Checking in, and checking in, and checking in.

 This week has felt like it was all about me. Not being a narcissist, I'm not so cool with that, but so it is. 

I last posted on Tuesday, after we had checked in to the medical center for my 6 week post op appointment with Dr. Gala, my spine surgeon. While there I asked him when I could consider the next fix it job, hip replacement. We decided on six months. 

On Wednesday I made phone calls to Orthopedics and got an appointment immediately for the next day with my hip surgeon, Dr. Chen. I also arranged to start physical therapy on Friday, and finally got brave enough to call for a hair cut appointment, which will be next week. 

We stuck it out and watched all of the Republican Convention. We did watch it on MSNBC, where where Rachel, Joy, and Nicole kept us grounded on the truth, since not much truth was coming from the speakers. Now that it's over, we feel like we need a purge.

We were planning to watch Sounders soccer again on Wednesday evening, but you may be aware that no professional sports teams are playing, electing to cancel or postpone games in support of Black Lives Matter and the response to the latest police shooting in Kenosha, WI. Will it never stop?

On Thursday we were back at the medical center checking in with Dr, Chen. There were lots of x-rays, a consultation with Dr. Chen, and I am now on the wait list for surgery, hopefully in January. I have new reading material. 

It kinda sounds like a marijuana trip, but no, it's not. I haven't opened it to study it yet. It seems too soon. I think I need a few more weeks to recover from the last "journey".

This morning, Friday, I cut my Zoom meeting with friends short to check in for my Physical Therapy appointment. It went very well, Erica is a good listener, and I have five easy exercises to start with, as well as more appointments lined up. She even gave me a shoulder massage, much needed, and we agreed that I should contact my primary care physician for a referral for massage therapy. I sent that email this morning, after getting all of my new appointments on my calendar. 

Since then I spent some time in the garden picking and arranging a new bouquet of flowers for the kitchen table. My spine Dr. wants me to walk an hour a day. I spent 30 minutes on my feet. I hope that counts. We'll do more walking this evening. It's 79.8 degrees outside right now, too warm for me to walk in full sun.

We had lunch on the patio. Tomatoes were on the menu. It's tomato time.

I use a basket to carry all my stuff out to the patio. Betsy Brown Cat decided it was a great place to curl up. I attached a note on a piece of twine and tied it around her neck three days ago. I haven't heard from anyone. I am suspecting that she does not have a real home, but someone else is feeding her. She begs so much, for attention and food, that I have now started feeding her in the mornings. She is asleep on one of the patio chairs each morning when I get up, and is here late into the evening. She has clearly adopted us. I don't want to own a cat and we are not letting her into the house. Not sure how this will turn out, but she is a sweet heart. 

Thanks if you made it through this long post. I guess I should post catch ups more often, so they aren't so long. I'll work on it.