Why I Haven't Been Around!

[grnspot]

It's been a tough several months for us here! Last August the wife went into the hospital with severe back pain, turned out to be a "spinal infection". Before they got the infection completely cleared up, she started having bladder bleeding (a result of radiation damage from 16 years ago). Since mid-August she's been home less than two weeks. She spent months in the "long term care" section of one hospital having hyperbaric treatments to try to stop the bleeding, then she was transferred to KU Med Center in Kansas City. As a last option, they put a medicine into the bladder which has worked so far. But by that time she had lost 1/3rd of her normal body weight! The last few months she has been in a nursing/rehab center 50 miles from home. During the time I was in the hospital with her the last week of February she finally turned a corner with her rehab & started showing signs of improvement, though slow, she seems to be headed in the right direction!

I'd waited as long as I could on my second knee replacement, had it done one week before Christmas. I was getting along fine for the first 9 weeks, then fell while walking in the back yard & tore the tendon loose from my kneecap on the new knee. I was afraid I'd messed up the new joint, but it was still good! I ended up in the same hospital room with the wife for a week while the tear was repaired & recovery, she was there because of sickness. I'm now 4 weeks into a 6 week session with a locked leg brace, after that, the brace will be reset to certain degrees of bending.

I'm doing OK now, just slow & bored, not able to do much, a couple hours at a time in the shop or tinkering with my newest project:

It's an old Nordskog electric "personnel transporter" that has been converted to a 6-1/2 HP HF Predator gasoline engine. Not any tractor work getting done!

[Slim140]

Man, y’all have had a time. Glad things are okay now!

[ricky racer]

Wow!! You've been through a really tough time! Hopefully this spring will be a new start for you and your wife. Welcome back.

[T-Mo]

Sorry to hear about your wife, Lowell. But, I'm glad she's on the mend, and that you didn't damage your new knee as bad as it could have been. And I'm glad to see you posting again.

[Steve Butram]

Welcome Back, listen to the therapists don't over do it,You will prevail on your recovery. Glad that your wife is recovering also

That's a Nice Cushman. I looked over a quite a few of them in a building at the Florida Flywheelers show in February.

[grnspot]

Thanks guys!

It's going to take a while for both of us, but we'll get there --- eventually. I'm looking at 8-12 weeks recovery time from March 1st, longer until full use of the knee. I know the local physical therapists well from two knee replacements over the last year & other joint problems in the past (both knee & shoulder). Not sure yet when therapy will start this time, not much to do but "leg lifts" for the time being with the brace locked.

I've been wanting something in the line of the Nordskog scooter for some time, but they're not very plentiful around here. I gave $900 for it last week, new tires & new Predator engine. I'll repaint it, it needs some brake adjusting, the brake works fine, but won't lock in the parking position now. Other things are just my personal touches. The big advantage to me is that it's narrow enough to fit beside most of my tractors on the 18' trailer, so it doesn't take up tractor hauling space.

[Stanton]

So sorry to hear of your circumstances. Hopefully, healthier days are yet ahead. It's nice to have a project to occupy your time.