Hi everyone, hope you’re all well, and staying cool. It’s been busy here, with a bit of craziness. I have come to the conclusion that if I want to keep playing tennis and pickleball (let alone walking for more than 15 minutes), I probably will need to get at least one knee replaced. It makes me feel old typing that, but hey, sooner it is done, the sooner I can get back on the courts. Hoping to see a doctor in the next couple weeks to discuss. LLD has two medical appointments this coming week that I will accompany him to. Nothing big but he needs a driver. And yesterday he was out biking in the mountains and was attacked and bitten by a dog, and had to go to the ER. Scary, but he handled it with humor. Here’s what we ate:
Mon: fried rice with chicken sausage and lots of vegetables. Baked white chocolate and pecan cookies but accidentally used almond extract instead of one of the teaspoons of vanilla extract and they were exceedingly sweet. How do I know? We ate them anyway.
Wed: kung pao sloppy Joe’s (thank you @marietinn for the link!). We loved these! Funnily enough, LLD was the only one who ate these with his hands. He asked that this be put on rotation.
So sorry to hear about LLD’s dog bite! that is scary! I love the sloppy Joe’s outcome!
I had my (half) knee replacement in 1999…when I was 43. It had been really, really necessary for a long time and I was in huge pain. It went really well, and is still going fine after all these years!
A friend a few months older than I am had a knee replaced a couple of years ago. The techniques have really advanced since 1999 and he didn’t even stay overnight at the hospital afterwards. I stayed 3 nights, got out one night early for back then. The physical therapy afterwards is really crucial, as are pain meds. So worth it for increased mobility. I hope you can do it sooner rather than later.
The pain meds make me violently ill. Only takes a few minutes for me to feel beyond horrible.
I had to take strong anti-nausea drugs 30 minutes before the pain meds. Had to pre-arrange this with the surgeon and the nursing staff and the hospital and the anesthesiologist. It worked well for me. It did make me even sleepier combined with the pain meds, but it got me through the worst part of the post surgical pain and as soon as I was allowed to go off the blood thinner, I was able to switch to to Ibuprofen. That actually relieved the pain much better than the opiates did!
I had two hip replacements after the knee and was so glad I knew what to insist on. I had the same surgeon for all three so he got it.
Good healing to LLD, and good luck to you as you mentally get yourself there for knee replacement. It really is almost a rite of passage these days, it seems.
Hope you’re enjoying having Lulu home for the summer.
For my last two surgeries I have relied on extra strength Tylenol and ibuprofen instead of prescription stuff and done ok. Hoping I can get away with that for my knees!
I was required to take Coumadin to prevent potential blood clots after the joint replacements, and you can’t take any med related to aspirin while taking those (including ibuprofen). So much has changed since my last joint replacement (2013) so I hope that has changed as well!
Lulu might think she is in North Carolina when she comes to Boston Tuesday…high is forecast to be 100 and the third day of a “heat wave.”
Breakfasts: Bakery pastries, alternating with granola and berries with almond milk
S: (tonight) Takeout - Chile verde burrito
Su: Fish tacos - seafood. Might make easy berry cobblers for dessert (Mix berries and sugar in individual ramekins, top with granola, drizzle cream on top. Bake until granola is crisp.)
Hi, all. It is TOO HOT here in Boston. We do have central a/c but the dog needs to be walked…
This weekend’s fun: laundry. Nope, not the usual. On Friday afternoon our washer (which is probably about 10yo, came with the house) sprang a leak. I did a small load of “bathtub laundry” yesterday but then realized that would be ridiculous on a larger scale, so I spent a sweaty 2 hours at a nearby laundromat this morning. As this is now the third breakdown in less than 4 years, DH and I picked out new machines yesterday (in sapphire blue, fancy!) but they won’t be delivered and installed until Friday. I hope they come ready to work, because there will be a lot for them to do right away! Oh, and I managed to lose four socks at the laundromat - four different socks.
I “planned” four meals for Sun-Weds but haven’t decided what goes when…
Ham/mozzarella panini
Fried chicken salads with honey mustard dressing, cornbread
Burrito bowls - using carnitas in freezer
Spaghetti and meat sauce
Thurs: I’m going out with friends, guys will probably get burgers
We are at the start of a heat wave, so I am thinking about things that would taste good cold, or cook once and repurpose. Did a quick shop tonight of salad-y things and a few staples.
And… ummm… I bought another bag of little avocados earlier in the week because the last lot were really good — and hard to resist at $2 for 8 . Also a big bag of mandarin oranges for $1, so I had a glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice after ages, yum!
Salad ideas with ingredients at hand:
– Pani puri-inspired bean chaat + pani puri shells or pita chips
– Fennel - orange
– Caprese
– Tomato - avocado
– Tuna - tomato - white bean (inspired by an old Gourmet recipe)
– Shaved zucchini with lemon and parmesan
Other Ideas:
– Cantonese poached chicken (freezer) + scallion noodles + baby bok choy
– Sichuan flowering cauliflower (made) + salmon + rice/quinoa
– Pan con tomate + chorizo or scrambled eggs + / salad
– Scallops with brown butter and corn + veg / salad
– Rice bowls of assorted inspiration — sauté a package of ground turkey and flavor variously as Larb, Donburi, Bulgogi, etc + veg / salad
Stay cool, and send healing thoughts out into our world.
. Also a big bag of mandarin oranges for $1, so I had a glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice after ages, yum!
I looked at avos in the store yesterday - $4.50 a piece (not even the organic kind). I did not buy one.
