Signs of "Normal" Life

 Jena and I made cookies for the first time since we got home from our mission.

It is a slow process and I am not even sure what "normal" life is for me and for us. Before our mission, I had been working and before that, graduate school, and before that (and overlapping with that) being president of the Utah Down Syndrome Foundation....and so on and so on.  We haven't done "retirement" really yet and so I am still trying to figure out what "I want to do when I grow up".

I am involved with some other moms to promote better care in the state of Utah for people with severe mental illnesses.  That has involved weekly zoom meetings, a monthly meeting, and also I was interviewed for some videos we are showing at an upcoming symposium that we are co-sponsoring in Salt Lake County.  I am also speaking at that event regarding the transition from youth to adult services, sharing some of our experiences with Ben.  Davis Behavioral Health has asked me to lead a parent support group for parents with adult children with SMIs which is every Thursday night.  We have only had a couple of people attend but it is good.

I am teaching Gospel Doctrine in my ward which is great. Last Sunday, I was finally able to do the presentation about mental health and mental illness to the youth and adults of my ward.  (I was suppose to do it the last Sunday in June, but was in the hospital in Washington at that time.)  It went okay although there is so much more that could/needed to be said.  We gathered over 60 questions back in June and were only able to address part of them.  The youth are going to have a follow up session and talk more about it in the next month or so.  I think it would be good for the Relief Society and Elders to do that same.

I am planning to upcoming trips (to Arizona and to Dallas--both in October) and making plans for next year.

And I still have boxes to unpack, pictures to hang and other stuff to do inside our house to finish with the reno and moving back in stuff.  That is still a bit on hold since I still have restrictions on lifting, bending, etc. for a few more weeks.

And I am reading lots of books!!!

Turning 70, probably because of the weird health things I have experiences since getting home from our mission, does feel like turning the corner into being "old."  But it also feels like an adventure.  Definitely the "last" few decades of my life--but still a time of growing and learning and new experiences at home and as we travel.  We are so blessed and life is good even if my leg hurts!!!

Back to School For the Grandkids

Oro Valley (Scott and Chantel's kids) started school first in early August--

Scarlett is starting middle school--

James is in third grade--

Ogden schools started next in the middle of August  (Jessica and Elessia's kids)--

Ezri--2nd year of Head Start--

Zander--

Liam--

Carter--

Alex---

Tosha's kids were the last to go back to school in Tacoma.  Only fair, I guess, because they didn't get out of school until almost mid-June.

Niki--early morning start to catch a bus to his new middle school.

Ava and Cooper heading off to first and third grade.

So far, they all are reporting that school is going okay or great, depending on the day and who you ask.  :)  With Niki and Scarlett starting middle schools, they both got phones this summer with limited numbers they can talk to.  Luckily, I am on the list.  It has been fun sharing texts with the two of them.  Niki even sent me a "Happy Grandparent Day" emoji last week.  Scarlett told her dad that she likes to read my "long" texts.  I do tend to write in complete sentences and ask questions which her friends probably don't do too much.  She has started running in cross country at her middle school which is fun because Chantel was also a runner in school.  In her first race, she came in 7th out of 30 which I was very excited about for her first race. It makes her tired she says, but she likes it.

They are all growing up.  So happy to have each of them in our lives!  Happy learning, my sweet grandchildren.  I (mostly) LOVED school!!!!

Surgery

 As Gary posted on our family chat--"No photos pre surgery--Too many and they all look the same..." We arrived by 7:00 for our 7:15 arrival time registration. As always, people were friendly, organized, and kind.  I had a Peripheral artery bypass surgery using plastic tubing for the bypass as planning. It lasted about 3 hours.  When the doctor and his PA came in to talk to me, the doctor described the surgery as "boring" and that is exactly how you want things to go.  No surprises, artery worked well as they sewed in the bypass and blood traveled through the bypass exactly like it should.  All good news.

There was even talk about me going home on Friday but that didn't work out as I had digestive problems most of Friday which made me miserable for that day.  But I was able to do two walks on Thursday and also two more on Friday plus a long one with a PT on Saturday which allowed me to be discharged on noon on Saturday.

The nurses and all of the staff was so great.  The food was good even though I didn't appreciate much of it. And I had a room with a great view of the city of Ogden including the Thursday night rainstorm.

First time standing up

After the storm

For those of you who like the gritty medical stuff (no photos) but I have two incisions--each about 4 inches long.  One at my crotch and one on my lower inside thigh,  They have layers of dissolvable stitches plus glue on top.

Because I had been in a hospital in Washington within the last 60 days, the hospital staff had to put on the yellow disposable clothes each time they came into my room.  There are 10 states currently who are flagged due to measles and some other communicable diseases and a yeast infection which is frequently picked up in hospitals (my test came back negative AFTER we got home).  I felt sorry for them to have to grow up each time they came in.

Christine, the PA who followed my care in the hospital and also will do our follow up appointments was great.  Her council was to let your leg dictate how much you use it and when you should rest.  Another PA who helped in surgery told me that I needed to be super strict about not being up more than 20 minutes at a time.  But both were clear that when I was sitting or laying my leg needed to be propped up with pillows. 

One fun thing was that one of our nurses (Friday morning when I was very sick) was Brittney Sloan, who lived down the street from us in Syracuse years and years ago.  It was fun to talk to her and catch up on her and her family since they left Syracuse, probably 16 years ago. Small world and a great connection.

So I got home on Saturday, the 16th, and have been in recovery mode mostly since then.  The biggest surprise at discharge was no driving for 4 weeks.  What?? I hadn't prepared myself for that.  But Gary has been a great taxi driver as I have begun to engage back in life.  And last week when I had a 2 week check up with the PA, Christine, she said I could start driving short trips and just see how my leg manages.

It is about 3 1/2 weeks since the surgery when I am writing this and my recovery is going fine.  I have managed to do the big things I had on my calendar, cook dinner most nights, and I have kept reading lots of books with my leg propped up.

Oh, yes, the oxygen--apparently the next little health journey I get to explore in the coming weeks. I was sent home from the hospital with an order for night time oxygen, because whenever I fell asleep or sometimes even when I was just relaxing, my o2 levels would drop.  They asked me to follow up with my primary care doctor which we did the week following surgery.  I assumed that it was just the effects of surgeries one on top of the other.  Our doctor ordered an overnight oximeter which we were able to do a few days later.

This past week, I got a call from the office of the sleep doctor that the test had been sent to and they would like to do a complete sleep test in their office.  Yuck---and yes, they would like me to keep using the oxygen until they do the sleep study and determine what is going one and what should be done to correct it. Apparently, my results were severely disordered.  My health journey continues....

So, this is my view several times a day, sitting in the recliner with my leg propped up.  (Notice my cute p.j. pants--bought for the occasion of my surgery.) 

I have worked up to walking 25 minutes for my morning walk in the neighborhood and hope to move that to 45 minutes this week or next and hoping to "graduate" to the local park later in the week.

It is a bit slower to heal when you are 70 rather than 37 (last time I had surgery that required incisions on my body.), but it is a "boring" recovery which is good news, too.