June 1, 2014

One Year Ago Today...

June 1, 2014

A year ago this evening, a Saturday evening, I was on a bed in the Emergency Room at a local hospital following the fall I took in our yard while I was running the electric edger to trim the grass along the fence.  The cutting line in the edger grabbed the chain link fence and jerked and I got tangled up in the extension cord and landed on the tip of my left elbow, badly breaking two bones.

It wasn't until Monday, June 3, around noon that they could do the surgery on the elbow.  They needed to order a radius cap to have on hand, in case they had to replace that for the top of one of those bones.  It turned out that during surgery, the surgeon thought he could save my own bone, and tried, but 3 months later I had to have the surgery to replace the radius cap after all, when it just would not hold to heal correctly and give me good mobility in that arm.

Now a year from the original break, I am doing pretty well.  There is rarely any pain and I am regaining strength in that arm.  I do not have full extension of the arm, but I have enough to get by fairly well.  Trying to reach a high shelf with that arm, especially holding any weight, (trying to put a bowl on a high shelf, etc.) isn't as effective as using the other arm, but I rarely think about the limitations. 

This weekend we kept our five youngest grandchildren while their parents were out of town and the arm got a good workout.  I told my husband that it is a little sore after lifting our youngest granddaughter several times, but that soreness is just from lack of use, not injury.  The arm was strong enough for the job, but the strain is in the muscles that are not worked enough.

Here are the five grandchildren we kept this weekend, just before we left for 

Sunday School and church this morning.

The weekend with the kids was fun.  They were very good and most of the times I had to say, "No," were when they were requesting things I had cooked and they wanted to keep snacking between meals.  I do love to cook for the kids, but I had to put some limits on how many cupcakes, etc. they could have. 
Our son and his wife came to pick the kids up about 4:30 and stayed to visit for a little while.  They both looked so relaxed and rested when they came for the kids.  I hope that they enjoyed the weekend as much as it seems.

This and the rest of the photos in today's blog were taken by our middle 

granddaughter who has a very good eye with a camera, at 8 years old.

 
They all got up early this morning and quickly got ready for church.  I just did not hear well at church today.  I heard the sermon alright while using the cable from the sound processor to the transistor radio that sends the podium microphone input straight to the little radio.  But trying to talk to people following the service or before class this morning, was just about a lost cause.

After church we came home and had hot dogs for lunch and cup cakes for dessert.   When everyone would be talking at once at the dining table, I just could not pull out one conversation to focus on.  There were just a variety of noises. A few times when they were all talking and laughing I would just ask for silence so I could hear the one child who was trying to get an answer from me about something.  Frustrating.

The baby took a nap  and the two little boys rested for a while.  We had time for playing after that and then they did much of the cleanup before their  parents arrived to take them home.  They helped me strip the beds and put clean sheets on one of them.  I did several loads of laundry.

While the little ones rested and napped, our oldest granddaughter helped me in the yard with the birdbaths and feeders.  Her youngest sister took some photos through the window, while we worked and then came outside to photograph some of the flowers.

After the children left, I took a hot soaking bath and then read for a while.  Later in the evening after eating leftovers for supper, I talked to our daughter-in-law in New Mexico.  It was a very good weekend.  As I have said before, I get frustrated with the limitations, of the Cochlear Implant, but it sure beats being deaf!