Six Weeks

It's been six weeks since the back surgery and I guess I'm making progress. This was the first full week without a visit by home healthcare so I've had no one around to tell me if my progress is normal or not.

There's still a weakness in my legs but that seems to be improving. Not so the flexibility, however. I still can't bend my right leg enough to put a sock on so it's been necessary to use a "helper,"a short length of PVC cut in half lengthwise upon which the sock is pulled. You push your toes into the tube created by the sock and then pull the whole thing up. The sock ends up on your foot and around your heel so you only have to give it a tug to get into place. (Taking the sock off is easier as you don't have to reach down to the toes with both hands--something I can't do.)

And the right leg is still displaying some loss of feeling. That's something the surgeon said could go on for six months or even longer as the nerves that were stretched during surgery will take some time to adjust. 

Meanwhile, I'm still confined to being a passenger (should we go anywhere) and to wearing my brace. I've two more weeks before my next doctor's appointment and I'm hoping he'll give me the okay to drive and to remove my turtle shell. I'm also hoping to learn if I'll get some after pictures (either x-rays or an MRI) of what has been done. Be nice to know.

I've been doing my exercises regularly and added cleaning the deck of snow. I don't have to lift the snow but rather merely push it or sweep it under the deck railing. Terry still does the driveway as the slope is a wee bit too slick for me to attempt. That and the snow she's been moving has been a bit heavy of late.

I haven't made any forays out into the rest of the world yet although I've been cleared to do so. I am starting to get a bit antsy about that. Even a walk around Wally World or Lowe's would be enjoyable. We talked about going over to Wellsboro, but our twice weekly snowfall interrupted those plans.

******

This latest snow storm, named Thor, is currently passing to our south and, with the winds out of the north-northwest, it looks like it will stay there. All we got was a little less than 1/2 an inch of very light fluff that required the deck but not the driveway to be cleaned. I used a broom to do the cleaning it was that light. Those north-northwest winds may be a blessing as far as the snow is concerned, but the air is cold. As of noon, it's only gotten up to 12 degrees and it feels much colder.

This looks like it might be our last really cold night with a forecast of minus 4 degrees. Then things are supposed to be getting warmer with temps during the day getting to the upper 30s and even *gasp* 40s. With sun yet!

******

We're going through sunflower seed like crazy. There must be over 150 birds out there in the mixed flock of Common Redpolls, House FInches, Black-capped Chickadees, Dark-eyed Juncos, White-breasted Nuthatches, Tufted Titmice and American Goldfinches. In addition I've seen one or two Red-breasted Nuthatches, a dozen Mourning Doves, half a dozen Blue Jays, a pair of Northern Cardinals, a pair of Downy Woodpeckers and a pair of Red-bellied Woodpeckers. And, of course, there's the visiting Sharp-shinned Hawk that shows up to prey upon the seed eaters on occasion. And the Pileated Woodpecker that yaks it up from time to time between chiseling out either an ant colony or a nest hole in the trees. (If I had more suet to put out, even it might come closer to the house.) In short, we're feeding a heck of a lot of birds, but they are all the usual winter birds. It would be nice to see some different birds. Spring birds in particular would be welcome, but that would require a good deal of melting and little warming up.