Did not even "bother" with a percocet last night since the ibuprofen continues to work great.  Slept fine, though I have been 'up' for the day (a relative term, because horizontal with my leg elevated on a pillow seems to be working best) since 4:30.  

Obviously the odds of me making it to midnight tonight (never good even under optimum circumstances!) are looking even less favorable now.  

I may not even make it until midnight in NY to watch the ball fall...

 Look at the pretty flowers that arrived today from my sister Marilyn.

When I called her to thank her, I'd teased that it was MY turn to buy the flowers; she'd sent the pretty yellow ones to Mom in rehab and signed both of our names, and instead of letting me pay her for half of the cost she said I should just send the next ones.  

Sadly that never happened since Mom ended up back in the hospital that night, and died just a few days later.   We hope that the flowers were enjoyed by the nurses, or passed along to another resident, and not just tossed out.

I did have to laugh when Marilyn said she'd much rather be the one sending flowers than receiving them, as in "better you than me" getting hurt.  

I feel much better today after washing my hair in the kitchen sink (which worked pretty well), then giving myself a sponge bath and putting on clean clothes.

Speaking of clean clothes, the stacking washer/dryer at the back house has been kvetching and limping along for a while now, and finally bit the dust.  Today Alex picked up a snazzy new set he found on Offer Up at a smoking hot deal price.

I have an appointment with the podiatrist scheduled for this coming Monday, when I expect to find out what my next step <g> is.  Would have preferred to see him on Tuesday so it wouldn't conflict with my chiropractor appt, but he's only in the office on this side of town on certain days.  

When I called the chiro to cancel/reschedule Monday's appt I was not surprised to find that he is booked until Friday (which is why I had planned ahead.)  No doubt <sigh> I will need more of an adjustment after walking funny on crutches.

Today I am trying ibuprofen (which the ER suggested, saying I could even take it in conjunction with the percocet) in hopes that will work well enough to get me through the day.  So far it seems to be doing a pretty good job, and that way I can save the "heavier duty" drugs to help me manage the pain well enough to sleep through the night.  

After I lunched with Alex (sadly we killed off the last of the turkey soup, quite possibly my best batch yet) for dessert we dove into the condolence gift basket Marcie had dropped off earlier.  The assortment of goodies packed inside all look yummy (they do lean heavily toward the chocolate category!) but I behaved and only tried one.

Alex tried to hook up Hulu on the family room TV (I have it on my new one) but it turns out that our old Roku unit doesn't support it.  He did find Angry Birds, which I'd never played.  

Of course he did great, though he was somewhat frustrated by my lack of "expertise".  I will say that his instructions left a little to be desired, probably because it was hard for him to understand that I haven't played these sorts of games and he really needed to give me concrete, basic instructions.  Bottom line: those green pigs are pretty safe from me!

Kathi just stopped by with a knee scooter, which is SO much safer than the crutches. 

(And that's exactly what my splint looks like!)

She and I chatted for quite a while.  

It was definitely nice to see a 'new' face <g> and catch up on news.

I've been getting lots of phone calls from people checking up on me, so I haven't had time to get bored.  But if I do, I know the cure for that!    

 Pain kept me up part of the night, though the percocet does help take the edge off of the worst of it.  Since the slightest movement/touch adds more pain, today (like a tree) I will stay as still as possible.

 I hadn't been out raking long today when disaster struck at 11:30.  Somehow (!) while backing up I tripped over the rake.  The pain in my foot was so intense that it took a few minutes before I was even able to phone Alex to come help me.  He raced over immediately (found out later that Brownie was barking furiously, but I was in so much pain I was totally unaware) and scooped me up and carried me into the house.  

My foot had already swelled up, and was also 'hanging' at a funny angle, not a good sign. Tom drove me first to Urgent Care, but when we were still waiting our turn (in the parking lot) I asked him to take me to the ER.  That wasn't any better, because it took a long time there before I was seen despite being in such pain (it went all the way through my foot) that I couldn't stop crying.  

The first set of x-rays didn't show anything, but they decided to take a second set, and yep - I fractured the medial cuneiform.  (The cuneiform bones make up the arch in the middle of the foot.)  

It's my right foot, so obviously there will be no driving for me any time soon.  Even the slightest movement of my big toe sets off huge waves of pain, and from the diagram it's abundantly clear why.  Remember the song Dem Bones? Verse 1 starts out "Toe bone connected to the foot bone"

I am currently in what she called a "loose splint" (to allow for additional swelling) up to my knee. 

 Since I cannot get it wet there will be no showers or soaking for the foreseeable future.  I'll need to follow up with a podiatrist, when I should find out more specifics.  The paperwork sent home with me listed the causes of this type of fracture, one of which is a "sudden twisting of your foot", which is exactly what happened.  My other foot sustained a bloody gash (from the tines of the rake?) and bled over my pants and sheet before 4 band-aids came to the rescue.

Speaking of pants - I took off my jeans before she put on the splint, and came home in a pair of paper pants that were huge.  I really think they'd be roomy on a major league football player!

Though x-rays confirmed a fracture, the list of three symptoms are

Pain (check!)

Swelling, especially on the top of the foot (check!)

Bruising, especially on the bottom of foot (check!)

Had to laugh at these release instructions: Do not use the injured foot to support your body weight until your health care provider says that you can.  Since the slightest touch induces pain, using my foot is not something I am even remotely considering!

A happier e-mail had arrived while I was at the ER.  Lily and her housemates worked the custom puzzle I'd sent her for her birthday in September. 

At 2:30, waiting for the second set of x-rays to be taken, I was given a low-dose of percocet, which of course helped.  I'm thinking about taking a second one now (7:30) before the pain gets bad again.  While I'm very cautious about taking any kind of opiate, my Rx (for just a dozen pills) is at the lowest possible dosage.

I've already been up for 3 hours (it's now 8:00) but haven't yet attempted any sewing.  That's because my hands are like ice; even with the (unhappy) heater on in this part of the house the thermostat is registering a mere 60 degrees. 

And since the thermometer on the porch informs me that it's only in the 40s outside, I'm not feeling brave enough to venture out to the hot tub.

Going to whip up a batch of turkey soup today 

once it's OK to start making noise in the kitchen!

It would also be a good day for Brownie to wear a sweater...

It was nippy and extremely windy here yesterday (though there was nary any sign of rain) and from the comfort of the couch I watched as tonnage of cottonwood leaves blew down.   

I'm sure that I will have no difficulty filling up the Organics can (and even one of the regular cans also.)  The pool, of course, is a mess, so it's a good thing Llaine will be here tomorrow to clean it.  (He had last week off for the holiday, so it's been two weeks since the pool has seen professional care.)

  

Instagram shots posted by Alex in Flag yesterday indicate just how cold it was up there, because everyone was really bundled up!  However he reports that his woolen undies (helped) keep him warm.

I finished the final book cover yesterday, and today may start tackling the more difficult page parts. Mary has sent me "peace, wisdom and fortitude" to assist in that endeavor - 

because that's what friends are for!

Or possibly <G> it's because should that not work out well ...

I'll take her up on her offer to do those for me? LOL

 

 This afternoon I loaded the 2012 photos, which are understandably skimpy since that was the year of my surgery, chemo, and radiation.  Did find this one of Mom, taken with her only sibling, her sister Muriel.  Never could understand how people could mistake them for each other (!) since I'm not even sure I see that much of a family resemblance.

At least I now have access to the video of Alex shaving my head.

But first, here's our 'before' photo.

Bet in his wildest dreams he never imagined that one day he'd be shaving his mother's head!  Had to laugh when he asked me if he could give me a Mohawk first... why the hell not?  LOL

I'd forgotten that Andy & Sandy, and Marilyn, came out for a visit in March, when we partied poolside.

Neighbors Ben & Estera, with baby Willie, joined us.

Love these smiles!

As exhausted and wiped out as I was from months of chemo, I was absolutely bound and determined to travel to Lily's graduation in Maryland in May.  NO WAY was I going to miss that occasion!!!

 In June, when Sylvia was in from New Zealand for a visit with her daughter, she came by for an afternoon visit.