, I have a suggestion about chargers-I have 2 solar chargers. The output port is a USB so any phone can be charged. That might be an idea so that if you are caught up in a hurricane situation without electricity this fall you can still charge your phone. If you keep a couple around (with cords) you can always charge. This has absolutely nothing to do with your busy summer, but I just thought I'd add to my comment.
    Love,
    Terri

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    1. Interesting, Terri. Have not seen the solar chargers. Ron and I use the same phone charger, and it works on our Kindles and my Kindle Fire. He had his charger and we had my car charger, so we could handle it, but I had set my regular charger out and just overlooked it. I had the battery charger for the Cochlear batteries, the drying unit for the sound processor, the charger for the remote for the sound processor, the lap top and the charger for it, the charger for the camera battery, and on and on. That list is getting longer and longer!

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  3. It's emotionally draining on both of you for a good reason. The unknown factors are a constant drain. So is learning with such intensity at our age!!! I'm so proud of both of you for dealing as well as you have done so far & keep it up!! Is the Hearing Clinic in Houston at Hermann Hospital or have they moved to their own facility. Hermann used to have the only microscope that was powerful enough to use on the inner ear back in the 70's when Ralph had his eardrums rebuilt. I do hope you get a chance to unwind while you are away. The soul needs to recharge once in a while too!! Hands together for you both!!

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    1. The Houston Ear Research Foundation where the audiologist is, is at Memorial-Hermann Hospital in Sharpstown. The surgery was done at Memorial-Hermann Hospital in the Medical Center, the old Hermann Hospital (old but greatly updated and lovely).

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