We have a number of friends who are not fond of our mild (thus far) winter. The ice isn’t thick enough on many lakes and rivers to skate on much less drive across; several drownings and near-drownings have occurred in the past couple weeks. Brown grass is not conducive to cross country skiing. No majestic icicles, very few days of watching snow slowly blanket the ground, and no fools getting tongues stuck on frozen metal objects. Boring indeed for them.
For us, the mild winter has been a blessing. Lucy has been battling leg swelling and blood clots for several weeks and didn’t have to additionally battle snow and ice. She was on a weekly chemotherapy regimen until January, and there have been a number of medical appointments we attended on dry roads. Anyway, last year we had nearly double our seasonal snowfall and had some brutal -20°F mornings. Maybe Mother Nature was tired from last year? Today’s snowfall was little more than a dusting, but at least our neighbors could have a bonfire without burning down the neighborhood.
Lucy’s aunt and uncle, Ardelle and Dale, were here for a visit yesterday afternoon. They brought some stew Lucy’s sister Julie had made plus a couple other goodies. It was nice seeing them!
Lucy’s left leg is puffing up very slightly and she has a rash on it from the capillaries under the skin ballooning up. Her right leg is almost the same circumference as her left leg and the reddish hue is fading. The skin peeling has almost completed. She is able to walk a few steps without her walker albeit slowly and with some discomfort. Her right ankle still does not have full range of motion and may not for another few days. One of the catheters inserted into her leg was inserted in her ankle. There is still some bruising in the area which is probably the cause of her ankle stiffness. As such, driving is still out of the question for her.
The rash and swelling is not a set back. She had a lot of fluids pumped into her during her hospital stay. Now that she is moving around, those fluids are getting flushed. Lucy still is not as physically active as she was, so there will be some lymph pooling, too. She is maintaining the physical therapy exercises she was doing in the hospital and moving around the house as much as possible.
We are noticing Lucy’s energy level is decreasing and she’s puffing a little after walking around. That usually indicates her hemoglobin count is dropping. She had her blood work done for the Coumadin dosing and was told to stay the course. A Complete Blood Count (CBC) is also drawn. Since nothing was said about her hemoglobin, so we’re assuming it is above 7.5.
Today started the busy week of appointments. Her other appointments are Valentine’s Day (PET scan), Thursday (oncologist and hopefully a treatment) and Friday (hematologist). At some point she needs to renew her driver’s license. That might be Wednesday.
Enjoy your evening and thanks for your support!
