December up to December 19 - Life back to Normal

Things have finally settled  down.  MIL's surgery is over.  She is ensconced in a very luxurious skilled nursing home that is part of the complex where she lives in an assisted living apartment.  She is loving it!  (as I knew she would).  She is optimistic that she will recover fully and we do hope she is right.  Update:  She is dressing herself and using a wheeled walker, doing very, very well.  She is determined to be back to her apartment.  We feel she will.

This is the first time since her fall that Max  and I have felt like we can just relax and live our quiet rural lives.  (bet she calls today with something she wants from her apartment.  I have lost track of how many trips we have made for various little bits and pieces).  Update:  After sorting through her huge closet of clothes, I picked 6 outfits that would work over her wrapping and we delivered them. So trips have let up.

I plan to bake bread.  First time I have felt I dared start that project.  I am also putting on a large pot of
beans. Update:  baked that bread several days ago and am ready to bake again.

We are awaiting our two day extreme cold blast.  Down near zero and high of 17°

Back again 12/19/16.  It seems I can never just sit down and write a post....I may be slowing down!

The cold front  arrived, near zero last two nights.  I think today is our last of the severe cold.  We made it without any water lines freezing.  We live in an old farmhouse and have to keep water dripping when the temperatures drop to l0° or lower.  Max has survived doing chores. Sure glad we bought the truck to feed hay with.  We should have done that years ago.

I did make bread again.  It seems I never make it exactly the same.  This time I used a mix of regular whole wheat, bread flour and oat bran to make a softer loaf than the last bread.  It also rose higher.  

I made something I have made maybe once before, gingerbread.  I don't think it was Max's favorite.  It was pretty dense and heavy.  I don't know if that is  normal or not.  I liked it.

We are back to feeding the birds. The truth is Max is feeding the birds daily.

My pictures are not the best.   I seem to have lost what little skill I had with this camera.

One other little funny story of life on our farm.  The chickens had practically quit laying.  We were just getting l a day and then,

Max went inside the hen house and found these in a top nest  that isn't accessible from the drop-down door outside.  I tested and all were good; we are now getting 3 a day......much better.  Some are molting and the weather and short days are responsible for the drop.

All for now. 

Medical Advice to Everyone

A lot has happened since last post; most not good.

We had postponed our Thanksgiving dinner until Friday so both kids could be here.  They had just helped my  MIL into the house and she was standing in the kitchen  doorway holding to  the frame  and suddenly went straight down.  We rushed to her and saw her leg was bent about 5 inches above her foot in a 45 degree angle.  We called the ambulance.  Max and our son went to ER with her....I  was left  to feed  dinner to remaining family.  It was a very subdued dinner.

In the ER they straightened her leg and wrapped it from  foot to just below her knee.  The orthopedic surgeon who happened to be in the hospital answered the call and did that.  He also told them how he treats this kind of break ;  wrap, wait l0 to l4 days before surgery so all swelling is gone. The patient is then sent to  a skilled nursing facility for this time. Of course this conversation was not where Max or Steve could hear.   Instead, the first mistake happened.  They admitted her telling us they would do surgery in 4-5days.  For the next 4 days someone would tell her each day, no surgery today,  maybe tomorrow.  Finally at day 4 I decided to see what was happening.  The surgeon, who actually called and talked to me in her room, apologized and repeated what he told the ER.  I worked with a nurse liaison person, a patient rep. (social worker), her on duty RN, a Nurse Practitioner from the surgery group, the hospitalist.  We were  first told her insurance and Medicare would not cover her stay past two days and none of her Skilled Nursing Care.  They printed off the rules.....!  I protested loudly and reminded them non of this was not her fault.....finally after them appealing to two different doctors who reviewed her case, at 4 pm.  they told us all was covered and would be for the l00 day rehab time.

Next step is I am getting her out the the present skilled  facility asap.  I don't know if I can do it before her scheduled surgery on Tuesday or not but she is not going back to it after.  They gave already made two errors.  Her leg was swollen above the wrap and no one had checked that leg at all the night she was brought in nor all day yesterday until I called and asked  the RN to do so......still waiting for a call to see if the resident doctor sees it today.  Sylvia also told me no one checked it in the hospital.  Unbelievable.

I guess we could just set our old folks out on an ice floe and push them off shore like some cultures used to do.  They are almost treated as disposable people.

People let this be a lesson!  If the patient cannot be his or her own advocate,  they must have someone representing them who cares. 

OK.  Rant done.  This was very scary to me.  I used to think once under hospital care you could relax and quit worrying......wrong!!!

Something pleasant now:

My internet provider installed new equipment at no charge to work with their new system and it almost  doubled my speed and clarity.  I am a happy person. I stream lot of things  from Amazon and Netflix on my computer.

Second, my red maple finally got color.