Progress

 I learned Monday that I was mistaken on June 22nd that the trusses had arrived for the condo reconstruction. The workers were just clearing off the damaged roof and taking down some of the burnt timber. On Monday a truck arrived with the trusses. Today a big crane showed up to hoist them to the roof.

I walked one block over to observe the activity. 

My backdoor neighbor's front yard has been overtaken by lumber and other items. We can hear the hammering, but it isn't too loud.

The construction made for an interesting walk for me. This morning my stitches and staples were removed. I am finding the incision area very tender, my back sore. I loosened up the area by walking. After 2 weeks on a catheter, I contracted an UTI. The med to treat that made me nauseated Sunday. Now, it gives me a gut ache. I will finish Friday; hopefully, I will feel normal by then. The end is in sight. Probably another 2-3 weeks to get back to normal routines and movements after the surgery.

I had never gone to the backdoor-and-one-over condo to peer thru the patio door to see the damage. I was a bit startled. This was the living and dining areas. The bedroom which was next to where the fire started and most damaged I didn't look at because it was under the roofers. 

Good progress has been made the past two days, but obviously there is a lot to do. The attached condo just east of the above one, was completely gutted. It is going to be months before the two units are habitable, but the work has finally begun.

Winona Lake Farmers' Market

 This morning we went to the Winona Lake Farmers' Market. It is housed in the Miller Sunset Pavilion which during the winter had an ice skating rink. It was pleasant with a light breeze and ceiling fans circulating air. There are about a dozen vendors right now. Since its hours overlap with the Warsaw Farmers' Market Saturday time, I wondered if having two operating markets helped or hurt. There seemed to be a steady stream of shoppers here.

Since the building is new, this is the first year for the farmers' market. 

Mostly flowers/plants, honey, baked goods, some produce. 

I bought some peach turnovers and a small arrangement of zinnias.

I was surprised to see the zinnias which I usually associate with later in the summer around August. Since the remnant of my anniversary flowers were drooping, $5 for a replacement worked out well.

There was a skincare products vendor, a coffee roaster, and a man who was selling tubs to start growing mushrooms and also starter kits of these specialized mushrooms. I had never seen anything like this mushroom product.

Since the market goes until 1 p.m., it could probably support more than one lunch vendor. Bomy's has a store on Winona Avenue in Warsaw. 

The pavilion is in a nice setting near the post office and the lake.

The Symphony of the Lakes patriotic concert on July 1st is going to take place in the Miller Sunset Pavilion. In the past, they had a large tent for the orchestra. The news item said there would be some seating for the audience in the pavilion, but the overflow would need to bring their own chairs to set up outside. 

The item I was hoping to find was not at the Winona Lake market; that was strawberries. So, we stopped at Sweetcorn Charlie's on the way home.

I was able to perambulate the entire pavilion with no pain in my butt and legs. It appears my surgery fixed the neurogenic claudication from the stenosis and pinched nerve roots. I do still have some incision pain. I am looking forward to doing things I could not do the past 20 months or so: farmers' markets, art fairs, museum exhibits, browsing the shopping mall, walking nature trails.

Trusses Are Here!

 This morning I heard some hammering. The roof trusses needed to rebuild the structural frame of the burned-out condos are here!

Since I am to avoid bending over, I haven't trimmed away the dead flower stems on my geraniums. Lots of blooms.

It is cooler today and tomorrow with a 50% chance of rain on Sunday. 

Tonight, my husband and I are eating at Ruby Tuesdays with a BOGO for $2 coupon. I haven't decided between ribs or salmon. They both sound good to me.

Turned a Corner?

 

I am only using tylenol for pain control now. I haven't been walking as much as I should partly because I don't have much energy, and the pain level increased when walking. But Monday I walked twice as far as before and did OK. Perhaps I turned a corner. Today walking was harder again because I had some pain higher up where I have scoliosis. That is something I need to discuss with the surgeon. How does the things that he did at L3 thru L5 affect the scoliosis? 

The sprinkler system is still down (over 3 weeks), and we have had very little rain. Yesterday two men in orange T-shirts were working around the area where the control panel was burned. Maybe we will see some progress soon. My husband has faithfully watered my 2 pots of geraniums on the front porch. We are in the 80's now.

The flowers above are what I have left from my June 9th arrangement. They have lasted longer than I expected.

I think by the end of this week I will try knitting a headband using some yarn I bought at a garage sale. I found a free pattern on the internet. Lots of patterns, but many use cables which I have not learned to do. This was fairly simple.

Not What I Wanted to Hear

 I was expecting my catheter to be removed Thursday. The urologist that I was referred to was a nice elderly man. He started talking about learning to self-cath which was totally unexpected by me. I was quite plain that I was surprised by his comments. I thought this was going to be a straightforward removal of the catheter.

 The upshot is that because I am also having constipation, he wants me to wear the catheter another week and work on getting the bowel regular. On the night of the 22nd, I can remove my catheter. If things look OK on the 23rd when a nurse measures residual urine, I will resume life as normal. If not, I will be taught to self-cath as wearing an indwelling catheter for long periods is not good. He is concerned because the spinal area where the operation took place controls bladder and bowel functions and may be messed up.

I am taking a low dose of hydrocodone which can cause constipation. I am going to try transitioning to tylenol this weekend. That and drinking lots of water should help. My bladder was working fine before the lumbar decompression. My expectation is that it will resume normal functioning; wearing a catheter and changing from leg bag to large bag and back again is definitely not fun. I suspect this is just a temporary problem. Let's hope so. 

A Rough Time

 I stayed in the hospital 2 nights after my Wednesday afternoon surgery. I was expecting the first night because of the drain in my back. However, I had nausea (mainly dry heaves) which would not stop. When I was in the hospital room that evening, the nurse gave me benadryl to stop the nausea. She said this is the only hospital she knows that uses the drug that way, and she has no idea why it works. She has been nursing for 30 years. The benadryl made me fall asleep, and when I woke in 1 1/2 hours the nausea was gone. 

There were some surprises. My Thursday morning bloodwork showed high blood sugar; they ended up giving me some insulin. I have never been told I am hyperglycemic before this. Friday the level was sort of high, but not enough for more insulin. I could pee but only in dribbles. Too much urine retention and too much blood drainage to be released so a second night (Thursday) in the hospital. 

Friday morning the surgeon's nurse practitioner told me she thought I would be staying a third night (Friday). The hospital case worker came to my room and said my status had been changed from observation to in-patient. I had to read my patient's rights as in-patient and sign a form.

 I was given several meds to increase urine output. Finally, the surgeon's office and the Orthopedic Hospital hospitalist (doctor) came to an agreement that I would leave Friday but with a catheter. 

I will wear the catheter until June 15th when I see a urologist who will use a sonogram to measure what is in the bladder, and if an acceptable amount the catheter will be removed. The urologist is in Fort Wayne near Parkview Randalia hospital. This is close to downtown. We have never used any facilities there. He comes to Warsaw sometimes, but he had no openings in Warsaw that would fit my need. That means another drive to Fort Wayne in about a week. Fortunately, my follow-up with the ortho surgeon is in Warsaw on the 27th. 

When we arrived home about 5:30 p.m. Friday, I took some things into my bedroom. When I came back to the living room, I saw the beautiful bouquet pictured at the top of this post. My husband had ordered it for our anniversary. When the discharge schedule got rearranged, he called the florist to ask that they leave it with our next-door neighbor. When the neighbor saw us arrive home, he carried it to our front door. It smells really nice, too. The butterfly is from another neighbor who enjoys gifting people with cards.

I feel very tired which is to be expected. My poor husband is also exhausted from the back and forth and the stress. It has been a nice quiet Saturday snoozing, reading newspapers and books. Tomorrow we will get take-out from Grace Village or Ruby Tuesday for our anniversary dinner. We are living the "for better or for worse" of our wedding vows. It will take me about 6 weeks to feel normal, just in  time for a family reunion here in Winona Lake. Our nieces and nephews are in charge of the event. 

Nippy Lakeside Worship Service

 Last night we decided that we would attend the Lake Wawasee Boat-in Worship Service this morning. The temperature was 60 degrees which didn't sound too cold, but I forgot to factor in the brisk wind off of the lake. Brrr. My husband stopped at McDonald's afterwards for coffee, and the lady in front of him in line was also getting coffee for her and her husband because they were cold from sitting at the service.

The service only last about 25-30 minutes so we stuck it out, but we did move back from the shore quite a bit.

The boat is owned by a near-by restaurant. Folks can arrive by 7:30 and board. The service starts at 8:30, and it does take a bit of time to maneuver the boat over to Oakwood Resort where the service takes place. Not too many boats today; still early in the season. The first service started last week (Memorial Day Weekend) and the services conclude on the Labor Day Weekend.

Around 4 p.m. yesterday we got a brief but hard rain shower. So nice since our sprinkler system isn't working. 

Neighborhood Update

 Mostly I dislike blue jays with their raucous voices and domineering ways. It is 92 degrees this afternoon. There is little activity in our neighborhood. Just before I started typing, the bright blue of a jay accented the nearby pine tree. Among all the green and brown, he was a bright spot. The cheddar pinks and my neighbor's peonies are fading from bright pink to dusty rose in this heat. 

Maintenance discovered at the beginning of this week that the panel that controls the west side of Robin Hood sprinklers was the one burned up in the February fire. Apparently, the purpose of that panel was unknown by the current crew. My husband commented recently that with the layoffs and resignations in the last few years, Grace Village is losing historical knowledge of the evolving structures/systems that were put in place over the years. I guess how the sprinkler system is wired and works was one of those losses. Since none of us have hoses to set up manual sprinklers, the grass is yellowing fast. The insurance company is using its clout to get a repair made to the control panel, but so far no operating sprinklers for a week. We may cool down a bit mid-week, but no sign of significant rain in the forecast.

There was good news at the start of the week, however. The roof trusses needed before any other restoration can be started on the two burned condos are finished and should arrive in the next 2-3 weeks.

Of course, things will not be the same. One of the condo occupants moved to Florida. The couple who temporarily moved to a vacant condo do plan to move back. Now my back-door neighbor died on Memorial Day in hospice in Fort Wayne. I attended his funeral today. Big changes to the quadplex.

I normally have been going to bed around 11 p.m. Now the sun wakes me up around 6 a.m. I doze a bit more, but really I am not going to get 8 hours of sleep unless I go to bed earlier. Pretty soon, it won't be dark outside until 10 p.m. which won't promote an earlier bedtime. I guess I can do what I did today: take an afternoon nap.