First the good stuff. - Luce!!!! Her second surgery appears to be a success!!! We started physical therapy this week and it is going very well. The therapist is in love with her. She asked if Luce is OK with children, her friend was there with a 1 year old. Luce was so gentle and gave him little kisses .....awwww! The therapist needed help holding Luce for stretching excercises and asked if
she is good with men -- she loves everyone!!
Young, old, men, women, doesn't care about color either!! That's. My girl!

Now the bad. Glenn --- he fell again at 3am Wednesday morning. Took him 45 minutes to get back to the couch in the living room - about 15 feet! For the mast few feet I got a chair with wheels and rolled him to the couch where he stayed for 30 hours without being able to move!! HE REFUSED TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL!!!!!! Finally he agreed, so I called for an ambulance.

The problem?? Aside from being stubborn -- a broken hip!!!! So, he had surgery last night and got a patial hip replacement. The neck between the femur and the ball broke. So he will be in the hospital for a few days and then to a rehab vented. AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!! 

Thanks for letting me let it out! 

Prayers for you girl! You have been through a lot lately. Stay strong and look to the good Lord above for guidance. He is with you always. Yes, men are sooo darn stubborn, its crazy!!

What kind of surgery did Luce end up needing? I missed the earlier updates.

The darkest hour is just before the dawn. Be strong.
Hope everything works out for you.

Men aren't stubborn. They're determined.

The thing with hips is sometimes they break, and then you fall; sometimes you fall, and then they break. Fortunately, the prosthetics they have nowadays are pretty good. My mother, who cavorted with Abraham Lincoln, got her (other) hip done last year and she is still going like a Timex.

It's tough to have to go through the tribulations, but make sure he does all his therapy.

Good luck!

Luce dislocated her hip last Feb/March.  She had FHO - Femural Head Ostectomy(sp?), the socket was to wide, the neck between the femur and ball was too thick and that is what added to the cause of the dislocation.  Her regular vet diagnosed the dislocation and tried to pop it back in but couldn't - surgery had to be done.  She actually got it back in and didn't realize it!  When I took her to the surgeon 2 days later she was fine.  But.... the surgeon said if we don't do it now that's fine but we will have this conversation in the future - about 6 months.  So, I opted to do it now (back in May) while she was still young and heal quicker.  The surgery went well but the bone left in ended up slipping up and was not healing properly.  Had to have another surgery, found out the day of Moms accident (June 10) so I had to wait for Luce to get the other surgery.

I told Glenn he was having the same surgery as Luce, with the addition of a new ball for the joint.

I forgot to mention in the first post, the surgeon said it was not a fresh break within the last 2-3 days, more like a couple of weeks!!  He fell 3 times in a week leading up to Labor day!  MEN!!!!

The drs say he will either go into a rehab facility or a skilled nursing facility.  I'll talk with his case worker on Monday to find out which facilities in my town are covered by his insurance.  Good!  THEY can make sure he does his therapy!  He lies to me about it :-/

Jo-Ann, eat right and stay strong.  You have been through so much in a short period of time.  Don't worry about re-hab and your husband not doing his exercises.  That attitude will not fly.  My husband had a different type of surgery that required re-hab.  We wish we had known that he was going to have to go to re-hab before the surgery so we both had time to accept this reality.  Make sure you know the rules about getting it paid for by medicare.  If the patient gets tired of the whole procedure and goes AMA I don't believe they pay for any of it.  I'm not sure but you should check into it.  Hopefully it will be a short ways from where you live because you will probably be visiting every day or so.  Hang in there.

I'm sorry you and the ones you love are having such hardship.  I hope the worst is over.  Even after your husband gets out of rehab the more active he is the less pain in the long run and the longer he'll live

Prayers your way

JoAnn, I agree with greenbud, that you must take care of yourself. That's a load of emotions and stress for anyone. You are doing the right thing, when you feel  it's crashing down, dont hesitate to reach out or vent.  Here's a saying I believe is true, "A joy shared is doubled but a pain shared is halved."
  
 

Thanks everyone!  We are not married and he is on ssi/medicaid.  I found out today his insurance will NOT pay for rehab!!!  Tonight I found out you could have medicare AND medicaid!!  Who knew? Not me that's for sure LOL  I would have saved A LOT of tears today.  In the morning I have to spend some time finding out about this dual care so he could get the rehab he needs.  Fingers and toes crossed, prayers said and hopefully all will go well.

Good luck navigating that labyrinth.

Joanne, I'll keep praying.  You're going through a bad storm right now.  At some the point the skies will clear.  Hang in there.

Whew!  What a week!

He was transferred to a skilled nursing facility last night, the person who went to evaluate him on Wednesday said he will be there 4-6 months.  It's what we both need - him to get motivated to take care of himself and work at getting stronger and me for some down time from taking care of him.  And, if he isn't able to get better and stronger then he is already in the system to stay there.  He is about 20 miles away, so if he could get transferred to a facility that is closer that would be ideal.

This will give you both time to heal.  Take care of yourself!  Please let us know how things are going.  God bless.

Wow!  I can't believe it's over 2 months since I've been here. 

The facility Glenn was put in was not nice.  It was far away - over 20 miles, had a funky smell, and I caught them in a lie about his pain medication!!  I was able to get him in a facility 7 miles away, so much better, the place is only 5 years old, no funky smell, the food is good - had Thanksgiving with him there, and is pretty nice.  I decided to go to New York for Christmas, I really need time with family, and I am bringing the dog with me!  I can hardly believe she will be 2 next month! She is so perfect for me.

About 5 weeks ago I smelled something nasty in the kitchen - hmm I thought what was hiding in the fridge?  Nothing, the smell went away for a day or two and came back!  The next day I heard scratching in the attic (crawl space) and thought  - hmm squirrels in the attic.  So I called a company, they came out a few days later and it wasn't squirrels or raccoons or oppossum - NO, I have to have RATS AND SNAKES IN MY ATTIC!!!!!!!!!!!  He brought down egg shells of fairly recently hatched snakes around the piles of rat poo!!!!!!  EEEEWWWWW !!!!!!!!!!   So I had that taken care of, vacuum out the old nasty rat poo infested insulation, along with any living or dead rats and snakes.  Then clean the air with some kind of 'cide machine, then blow in nice clean boric acid treated insulation.

The garden was a total failure, the lawn a total failure and the bushes a total failure!  My neighbor mows my lawn (has a business), and I asked him to trim the bushes and shrubs - I finally admitted to myself I am not going to get to it in the near future.  A tree trimming co. came knocking to trim the trees - great idea!

So yes, I am looking forward to 10 wonderful days in NY with my pooch!    

Hi Joann,
Keep going !
The gray stuff behind the dog ... Is that the lawn ?
You're in a drought probably ? That is hard for gardening.
I find that trimming the trees and bushes is a relaxing activity - although it is time consuming and one has got to be careful to not get wounds.

I keep going and going and going - feel like the energizer bunny, or a hamster on a wheel! lol

The part behind her head is grass, below her chin is concrete, we were at the dog park.  And yes, we are in a drought my garden looked awful.

Normally I find working in the yard relaxing and fun, however this year has been the exception - I'm giving myself a pass.  Gotta start thinking of the spring time garden and get a room painted - been trying since Labor Day weekend!!  Maybe when I get back from New York.......