June 2020

June just seemed to sneak upon us.  I worked to finish up work so that we could enjoy our summer. CJ wanted her bathroom repainted, so we spent one of the days that I did not have a lot of work to do painting her bathroom.  All Jay said was that it was very purple.  I thought that it looked great.  I think that she picked out a very nice color.  We got it all put back together and I told her that we do not need to deep clean that room it was done and looked great. Jay started working on cleaning out of his stuff.  With our 3-year planning coming closer and closer he decided that it was time for him to get rid of some of the extras around the house.

 On Friday I went to see my new hip doctor.  I was told by Dr. Folk that there was nothing more that he could do for me. That my hip had gotten so bad that it looked like I was going to need a total hip replacement.  I was hoping that my new doctor would tell me that he could just give me something and I really did not need a hip replacement at this time.  Instead, he told me that I needed a replacement right away.  That it was just getting worse and I had completed all of the treatments that were required before having a replacement.  I just wanted to cry and did.  A year and a half ago I spent almost $4,000 to get this hip fixed and was on crutches for 8 weeks and was never able to put full weight on my hip again.  I hate being in so much pain and not able to walk the stairs or even just across the room without pain.  I just got my motorcycle fixed I wanted to ride it more.  I am scared to go under the knife again.  I feel like I have been through so many surgeries lately. Jay came home from work with flowers for me.  He just knows how to make me feel better. 

Monday the doctor's office called and asked if I could be ready for surgery by June 19th.  That was only a little over a week away.  We decided that we would go for it.  Jay stated that he did not what Lydia to come out and help that he could do it himself.  We were going to go to the beach as a family but Jay said that because he was going to take Friday off work for my surgery he did not what to take any other days off for vacation.  This was ok because CJ and I decided to change all of our plans so that she could have a friend with her all weekend. 

During the week we tried to get things done around the house that I would not be able to get completed after my surgery.   Saturday, we got up early and started to head to Hilton Head.  We took our time getting there.  I stopped at Chick-Fil-A for breakfast and was surprised to have my first really bad experience.  They put CJ's fruit in sideways and it spilled all over.  They did not give us napkins either to clean up the miss and with the Caronia virus, the store was closed so we could not go in to tell them about the problem or get napkins. We thought that was a bad sign to start our girl's weekend vacation but it was not.  On our way down we saw 2 blue buckets which  Jay always says that if we see a blue bucket on the side of the road it is going to be a good vacation. It is a fun thing that we do as a family, looking for blue buckets on the side of the road.

Our Condo was not as nice as I would have looked but the pools were nice and it would work just fine for a fun weekend.  

Friday night we met CJ's friend, that she met at Jewish summer camp and have been pen pals for several years, at the drive-in movie theater.  I really like Shaina's family and it was so much fun to go to a drive-in movie.  I had not been to a drive-in since I was a kid.  

Shaina was able to come back to the Condo with us and spend the night with CJ.  The next day they played in the pool and then we met up with my friend Kirri and went to another beach.  CJ was so worried that Shaina and she would no longer get along because it had been so many years since they had seen each other.  She was worried that they would not have anything in common.  It turned out to be perfect.  They found things that they both liked and had a great time goofing around together.   CJ was so happy and the two girls kept wanting to be together.  I really enjoyed getting to see Kirri and spending time with her.  It was fun having Pina Coladas on the beach.

That evening Shaina's parents invited us to their house for dinner.  It was so nice.  CJ found out that she like Caprese salad and was so happy that it had also 0 carbs.  We did so much that all day she did not have to give herself any insulin.  Shaina's Dad made brisket which is something that we all love.  He was hoping that Jay would have been there so he could ask questions about cooking brisket.  So, I had to call Jay a couple of times to talk BBQ with Bobby.  CJ loved Bobby's brisket.  She told me not to tell her dad but she liked it more than his. I think it was because it was because Bobby did not use a lot of pepper so it was not spicy at all which CJ loves.  

I told CJ because Jay was not with us we could go on a Savannah ghost tour.  Shaina got to go with us which was great.  I was a 90-minute tour walking tour in downtown Savanna, the most hunted city.  The tour was great so much Savannah history and not very scary.  CJ did not like the fact that one couple behind us were drinking and using a lot of curse words.  She just does not like it when people sware. 

 It was another late night by the time we got back to the condo.  We were so tired and just crashed.  It the morning we packed up and headed back to Savannah to meet up with Millie and her family.  They were vacationing in Savannah.  We were just going to have lunch and then head on back home.  But we ended up staying longer.  We went to lunch and then to the Mercer-Williams house.  This house and James Williams were the inspiration for the book and movie "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil."

We then went down to river street.  CJ did not really want to go to River street because her favorite candy shop was there. But we went anyway and she went to the candy shop.  She was able to find some sugar free candy and I got Jay some pralines.  It was getting late and I knew that we had to start heading home.  So we left.  Walking so much was hard for me but CJ was such great support she kept encouraging me to keep going.

CJ had left her bracelets at Shaina's house Sunday night so we run over there before we went home.  CJ was having a panic over losing her bracelets but luckily they were safe and sound.  By the time we left Shaine's house, it was after 5:00 and still a 5-hour drive home.  I tried to drive straight through but with 2 very late nights and long busy days filled with activities I ended up having to pull over and go to sleep for a bit at a rest stop.  I could not have asked for a better weekend before I was going to be down and out with my hip surgery.

As the week went on, I got more and more nervous about my surgery.  The last time I had hip surgery I was in such pain and could not walk for so long that I was scared that I was going to be going through the same thing.  I made plans for CJ to go to Millie's for a couple of days just in case something went wrong with the surgery and I would have to stay in the hospital like the last time. She had a great time at Millie's.  They had fun playing and going to the lake to swim. 

Friday, my surgery was scheduled for 5:45 a.m. So Jay and I got up very early in the morning and headed to the hospital.  By the time we got there, we did not even have to wait they were really for us.  I told my Doctors how scared I was and all the things that went wrong with the last surgery I had on my hip.  I loved my anesthesiologist, Dr. Cook, he was so kind and tried really hard to let me know that everything was going to be ok. When I wake up from my surgery I could not feel my legs but I was not sick and my blood pressure was good.  There were no problems.

By the time I could feel my legs they wanted me to get up and start to try and walk.  The first time they tried to get me up walking it failed.  I could not get my new hip to work.  After an hour they came back in and tried again.  This time I was able to walk and because I was able to walk I could go home.  It as about 6:00 by the time I was able to go home.  Jay called Mrs. Lister and told her that we were home but CJ could stay the night at her house another night because it was so late.  CJ wanted to come home to see if I was ok.  I thought that was so sweet.

The next week,  I worked on walking and trying to not be in pain.  By the end of the week, I was surprised at how well I could walk with the walker and how little pain I was in compared to my last surgery.  Saturday CJ went back to Millie's for her brother's birthday party.  I made Andy a stuffed baby Yoda.  I guess that he liked it and it was a good thing that he had a Star Wars birthday party because I could not get to the store to get him something.  CJ was happy that she had pizza and a cupcake. She went a little high but she and Millie want for a walk and she was good.  It was good for her to get out of the house and have fun with friends. I was just happy to ride in the car to go get CJ.  It was the first time I had been out of the house in over a week.