Thursday, June 19, 2014

Hip replacement surgery 101

OWWwwwww!!!!


found on www.rayur.com


Got hip pain?
Not able to do what you used to do?


courtesy Dover publications

It might be time for a hip replacement!

www.jontybabe.blogspot.com

My Uncle has just undergone a hip replacement.
Wow.
When you think about it, it is an amazing medical feat to take out a major bone joint, 
and put a new one in!!!

artificial hip diagram
www.slideshare.net

Here are a few things we have learned
throughout the process:

1. Don't let other people tell you what your pain level is.
You know best!

2. Yeah, they really do need to do all those tests
to determine what your hip damage is
and the condition of the area surrounding your hip.

3. Take notes.
4. Take notes.
5. Take notes!

6. Keep a folder or briefcase or whatever works best for you.
Have a central place that you can keep all the paperwork in. Notes from doctors, nurses, etc.
Handouts - and more!

7. Keep a calendar on the wall, and update it every time you are given an appointment time.

8. In your 'hip folder' you should have all the names and phone numbers of professionals that you are dealing with.
I like to write down the date and time and name of every person I speak to on the phone.

9. Really, really really try to have someone that can either stay with you for 2 weeks following surgery,
or
a place where you can stay for 2 weeks minimum
 after surgery
with someone you can depend on to take care of you.

This may be a rehab center.

www.dreamstime.com

You will be on pain meds when you come home
after the surgery.

These will make you loopy and not able to keep track of
what you have taken,
when you have taken it,
and when you should take more.

www.caring4youragingseniorcitizen.com

Really.

Have your caregiver:

9. Keep a chart for each day's drugs.
Write down when you have given what drug.
This is really important.

There will be several drugs for recuperation,
and it just does not work to try and remember them all.

www.diabetescare.net

So, make it easy on yourself, and write it down on the chart.

10. Yes, you will have pain after the surgery!
Some people think, well, the bad hip is gone,
a new hip is in,
so no more pain right?

Wrong.

www.prsrehabservices.com


You have just had major surgery!!!

My uncle was under the impression that after a couple of days he would be back to dancing.

Why did he think that?
Because of well-meaning friends trying to encourage him.
It didn't encourage him,
because now it just frustrates him after the surgery is done
with wrong expectations.


www.distancedemons.org


So please,
remember that each person has 
their own timetable of healing.
Perhaps Aunt Martha was up and happy in 14 days,
but that doesn't mean that
Aunt Maude will be.
Each person is an individual with their own unique healing times.

Be honest with your doctor/surgeon.
The doc will know what is best for you.
After all, the doc has seen inside you!!!
tee hee hee

www.abc.net.au


11. Follow your doctor's orders.

12. Follow your therapists' orders.

These are professionals.
If they say don't walk stairs unless someone 
is there with you,
then don't walk the stairs unless someone is with you!!!

Yes, you may feel it is silly,
or unnecessary
or baby-ing.

Too bad!
Follow the professionals directions so you can heal the right way, and in the right time.

13. Exercise. Yeah. Really.
Your PT (physical therapist) will help you with what exercises to do, and how to do them.

Please remember, 
you do NOT know more than your PT!!!
If she says to use your walker,
then use your walker.
If she says a cane is okay in this situation,
then don't think you can use a cane whenever you want!

www.actwellness.com

We discovered a bit late in the game
what are good exercises and positions to be in.
Uncle's leg was swelling up, and was very hot.

The incision site did not look too irritated or red.
Temperature was normal.
Pain levels went up.

The PT came for a home visit and we learned:

14. Elevation is key!
Get those toes above the nose!
(Also above the heart!)

She stacked a pile of pillows up that looked like a scene
from The Princess and the Pea!


www.nataliesmillie.deviantart.com

Only, the pillow stack was for Uncle's feet only!

However, after 2 days of keeping his legs/feet elevated,
and being up and doing walking at least 4x per day,
the swelling has gone down considerably
and so has some of the pain.

Yippee!

15. Ice. Ice. Ice.

I thought that icing was only beneficial a couple of days after surgery.
Wrong.
Now that we are icing regularly, Uncle's pain is lower,
his swelling is lower
and we are all 'round much happier!

Some ice pack hints:

www.brennerchildrens.org

Always wrap your ice pack in a towel.
This protects your skin, and also absorbs any
random condensation. 

www.afoodiestaysfit.com

A bag of frozen peas works super as an ice pack!
The peas conform to your leg/hip really well.

dumb hint: don't eat the peas after they have been used as an ice pack. They have been thawed, frozen, etc. 
too many times to be healthy to eat!

We are on Day 11 after surgery.
I'll keep you updated on Uncle's progress
and any more tips I might have to make 
your hip replacement surgery
or your time as a caregiver easier!

www.pissedoffteacher.blogspot.com

We are both looking forward to the day when Uncle
is walker free
and cane free
and back to dancing!

'til next time,
inkspired

www.inkspired.etsy.com
www.collagepaperpainting.etsy.com
www.inkspiredmusings.blogspot.com
and on pinterest: K.Kloberdans

Saturday, June 7, 2014

C is for Clown

tee hee!


vintage clown found on
aleeka_stock.deviantart.com


C is for clown!



funny clown found on polyvore.com

Turn a 'C' on the side
and what do you get?

A big happy grin!

1957 coloring book 
found on www.papercherries.etsy.com


Clowns want us to laugh
and giggle
and guffaw
and hoot and holler!


children during a magic show
page by Matthew Jones on www.shizzledizzlemagic.com


laughing baby Yao
www.delightmakers.com

(That is one of my all-time fave photos, by the way!)


vintage song sheet for the movie theme song for Laugh-Clown-Laugh,
starring Lon Chaney
www.lonchaney.org

I get mad when people try to make clowns scary.
It ruins it for so many.
Clowns have always just wanted kids to have fun.

:0(

This is how it makes the Clowns feel:

Lladro clown figurine
www.parkestatecompany.etsy.com



So I say enough!

Let's remind all kids how fun clowns can be!!!

from "Look! Look! A Clown!" vintage book
myvintagebookcollectioninblogform.blogspot.com


February 2013 kids laughing
www.ksoo.com

It's okay to act silly!




coloring page by www.colorkiddo.com



circus folks, 1955
found on www.boingboing.net


Clowns like to play lots of games...


Learning numbers is fun
www.sheknows.com


a harder dot-to-dot clown
www.kidspot.com.au


pinball maze
courtesy of Dover Publications, address to the right


Clowns like to sing silly songs too!

1910 song sheet cover
courtesy Indiana Music Libraries


Rudy the Clown
Can you hear me now?
www.clownfest.com



c.1915 Circus Day In Dixie Song
courtesy Indiana Music Libraries


Clowns have lots of friends!

Circus performers in Blackfoot, Idaho
photo from the 1800's
thecircusblog.wordpress.com


1960s Circus Clown poster
cottagewhimsies.etsy.com



bouncing clowns
blog-de-aprendizagem.blogspot.com


One of the most famous American clowns is
Red Skelton
He was such a cool man,
it'll take a whole 'nother blog to cover him!

Red Skelton
www.vs-uc.com


Piglet even wants in on the fun -

www.hmcoloringpages.com

Silly piglet!!

www.dpshots.com

Clowns have been around a long, long time.
In different ages, they dressed differently from what we think of as a clown now, but back then everyone knew who the clowns were because of how they dressed.

Here are some different, well-known styles: 

Victorian clowns
www.2flavors.me.com

vintage clown postcard
www.zazzle.com



vintage clowns
missimmondssays.blogspot.com


March, 1922 Theatre Magazine cover
www.largesizepaintings.blogspot.com


c.1917 Lily of the Valley, A 'Nut' song featuring a 'Pierrot' clown
courtesy Indiana Music Libraries

Claudett Colbert in a harlequin clown costume
www.thevintagegirlsuk.wordpress.com


So get your clown face out
and do something silly today!!


clown photo booth
www.themcallisterblog.blogspot.com


Kathmandu, Nepal school children
www.dailytravelphotos.com



make a clown costume with paper plates and pompoms
www.funfamilycrafts.com

(and never leave home without your
whoopie-cushion...)



found on www.thesurrealpoet.wordpress.com


'til next time -
inkspired



an inkspired original collage made from all junk mail

www.inkspired.etsy.com
www.collagepaperpainting.etsy.com
www.inkspiredmusings.blogspot.com
and on pinterest:  K.Kloberdans


Monday, June 2, 2014

I Spy with my little Eye a fairy fluttering by..

vintage fairy


'I stood against the window
And I looked between the bars,
And there were strings of fairies
Hanging from the stars;
Everywhere and everywhere
In shining, swinging chains;
The air was full of shimmering,
Like sunlight when it rains.'

1st stanza: 'I Stood Against the Window' by Rose Fyleman


fairies dancing upon the water, from a vintage ad


'They kept on swinging, swinging,
They flung themselves so high
They caught upon the pointed moon
and hung across the sky.
And when I woke next morning,
There still were crowds and crowds
In beautiful bright bunches
All sleeping on the clouds.'

2nd stanza: 'I Stood Against the Window' by Rose Fyleman

http://www.celticfairymusic.com/fairy-stories/fairy-poetry.htm


illustration by Frances Brundage
found on picssr.com


a teddy bear fairy paperdoll


Teddy Bear paper doll set by Beverly Matteson Pont
c. 1954 - 1995
found on origamibears.com



'Buttercups in the sunshine look like little cups of gold.
Perhaps the Faeries come to drink the raindrops
that they hold."

 - Elizabeth T. Dillingham in "Faery Song"



vintage fairy found on www.bumblebutton.blogspot.com


Courtesy of Dover Publications, website address to the right.


The Fairies by Robert Herrick*

If ye will with Mab find grace,
Set each Platter in his place:
Rake the Fier up, and get
Water in, ere Sun be set.
Wash your Pailes, and clense your Dairies;
Sloths are loathsome to the Fairies:
Sweep your house:
Who doth not so,
Mab will pinch her by the toe.


vintage Queen Mab of the fairies from
Treasury of Verse for Little Children cover art

vintage Butterfly Fairy

Let's do some 'splainin'.
Queen Mab is the queen of the Fairies, and is found in Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet'.

As this is a vintage poem, 
you will find the spellings a bit 'odd'!
Fier is today spelled: Fire
Pailes is today spelled: Pails
Clense is today spelled: Cleanse

I also edited the word "Sloths".
In the original poem it is "Sluts".
However, the meaning has changed quite a bit from then to now! We consider 'sluts' to be 'bad women who sell or give their bodies for sex.
This is certainly NOT what Mr. Herrick means in his poem!
I substituted the word "Sloths" which I feel is more accurate terminology in our modern world.


'Titannia' by Karen Prince


I found many poems that refer to Queen Mab 
who will pinch you if you do not do things her way.
It was almost always referring to: 
'pinch you til you're black and blue',
and this is done while you are sleeping!

Tatania by Frederick Howard Michael

closeup of Tatania's crown

My scan isn't so great, 
but it is like a moth/butterfly floated down on her head 
to be her tiara!


fairy to color on a green background
courtesy of Dover publications

'Angel Pond' found on www.paintermagazine.co.uk

'til next time,
inkspired

www.inkspired.etsy.com

www.collagepaperpainting.etsy.com

www.inkspiredmusings.blogspot.com

and on pinterest:  K.Kloberdans