Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[farmerjan]

Okay, to the Dr appt. No trouble getting there. We had a coating of snow and it was pretty chilly. Windy too on Thursday. Easy to find the clinic. HATE the traffic though.

I liked the dr; but not near as much as my ankle dr. Didn't "hit me" like I had hoped. Liked the PA and the one girl/asst that I dealt with. The dr was very knowledgable... he actually made some sort of improvement on the original design of the replacement part ; and that is patented... so it tells me that he is pretty darn smart. Not the same charisma I was hoping for..... They don't have any openings before the end of April.... so it will wait until late fall. He said he understood my thoughts with the demands of the farm. So, just call the office and make the appt and then go through the steps. They do a specialized CT scan.... to exactly pinpoint everything and it must be done within 6 months or LESS of the surgery. It is used to measure everything and that will get the joint measured to exact specifications. The surgery will be done in the hospital, not the surgical clinic BECAUSE the robots that they use for this Mako procedure are at the hospital complex. One or 2 overnight stay in the hospital..... I will push for the 2 minimum for the "catch" that is in the medicare requirements.... He does some replacements at the surgical clinic that are not done by the Mako procedure.....
He does agree with me wanting to go in a rehab if I am not concerned about the covid situation. I said I was not worried about that. He said that being a bi-lateral with no one at home, that it was a good decision and they can make arrangements. He said that he had no knowledge of any down my way and I said that I was fine with going to one right there that he would recommend and he said that "we have a good rehab here and program to get you up and going" and I said that was fine... that I went to a rehab right there close to Duke when I had the ankle done....I will not melt away if I cannot be right close to home... that I wanted to be somewhere that they will get me up and doing the rehab, and that I don't have to worry about trying to deal with the pain and things like cooking etc.. He said that getting going with the rehab right away is critical for the best results..... same as everyone else has said to me.

So, I am still looking at options. One of the girls that tests cows had her knee done years ago at a clinic in northern VA... she is very positive/pro on them.... Gave me their name awhile back, and I may just go get another opinion. I mean I took 5 years to find my ankle dr.... The clinic/associates that she has recommended have very good feedback... and also do the Mako procedure now. The thing to recommend the one I went to on Thursday, is that they have been doing this type surgery for over 3 years and he does at least one or 2 bi-laterals every week....so pretty proficient at it. Not to mention that my PT guy is very impressed with their work on his mother....

So that's about it for that. I will mull it over for a couple days.... call the other place and see what they have to say... It is getting too late for me to go in and have it done this spring.... Mid Feb would be my cut off to be back to able to work and making hay by May.... plus I have to finish getting moved in here. That will be done by the end of Feb. I can see daylight now so know that I will be pushing to get it done.

 

[Baymule]

Planning knee surgery for fall is a much better idea. That gives you time to do the things you need to do and get settled in your new house.

 

[Ridgetop]

Are you sure you can wait another 6-7 months for the surgery with all the pain? I have heard that the recovery is fast with knees. Of course, that is usually doing only one at a time. Could you do one in April and the second in the fall?

 

[farmerjan]

@Ridgetop , I wouldn't be able to do one any sooner than the end of April so no, it won't work. We will be making hay the first of May if not sooner.... all depends on the weather/growth/etc..... And I have no intention of going through the pain and recovery time twice. The Dr said that he felt that my recovery would be very good with doing both. He says that his patients will "hate him" for the first 10 days or so with the pain/aching, having to get up and get going, but that many also say that it may hurt, but not like the pain before the surgery, so that many say it is not near as bad as the previous daily pain. He said that a normal recovery is about 8 weeks, and that he thinks I will probably do well since I am active anyway.
I will wait at this point since it doesn't seem like there will be an opportunity to get in any sooner. At this point @Baymule is probably right, I can get completely settled into the house, get the things done that I want and need to do, and then be able to just sit back and do it and rehab and be done with it all. I will deal with the pain which is no worse than it was last year. I need to make sure that I don't let the farms bulldoze me into doing them back to back like it seems that has happened here lately. My fault these last few farms getting scheduled back to back.

I hurt less with the warmer weather so hope that I can get through. Well, I will get through......

 

[farmerjan]

Okay, to catch up a bit. It is Monday, temps right around 30 and there is 6-8 inches of snow out there. Very Pretty. It started snowing about 11 Sat night and was really coming down at midnight. I left the new house and went down as it was starting. Went in, and turned the heat up, and unloaded the boxes out of the car; moved the car out to the end of the "driveway" to the house, to the area where the owner comes in to make the circle around in front of the barn and such. This way, I would not get stuck and once he has been in and out with his truck and tractor the driveway will be very passable.
Walked back to the house couple hundred feet, and went in. No noise from the furnace. Went and checked the thermostat... turned it down then back up. Nothing. Got the flashlight, went around the house, and now it is snowing pretty heavy, and go down in the basement.... pushed the reset button on the furnace. Kicks on and then I hear the noise of the pump sucking the fuel..... but it is sounding like air. So I turn around and look at the tank, it is in the basement... and it is EMPTY.....
So much for the call last Tuesday....specifying that they bring 100 gal to the rental house and then fill the tank at the new house. Which they only put in a little over 200 gallons.
Called my son to see how things were going. and he said that the guys were all out and what was I doing up at that hour???? So I told him .... in very "colorful" terms , that they didn't bring the effing fuel to the rental house and that they had only brought 200+ gal to the new house when I had told them to fill it....and that I was on my way up to get effing fuel so that there was heat in the stone house. I was PI$$ED OFF big time. But I said I knew there was nothing to be done at that particular minute, just to get fuel in it so that it would run; and that I would call the co-op on Monday and find out what was really ordered LAST TUESDAY, since obviously they didn't deliver any to the house.
Told him that I was going up to get the jugs at the new house, and go get fuel to put in the tank to get me through, just thought I would see how his night was going.....
Of course, I fell in the snow going back out to the car, slipped and went flat.... no outside lights there... so I was even more P.O.ed......
So I went to the new house and got my jugs.... went and got fuel at the gas station.... which is over the road diesel so more expensive... and went back to the house to put in the tank. It is snowing real good, over an inch already on the roads. Get it in the cellar, and DS comes in the state truck to see if I needed any help.... I had told him I was fine on the phone, just needed to vent since I was so pissed off.....but he left work and came to see if I needed any help.... so he lifted the last 2 jugs up on top of the tank, where I use one of those little hand "kerosene" transfer pumps.... squeeze the top bulb and the fuel comes out of the can and runs out the hose and into the tank. Works good. Pushed the reset button and it kicked right on and then settled down to run like it should. He left and I went and parked the car again at the end of the drive and walked to the house. By now it is about 2 a.m.. So I went in and took a shower and went to bed.

Woke up to snow....beautiful out..... and the furnace is running and there is heat in the house. It was nearly 10 because it had been nearly 3 when I got into bed and I was tired. I had been up about 24 hours by the time I had gotten into bed because I had gotten up at 3:30 Saturday morning to go to work. So, I got up and got dressed, make some english muffins and then started sorting through some papers. I went out and fed the cats inbetween.. and then worked some more. I had intended to stay there all day anyway. So I did get a big pile of stuff done, sorted, 2 big bags of stuff to go to the dumpster. Not as much as I wanted to get done, but still progress. I then went in and washed my hair and went to bed early.
This morning I got up knowing that I needed to call the co-op.... and the guy was scheduled to come for the propane assessment.... and I still have very iffy cell service at the stone house. Came up to the new house; called the co-op and got a different person than the one that I talked to last Tuesday. I explained that I was supposed to meet the guy about looking at where the propane would be put and that I understood if he had to cancel and they said that he was in the office today monitoring the phones and all there. I then explained to the guy what I had ordered, LAST TUESDAY, that neither was delivered as ordered, that I had to go out in the middle of the night Sat night to get fuel for the furnace since they hadn't delivered any to that house, and that they had best get the 100 gal ordered delivered today as I had no intention of having to get more to put in it. Plus that I wanted the tank here at the house filled since they did not fill it as ordered either, but that I understood that with the weather they might be busier for a day or 2 so the fill up here did not have to be done today. He asked if the driveway was cleared and I said, that we had been in and out of there several times so the truck could get in, that they parked on the driveway to pull the hose to the house since the tank was under the house in the cellar.... and that they had been delivering it there for the last 10 years that I lived there.

SO..... I expect that they will get the fuel oil delivered to the stone house today. I have been pretty bent out of shape. Does any one, any business, do what they are supposed to anymore????? Like what @Ridgetop went through with the real estate guys....trying to do things underhanded..... and several others on here have talked about things not getting ordered right, or fixed right.....

I ate some cereal, and have been on here, so now I am going to go in and put some stuff in the cabinets since I had gotten the step/bench thing in there next to the cabinets. I can do some, then come in and sit and fold a basket full of socks I haven't gotten done yet, maybe get some things into the plastic totes. Have a bunch of things that are in the "yard sale" piles, that need to be put all together so I can find them when the time comes. I want to move some other things around, so that I can bring a bunch more stuff up in a couple days when the snow melts and I can get back to the house with the car. I have all the samples packed, but I need to strap the boxes up, and then take them to the place where I drop them off to go out UPS later.

I hope everyone has a nice day.

 

[Ridgetop]

What a hassle! Very sweet of DS to come check that you were alright. And a good thing too. If you had broken anything when you fell you could have been laying there a while until you could drag yourself to the house or phone for help!

 

[farmerjan]

Yeah, he gets on my nerves sometimes, but he's a pretty good "kid".....
Falling just hurt my pride and made me mad.... but I just realized I did break the little nose piece on one side of my glasses.... couldn't figure out why they felt funny..... Now I've got to get a new little nose piece for them. It snapped right off when I hit the ground.... also see a spot on my forehead where it smacked the ground. I didn't have 2 seconds to think to try to catch myself.... couldn't see much anyway....

OH WELL.... all in a day, in the life of "Murphy's Law's FarmerJan".....

 

[Ridgetop]

If you tried to catch yourself by putting out your hands and arms you might have broken a wrist. I have heard of that happening. DH and I just pull in our arms and duck our heads and try to roll. He does it because he learned it when he was competing in Judo in the Air Force. I do it because falling hurts and DH told me to. LOL We both fall a lot more now than when we were agile youngsters! Although I want to be definite - we are still in our prime!!!

 

[farmerjan]

Yeah, I sorta went to put my hands out, but more turned to the side as I went down.... realizing this was all in a 2 second time frame. I do not try to catch myself unless there is something nearby that I can grab to slow the fall. I haven't fallen much, but when it gets slick like that, and not being able to see because of the dark, and the snow, and then the uneven ground..... biggest thing is that the pain in the knees causes me to not have the flexibility to bend or adjust my position like I used to . And I do fear breaking an arm or wrist....Glad that it went like it did.... but it was totally unnecessary if the guy had done his job and the order had been processed and done right, and the fuel oil delivered. That frosted my ...... more than anything.
Oh, just found out, that the snowplow also damaged the mailbox.... mailman brought a package to the house, and he said that they had hit a couple and that my door won't shut now.... and it was shut so that it didn't get any snow in it.... That mailbox has been there for maybe 15 or more years.... I never put it up, so not like I didn't do it right or anything. Another thing to tell my DS about.... VDOT has to fix the ones they damage if they hit them.
Did some stuff in the kitchen, got more to do, going to take the samples and drop off for UPS and see if I can get down in to check on the horses....then come back and do a little more here.

 

[Ridgetop]

On the way home from Texas we stopped at a rest stop and the bare ground and snow had frozen over with ice. Had to walk funny so we didn't fall - kept sliding so only walked on fresh snow patches to avoid ice.

You are right about lack of flexibility causing falls. not being to bend his knee as well has caused DH several falls. I am always shocked when I can't jump my way out of a tripping hazard any more! LOL Glad you are ok!