Tulips and Beef Stew

Tom and Sandy Story brought tulips and stew
and stayed for a brief chat today.

The neighbors dropped by this afternoon with a pot of stew and the fixings and got a first hand look at the new clot buster machine, firing away on both cylinders in the porch. It was a lovely spring day out there after an early morning whirlwind of activity --  6 a.m. shower, bandage change, meds, breakfast, hair, the works. We made it to our rehab appointment on the dot... (a family tradition).
Getting in and out of the new car is a snap. Katie steps inside with her good left leg and then pulls the new one in after her. Presto! That's the advantage of a right knee job; disadvantage is that you have to wait a lot longer before you can drive the car again.
We went to our first official therapy session at the 212 Center in Chaska, met some nice helpful people who assured us that we are on a good track for recovery. Patience and hard work seem to be the key. Then a blood draw and back home. Mina dropped by with a helpful piece of furniture and some good advice. We listen to her -- she's done this joint thing before, plus she's a retired RN.
Katie's clot busting leggings, above, periodically fill with air and then release with a puff, not unlike the sensation you get from a blood pressure cuff, she says. Now we have to figure out the automatic icing machine. We fired up the Continuous Passive Motion machine yesterday, and it seems to work fine.
It's a high-tech recovery operation we have going on here, but in the end the TLC provided by friends, neighbors and daughters is most essential -- and appreciated greatly.