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| No pictures of Annie but here is Carla on Annie's patio. |
Annie
and I go back a long way! We met my freshman year of college where we
both lived in Rockwell Hall at CSU. That first year we were not roommates
but had many adventures and pledged the same sorority. We did room
together off and on in the sorority house and continued to have great times
together with our many friends
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| Sun bathing on the back patio of Rockwell Hall in the 1950's. |
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| Rockwell Hall as we remember it in the late 1950's. It is now where the Business Department for CSU is headquartered and looks quite different! |
From time to time our paths crossed and we shared wonderful, as well as some
sad times. My children have fond memories of staying with Annie and Hank
at Stock Show time and consider her an aunt. Hank died of lung cancer
when Annie and I were still quite young. We all loved Hank and still miss
him when we get together. Annie persevered and works in the financial
world which eventually led her to Phoenix about 20 years ago. We visited
her right after she moved into her new house in northeast Phoenix right on the
border of Scottsdale. I'm sorry to say we never made it back to Phoenix
until now. Annie and her sister Katie visited us and we met in Laughlin
annually for our gambling and shows. Since I retired 6 years ago, we have
not seen each other but still stayed in touch.
On Annie's birthday in January I had written her and told her what our plans for the winter were. They included spending 6 weeks in Florida at my sister's place in Lake Placid even though they would be in France at that time. Annie wrote back saying she should have let me know sooner that she desperately needed knee replacement surgery and had no one to help her during recovery. We decided Phoenix would be better than Florida and we would get a good visit as well. So here we are (see my previous blog for our adventures getting here).
When we got here I realized how desperately she did need surgery on both knees. Although she still is working, she was practically wheelchair bound due to her bad knees. The Doctor would only do one at a time but he has assured her she would be walking without a walker when he was done.
On Annie's birthday in January I had written her and told her what our plans for the winter were. They included spending 6 weeks in Florida at my sister's place in Lake Placid even though they would be in France at that time. Annie wrote back saying she should have let me know sooner that she desperately needed knee replacement surgery and had no one to help her during recovery. We decided Phoenix would be better than Florida and we would get a good visit as well. So here we are (see my previous blog for our adventures getting here).
When we got here I realized how desperately she did need surgery on both knees. Although she still is working, she was practically wheelchair bound due to her bad knees. The Doctor would only do one at a time but he has assured her she would be walking without a walker when he was done.
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| The Cafeteria in Rockwell Hall in the 1950's where Annie and I met the first day we were in Fort Collins. |
Annie's surgery took place in John C. Lincoln Hospital. It went well and
she had a room on the newly renovated third floor-- Big screen TV, roomy
private rooms, great care, and lots of little perks. The two little
ladies who did her physical therapy were a kick in the butt. They were in
their 60's, kind but no nonsense ladies. Annie's recovery in the hospital
passed quickly and 4 days after surgery she was back home. That is when
the " fun" started.
We had to get up at 6 AM just to fit all the activities in her regimen into the schedule. She had to put in 6 hours a day in 2 hour blocks on the CPM machine with at least 1/2 hour of icing after each block. This went on for 3 weeks. In addition to this she had physical therapy for an hour 2 to 3 hours a week plus doing the exercises she had learned and doing some walking! We managed to fit in meals somewhere too and a couple of follow up visits to the doctors and a couple to the dentist as well.
Annie improved greatly and we even went out to eat one night to have an early birthday celebration for Bob (which, although we didn't know it at the time, was very fortunate). We also took a little trip to a casino for an afternoon before all hell broke loose! But that is for another installment in our Phoenix saga!
To complete Annie's story, I drove her to outpatient physical therapy 3 days a week for 4 weeks after home health's 2 weeks.
Annie was able to drive since it was her left knee that was replaced but they didn't have enough handicapped parking close by so she had to be dropped off and then I had to find a parking spot in the parking garage across the street. We had to laugh at ourselves because we looked like "Driving Miss Daisy". It was easier for Annie to sit behind me than in the front seat.
The best part of the physical therapy sessions were that the therapists let me use the gym equipment while I was waiting for Annie to do her therapy. They had great equipment in a sunny room with great views to the outside. I got in some good exercise which helped with our very stressful time!
We had to get up at 6 AM just to fit all the activities in her regimen into the schedule. She had to put in 6 hours a day in 2 hour blocks on the CPM machine with at least 1/2 hour of icing after each block. This went on for 3 weeks. In addition to this she had physical therapy for an hour 2 to 3 hours a week plus doing the exercises she had learned and doing some walking! We managed to fit in meals somewhere too and a couple of follow up visits to the doctors and a couple to the dentist as well.
Annie improved greatly and we even went out to eat one night to have an early birthday celebration for Bob (which, although we didn't know it at the time, was very fortunate). We also took a little trip to a casino for an afternoon before all hell broke loose! But that is for another installment in our Phoenix saga!
To complete Annie's story, I drove her to outpatient physical therapy 3 days a week for 4 weeks after home health's 2 weeks.
Annie was able to drive since it was her left knee that was replaced but they didn't have enough handicapped parking close by so she had to be dropped off and then I had to find a parking spot in the parking garage across the street. We had to laugh at ourselves because we looked like "Driving Miss Daisy". It was easier for Annie to sit behind me than in the front seat.
The best part of the physical therapy sessions were that the therapists let me use the gym equipment while I was waiting for Annie to do her therapy. They had great equipment in a sunny room with great views to the outside. I got in some good exercise which helped with our very stressful time!
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| New Years in Fredricksburg, TX with Micah, Kim and the girls. A beautiful warm, sunny day for the first day of 2012! |
By the end of her 6 week recovery time Annie was ready to go back to work and
we had decided she needed the other knee replaced as soon as we could all get
back together. That meant early June, so on June 4 we will be headed back
to Phoenix with high hopes for Annie and also fervent prayers that we won't
have a repeat of Bob's events! So what were they? You will have to
read the next installment of our Phoenix adventures!
Bob and The Mayo Clinic
The next installment
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