July update

Today I had my final surgical follow up.  I think most of you have seen my xrays, but in case you haven’t, I’m attaching the after picture.  Doug thinks the screws look like lag bolts you would use to attach a deck to the house.

Doug compares my doc to the surgeon in the ATT commercial (Guess who just got reinstated?).  If you haven’t seen the commercial, here’s a link.

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/IZ6U/at-and-t-wireless-ok-surgeon

The good news is that the fracture has healed and i have no activity restrictions.  The less good news is that the pinching sensation I’m feeling is possibly a torn labrum (which seems to be another name for cartilage in the hip joint).   Anyway, he just kinda blew it off - saying he has one too, and you just learn to work around it.  That because I’m over 50, they wouldn’t do arthroscopic surgery on it.

Not really satisfied with basically being told to live with it,  I did a Google search.  Evidently an MRI is required to diagnose, and they don’t do surgery for folks over 50, because it doesn’t seem to provide any benefit. The articles did all recommend PT.  I’m going to give it a few weeks, do some exercises and see how it feels.  If it isn’t better, or gets worse, I’ll ask for a PT referral.  In the meantime, I’m excited to get back to walking and hiking and working in the yard.  Golf and biking I hope to get back to in the not too distant future.

We finally have summer in the Pacific Northwest.  It’s only been the last few days where our temps have been over 70 degrees.  Today we got up over 80, which is sure to generate news stories about dealing with heat stroke 🥵.  Folks are not much used to temps over 70 degrees up here.

Now that the weather is good and I’m mobile again, we’re going to start getting out a bit more.  Today we took a short walk on a rocky beach in Sequim bay.  Later in the week we plan to pack a lunch and head out for a drive and a hike.  After 7 weeks of being housebound, I’m anxious to be out and about a bit more (while practicing social distancing, of course)

The Covid numbers in our county are pretty low.  Seems like the most recent cases were related to July 4th parties.  The state has a mask mandate and people here are pretty good about it. Then again, the average age in Sequim is over 50, so that might have something to do with it.😀

The yard and garden are looking great.  We’ve been eating home grown lettuce, peas, carrots, chard and potatoes.  Blueberries are just about ready - although, there aren’t enough for a pie.    Now that the weather has warmed a bit, I’m hoping to see some growth with the beans, tomatoes, cukes and squash.  Our fruit trees are looking good, thanks to Doug’s hard work, but it looks like the only fruit we’ll be getting this year is a few apples.  Not too surprising as the trees are only 3 years old - but i’m hoping for a big harvest next year of pears, plums, pluots and cherries.

This is Doug harvesting our peas.  We have never had plants this tall before!  Next picture is of our orchard.

During my convalescence - since i was basically chair bound - I did a lot of reading.    I just finished “The Warmth of Other Suns”.  It’s about the migration of blacks from the south to the north and west from WWI through the ‘60s. Really interesting and (in light of recent events), a reminder of the desperate circumstances they endured and how many obstacles they had to overcome.  I highly recommend it.  I’m currently reading Ella Minnow Pea (say it out loud), which I mainly picked because of the title.   I’m not that far into it, but I’m liking it.

Speaking of books - is anyone interested in a family book group?  We could have a zoom meeting once a month to discuss a specific book.  Just another option for keeping in touch since it doesn’t look like we’ll be seeing each other anytime soon.  If you’re interested, let me know and we can decide how to proceed.  I’m not envisioning anything particularly structured,  just the opportunity to share our thoughts.

Hope you all are doing well and staying safe.  Love to you all!