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This thrilling <yawn> episode finds us on the 5th floor (short term rehab) of the local VA medical center  (not hospital bc no ER..A&E for all y'all across the Pond).

So to catch all y'all up,  surgery was at the UPMC hospital this past Monday. Stayed there 2 days recovering when the PT OT team recomme ded inpatient rehab. Some fool thing about bmnot being able to get in or out of bed, on or off the pot...you know, trial stuff.

The great part is that bc everything I do medical goes through the VA, I am here as the aforementioned medical center. The very same center that has been the heart of my health care (when you include the outpatient clinic at home) AND which was voted the best VA center in the country last year! I cam attest to that. My health care has been top notch for 20 count 'em! 20 years! 

So glad to be here rather than where I was earlier this week. Thebsirgeon is great. The outpatient staff and facility are great....inpatient...well, let's just say its lagging behind. Perhaps criminally?  It wasn't until I  recieved my phosphorus binder at the VA at a meal that I realized I had not had them at all since dinner Sunday night when I took them at home.

I could go on but ill just say I don't want to stay there inpatient ever again, not w/o proven improvements.

Now, you need to understand that my Patron Saint is apparently St Murphey of the Laws fame.  So of course I was being transported down the hall from UPMC to the VA...while my dinner was being carted past me to the room I was no longer in.

Of course I didn't get to the VA not only after they had served dinner but after the kitchen was closed for the day. I'm cutting them slack bc I know how early kitchen crew has to clock in.

And props to the night staff who scrambled to scrounge me a box lunch...only to fond that I couldn't eat most of it bc gluten. 

And scrambled again to find snacks enough to tide me over. 

Literally bad timing.

Ultimately I unplugged my insulin pump bc treating high glucose is a LOT easier than treating lows.

Then, (thanks St Murph) I got a free ride to State College fo e dialysis at 345am bc Theobald dialysis clinic didn have an opening this morning.

Got back around 1030 or so. The the parade of providers: PT,OT, nutrition,  social work...the usual intake and assessment stuff. Almost everybody had heard about the meal snafu and was apologizing for it. Granted, I *do* have a significant number of dietary hoops to jump through and I've had years to adapt.

These people did it on less than a day. 
You can bet yer sweet bippy I'm thankful for them!


The PT OT team thinks ill be here 1-2 weeks based on their assessment this morning.

Had a wonderful chat w/ the floor dietitian to hammer out the main challenges and throw in a half dozen tweaks I use to get by day to day. Like using a lot more butter, sauces, gravies and such to lubricate my food with things that don't talky against my 1L fluid restriction. 1 T of jam instead of 1t means I don't *need* any milk to wash it down. Things I've not drinking water but subbing in whole milk or soup or high protein Ensure so the fluids I do ale are pulling their weight nutritionally.

She is totally on board and kind of excited about the creativity in the process. As it is said... Necessity is a mother



I'll be doing dialysis in Altoona so won't need the extra 2 hrs for travel but I haven't heard when ill go Saturday. Plenty of time to ask tomorrow.

Pounding this post out while waiting for the nurses to make their evening rounds after which they are changing althea bandage on my leg hat has begun to peal off. The incision sites on my arms look ok to me (this is like my 15th rodeo, right?) But I didn't want to xtake the bandage off w/I having a replacement at hand sine there was more of a fillet compared to the couple of holes in my arm. Theres a picnof the arm... I'll spare you the once hairy now blue-green leg.

The other pic shows how swollen my hand is 4 days after surgery.

Before surgery, rhe finger pain was like having them smacked randomly with a hammer.

Now, a pins/needles like burn. Much less pain, still barely functional. 

I'm thinking (dangerous as that is) I may be swapping my long trusted came for a walker bc I don't have a safe grip. I so won't be able to use the rollator bc brakes needs grips.

But maybe just maybe, 1-2 weeks of rehab can change that. The therapists are confident.

I am too...confident they've never encounter how well my body responds to silly things like health.

I'd love to be wrong especially since the bulk of the 190 posts here point fairly consistently another direction.




Of course. Just as I'm ready to turn in...the cgm says I won't make it through the night.  Thankfully the nurse had just taped up my leg so she was an angel to get me some snackage. 

Found some oranges and prepped them for me bc I can't peel them.

Lovely juicy oranges.


I may end up disconnecting y pump again and talking to the dietitian to increase my evening carb load. Can't keep shoving so much bulk into my ssslllooowww stomach. It'll start backing up soon otherwise. As much as I'd like to get over on the snacks, I'm the only one wholl pay the piper.

Lovely juicy oranges..just sapipe.


I am thankful for a skillful surgeon
I am thankful for the local VA system where I am known and supremely well cared for.
I am thankful for still having a few marbles in the old fishbowl bc keeping me alive is way past a tram sport...I've had years to gather the trucks and techniques that someone new to my history wouldn't have.


Did I mention lovely juicy oranges?