Mike is much better today than he was yesterday. And yesterday he was better than the day before. Monday Mike's leg and foot were swollen and he kept ice on it all of the day. He was worn out after doing his exercises and needed rest after only getting out of bed to stand for a few minutes with his walker. Tuesday he got out of bed early in the morning and walked to the bathroom and did a little personal hygiene and sprucing up and clothes changing before he was tired and ready to go back to bed. A physical therapist named Mark came just before noon and stayed awhile, going over his exercises and explaining what each exercise would accomplish. He was glad to see Mike had been doing every one of them ten times each twice a day. He told Mike to increase them from ten times each and do fifteen. Little did he know that Mike had already done the ten times each and was fitting in a second bout of fifteen times each while he was there. And that didn't stop him from doing them all again at night. I stayed close and watched, but he didn't need much help to raise his cast and once he got out of bed all by himself, pulling his walker over with the handle of his cane. Still, the work wore him out and he seemed glad to get back into bed after each work out. He isn't on any special diet so I've been making every attempt to fix him food that he likes and his appetite has returned.
Wednesday, I got up early to get ready to go to Hot Springs. I have a friend there that I have been helping out. She is going through a divorce. She is from Czechoslovakia and although she speaks English very well, she has a hard time writing. She had asked me to if I would help her to write some letters to gather evidence to be presented in her court case. I made plans to stop by her house to do the writing on her computer for her so she could print it out. And I needed to do some shopping because shopping has been one of the things I have not been doing lately and we needed milk and bread and eggs and I wanted to get lots of other food to fix for Mike's meals. I also wanted to surprise him by going by and picking up a 'to go' order from our little sushi restaurant in Hot Springs. Mike does love sushi.
The hospital in Little Rock called to say that Mike needs to return there on Friday at ten to have the staples from his surgery removed from his leg, so we'll need to go in early to have the cast removed and have some xrays taken, then he will see the doctor for more information about the progress of his healing and find out what we can expect in the future. I meant to fill the gas tank in the car while I was in Hot Springs but there was so much to be done that forgot that. I woke Mike2 before I left, to let him know that he needed to look in on Mike and I gave him a walkie talkie so that Mike could call him if he needed anything, but I still didn't want to be gone for any long time...so when I started the trip toward home, stopping for gas slipped my mind completely. Other than that, I reckon we are ready to go on Friday. None of us is looking forward to Mike having to go down the steps and to the car to make that trip, but we are ready to be there so we can find out more about this healing process and how long this recouperation will take and when he'll be able to use his leg again. Already he is telling Mike2 things that he would normally take care of himself . Mike2 will have to mow the front lawn and till the garden and change out the water filters and feed the animals. Thank goodness he is here to help Mike go down the stairs and get into the car come Friday!
I took pictures of the springtime here so I can remember the front lawn that is a field of purple and white wildflowers. They'll be mowed down soon. The blossoms on the pear trees out front are already blowing off the branches and covering the ground underneath the them with white petals. They'll be completely green soon. Right now, the view from my front windows is beautiful, completely different than what I saw in the winter. The bare branches of the trees have little green buds and soon they'll leaf out. It's time to plant the garden, but I think it'll be late this year!
Meanwhile, Mike has gotten out of bed several times today, even going to sit at his computer and chat a bit with his son in law. By Friday, going to Little Rock won't be a big step for Mike the stepper!
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