finger update

Good morning.
Craig's finger update.
He went back to the doctor on Friday morning for a post op check of his finger. They took all the bandages off to check and see if everything was as it should be and it was. Craig has been a very good patient, following the doctors orders as close as possible. That meant keeping the hand elevated above his heart, and icing it 30 minutes on and 30 minutes off.
I can't tell you how many stitches he has, but they go from close to the tip of his finger all the way down to about a half inch into the palm. And one of the very few times I forgot my phone so I couldn't take a pic! I was so disappointed! Craig said that it was probably meant to be as I would have posted the pic here and on Facebook and made everyone who saw it ill.
But he had a lot of pain the first day after the surgery, and quite a bit of swelling. The pain pills didn't seem to help much. Friday, his pain level was much better. The doctor admitted the first day would be the hardest. Now he tells him!. But he starts therapy on Tuesday. Even though the stitches won't come out for another 3 weeks, the doctor wants therapy started right away. So even though he'll be wearing a brace on his finger for 6 weeks day and night, they will take it off during therapy so they can have him bend and stretch his finger to minimize any scar tissue build-up.  Now the doctor did say that the therapy would hurt. But it's very important to do. So Craig's not looking forward to that, but like I said, he is a good patient and will do what he has to.
And for dinner yesterday, one of our neighbors brought us beef stew! very tasty! Did I say we have some very nice neighbors?
Craig obviously can't do a lot with his left hand, so I have to do the cooking. So it's nice we've had several meals prepared by neighbors to help me out.   :-)
Not that I'm a bad cook, it's just Craig usually does most of the cooking. And he needed to eat food that didn't require 2 hands. But today, he wants his Turkey/Cheddar sausage boats, so we'll see how he does.
Well, that's all for now.

Craig's crooked finger

Good afternoon.
 Just got Craig home a little while ago from a 2 hour surgery for
Dupuytren's Contracture. A condition that causes the finger to pull inward.

It wasn't painful, and really wasn't bothering him. He could still grip okay, but asked the doctor if there was any necessity in getting it fixed now or waiting until it got worst.

 His primary care doc referred him to an orthopedic doc for evaluation. The ortho doc said now was definitely time to do it. It was already so bent that if he waited much longer and it got worst, it would be harder to get it back straight.
 Surgery went well. Brace and stitches for 6 weeks then night time brace for 6 months. And Percocet for the pain.

The finger had progressively gotten worst since he retired. Good thing he retired when he did. Couldn't cut hair with that finger that bent. The surgery required an incision from the palm to the tip in a zig-zag cut so they could 'scrape' the nodules off the inside. It took longer than the projected 'a little over an hour' as the nerves were twisted around the nodules. We got to the surgery center at 6:30 and was on our way home by 11:00. Actual surgery took just under 2 hours. 
In other news....
the weather has been great! Sunny and low 80's. A neighbor has fixed  a couple of meals for us and another neighbor. Her husband has been on a couple of short trips and she likes to cook to keep busy. One day was Chicken Enchiladas and another was Spaghetti. She's a very good cook! Everything was not only real tasty, she didn't want any of the leftovers. Bonus! So we've been eating good!
Well, that's it for the time being.

another trip to Laughlin

Good evening.
We've just returned from a 2 night trip down to Laughlin NV. It sits on the Colorado river across from Arizona.
We got a really good offer on a room, and thought it would be nice to get out of town for a few days.
On the way down we took a little detour to a ghost town called Nelson. It was about 11 miles off the main road

It sits out in the middle of really nothing. I guess it once was a mining town that didn't last long.
They do bus tours out here. After looking for a very short time I'm not sure why anyone would want to see a handful of old buildings and cars. It reminded my more of a junkyard than a town.
Anyway, 7 miles past the town was the Colorado river, or at this point, Lake Mohave.

This is the very northern part of the lake. It' was created by a dam that's down near Laughlin.
And sorry for this pic. It's me on the river walk in Laughlin. This is why you see more pics of Craig than me. He just can't hold the camera steady at all!

On day 2 we drove the short 15 minute drive over to Davis dam that makes Lake Mohave.

They had a large Marina a couple of miles down from the dam where you could rent houseboats.

The weather was very warm with highs near 90 so we spent some of the time at a river front bar taking in the sights.

Kayaks on the river.

Really large fish along the banks.

And here's a view of Laughlin from across the river in Arizona.
We gambled just the first night since we didn't do well, and I hate losing money. But we had a nice time, nice room and returned safe.

babies everywhere

Good morning.
here's a couple of pics I took yesterday during our walk around our community....

Mommy and daddy and 8 babies.

They crossed the road from the pond to the golf course. Don't know where they think they were going. But mom and dad stopped and turned toward me as I tried to get close enough for a decent pic.
So babies all over the place. Rabbits, geese, and I've been told quail. Although I haven't seen any baby quail yet. So a lot of 'life' out here in the desert. We set some chairs out by our front door and sidewalk several weeks ago, partly to keep an eye on a neighbors house while they were away, and now, we kind of like sitting out there once and a while for a little change of scenery. We were sitting out there yesterday afternoon and our neighbor Obbie joined us. Sat for a couple of hours chatting.
Craig went in to the orthopedic office for a pre-op visit before his surgery on the 26th. They explained in more detail than he wanted to know exactly what they were going to do to his finger. They will make a zig zag cut from the palm to the tip. Then they will have to scrape the nodules off the inside of the skin. The whole thing should take about an hour and a half. Sounds intense for one little finger. Then he'll wear a brace for 6 weeks day and night and 6 months just at night. That's to make sure the finger stays straightened out. He's not looking forward to that, but his finger is getting progressively worst. I'll get a before pic when I get a chance.
And that's all for now.

a pretty picture post.

Good morning.
Gorgeous spring weather going on here. If by spring you mean sunny and 80's, instead of 60's and rain.   :-)
But here's a few pics I took on my walk this morning.....

It's hard to see this clearly because of a very large cactus behind it, but it's a very unusual plant. It has long spiny branches covered with more thorns than any rose I've seen. All winter it looks like it's dead, then in the spring it get covered with leaves from top to bottom and at the very ends bloom with big clusters of orange flowers. Quite impressive!

They even get like 15 ft tall!

I'm assuming this is some type of yucca.

This is a dwarf Bottle Brush. I have these in  my back yard. Someday my should be this large.

I've even seen a few yards with Iris in them. They seem to do pretty good here.

And this is a standard Bottle brush. This gets about 8 ft tall eventually unlike my dwarf which should top out at about 3 ft.

More roses. These were numerous bushes planted along a wall next to a house.  Again, roses seem to thrive out here.
And the newest batch of bunnies are here. I counted 41 this morning on my 20 minute walk. That's a lot of bunnies! And that's probably why we've seen coyotes around. Lot's of food for them.
We also have 2 hummers in our backyard. Usually they are very territorial, but these look like a male and female, so maybe they are a couple? We also have a birds nest in our Southern Live Oak. It's a small bird. Kind of light grey with a yellow head.  And we also see the occasional Road Runner. So a lot of wildlife out here in the desert. Of course, with all the plants and water available, it's not too surprising.
We had an Easter cocktail patio party across the street at our neighbors Gary and Obbie. We took sliced ham from a large shank ham we cooked and small buns and sliced cheese. Obbie made deviled eggs and a Mexican bean dip. People also brought a fruit bowl, chips and cake. Was a very nice get together that lasted well until sundown.
And that's the news for now.    :-)