The Healing Hip

Well, it's been a week since I posted. I have progressed quite a bit. I did, however, fire my physical therapist. I was not getting any value so I am rehabing on my own. With the internet you can do just about anything. Or screw up just about anything. Seriously, though, I got my program going. I see my doctor tomorrow and I am scheduled to go back to work in a week. I hope I continue to make progress and get my life back to normal.

On The Mend

I had my hip replacement surgery last Tuesday and I am on the mend. The day after surgery they started walking me with a walker and boy did that smart. Getting in and out of bed was(and still is) a prodigious task. The following day I walked a lot more and on Friday yesterday I used crutches to get around. I came home from the hospital yesterday much to the delight of the dogs. I had a home healthcare nurse come in and evaluate me and get some blood to check my protime. That will tell if I am anticoagulated enough. Later that afternoon, my physical terrorist came and put me through the paces. I thought I would just walk around inside the house but she said, nope, we are going outside. I started with two crutches and graduated immediately to one crutch.We went all the way to the mailboxes and back. She then had me do some exercises that are designed to elicit the maximal amount of pain. She will be back Monday with more torture devices and schemes. The wheels may be coming off the wagon but I am trying to get them put back on.

Swine Flu

Sam has been substitute teaching at the Madeline Choir. That is until he came home sick with an ILI(influenza like illness). It has been a week and now and he is turning the corner. We are calling it the swine flu or H1N1 to be more precise. I got the Tamiflu to him pretty early so I think it moderated his clinical course for the better. I got my H1N1 vaccination 10 days ago and I hope my immunity kicks in before I get exposed. In the meantime I am doing all the things promulgated by CDC.

Adventures in Moving

Sam and Ashley have moved to Salt Lake from Venice. They found a house to rent right away and moved in this week. They tried to load everything up on the Volvo, giving it the appearance that someone referred to as "The Beverly Hillbillies". Instead they borrowed a truck from Julie's roommate and enlisted Riley's help to get up here last week. They are all moved in. Yesterday, Diane and I used the truck to pick up a sofa at RC Willey;s. As I drove into the driveway, I ran over a valve box for the sprinklers. It broke off one valve and the water began to spew. I held the broken valve down while everyone look for the turnoff valve for the sprinklers. We could not find that so Sam lifted the water meter cover and turned off the main water valve. In the meantime we found the turn off valve for the sprinklers and we began the chore of going to Home Depot and getting a new valve. By the time we got that put back together, I had missed my opportunity to go fish the Provo with Dick. I know, it's a very sad tale. But, I did fish the day before so it was not all that bad. We are getting ready for the cool weather. In fact, yesterday, I turned off the irrigation water and drained my sprinklers for the winter. Here it comes!

The Bighorn!

I drove to the airport in Billings, Montana and picked up MIke. He arrived on the same plane as my friends, Dick Hauch, George Dykos, Ron Hayashi, and Mike Leathers. We stopped by Cabelas and got our fishing licenses and then headed for Ft. Smith by way of Hardin Montana. We drove to our guest house at the Anglers Edge and met with Brad Downey, the owner. The next day our guides showed up and Mike and I went with Dave Colombo, a transplanted New Yorker. We put in at Three MIle and headed down the river. This was day one of our three days of fabulous fishing on the Bighorn for large Rainbows and Browns. After three days of what Mike called, "Fly Fishing Boot Camp" , we left for Yellowstone. Unfortunately, our plans to fish Slough Creek in the Park were thwarted by an early season snow storm that prevented us from hiking into the second meadow for more fishing. We will just have to go back another time for that one.

Shhh! It's a Cecret

Yep, that's the way they spell it. Cecret Lake at Alta. It felt weird but Diane and I found ourselves with no landscaping projects to do on Sunday. The yard has taken up so much of our summer that we did not get to the mountains for our usual amount of hiking. We decided to hike to Cecret Lake. It was not a long hike but it had a payoff at the end, a serene alpine lake. There was more than a hint of fall in the air so we were prepared for any sudden weather change. It turns out that it was sunny or partly sunny for the entire hike. When we got to the last set of switchbacks before we got to the lake we experienced breathlessness that came from our limited summer hiking. We got to the lake and rested and hydrated and enjoyed the view. It was an outstanding outing on beautiful fall day.

More House Photos

Click on Jim's Flickr Photos to see the latest photos of the house. It has been a long summer in the yard!