I had my back surgery June 18. Everything went really well. The surgeon removed some arthritic bone from my spine that was putting pressure on my left sciatic nerve. The first few days were rough but I'm feeling better now. I am taking it easy and Jim has been very good (too good) at doing things for me. I nicknamed him Nurse Ratchet. The boys are away on vacations of their own and it's been just the two of us. I have to admit, I'm really liking it! I can't believe how much less I spend on groceries!
The ducklings are growing and growing. They will be ready for butchering in a few short weeks. I've got 15 of the fuzzy little things and I plan to keep one or two hens. The rest will feed us. I gave away 3 of my adult drakes and things have quieted down as a result. My two adult hens seem relieved! I have a nice pair of Cayugas and an equally nice pair of blue Swedish ducks. Sounds like a nice flock size to me.
Baby chicks are also growing. I am only going to keep two of the seven: the little silkie and Ollie's firstborn, a little barred rock mix. She's cute and she was the first chick to hatch at Twelve Acres so I simply must keep her. I haven't decided on a name for her yet, although Scooter seems to fit her. She zips around like nobody's business!
We're living our lives day to day--enjoying picking vegetables from the garden, collecting eggs and watching nature all around us. I enjoy the simple things of life; they have so much more meaning than material things. It's a paradigm shift for me and I'm embracing it.
Glad to hear the surgery went well and that you're under the care of your very own Nurse Ratchet :)
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing at how much less is spent on food (and LAUNDRY) when the 'kids' are gone. Not sure why there's still no money!
Lucy
Amy, I'm glad your surgery went well and your recovery is going well, too. It sounds like Jim is taking really good care of you.
ReplyDeleteYou may have to buy another freezer with all the money you're saving on groceries! We're getting veggies from our garden, too. It's not big enough to put up anything though. I wish it was.
Take care and don't try to do too much too soon.
Glad your surgery went well. Hope the rest of your recovery goes well..especially with Nurse Ratchet.
ReplyDeleteBack surgery is no fun, but the pain during recovery is a joy - just knowing there will be no more pain from the original cause, and you WILL heal soon! Good thing you have a great nurse! Blessings and prayers for a speedy recovery!
ReplyDeleteSo happy to hear that you are on the mend. It always helps when you have such a good care taker at home. I have a 4 year old son and I am not looking forward to feeding him when he starts going through "the change". My husband said he ate everything that wasn't tied down. JOY!
ReplyDeleteJamie.
Hmmm may be a long comment but I'll try to keep it short! LOL
ReplyDeleteFirst I'm so glad your feeling good after such a surgery. The people I know who have had any type of back surgery talk about how hard it is, but then again, most of them are big baby's too! LOL I think that having someone take care of you good really aides in recovery too, you have a good man!
Second - any recipies on cooking duck? I need some, how about squierrel? I need one for that too!
Third (I'm gonna quit numbering LOL)
When you sell your chickens are going to sell them locally or are you willing to ship them? I'm looking for some, and working on a new coop soon, my temporary one got ruined in that ice storm we had, but since I've only got my one (and she came here by accident finding her in the parking lot of my sons school one day)its really not been a big deal. She is still in the ugly coop right now, she free ranged all winter and roosted in the barn, I'm really thinking of letting her out of that blasted thing again, I worry about the fox and snakes, BUT so far we have never had a snake in our barn (we'll get one as soon as I let her out I'm sure...my luck) My barn kitties are still to small to do anything really except keep the mice away. I have been promised a coop for a long time now, but I think that I havent gotten one cause he thinks if I dont build it, they wont come! LOL
Keep well and pain free! You can email me if you would rather wilmothfarms at windstream dot net
Wonderful to hear that you are on the mend. Summer surgery seems like such a drag, but if it made you feel better so you can enjoy the rest of summer even more, then it was a good thing! Love all the chicks and ducklings. I have a broody silkie who just started brooding yesterday, in this heatwave! Silly girl! I think she's my only one.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear the surgery went ok. The worst part for Mel would be watching me working in her territory. :)
ReplyDeleteAhh, the endless days of summer!
Ron
Amy, Glad you are mending with all that great care from your hubby. Isn't it nice when its just the two of you? I am sure your ducks and chooks will be just fine til you can be back to caring for them yourself.
ReplyDeleteSo glad the surgery went well! I'm glad you have a nice husband!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you're surgery was a success and it didn't cause you too much pain. I love how you're alrady getting back into the swing of things, but yet taking it easy enjoying life.
ReplyDeleteTake good care of yourself. You're special :)
~Lisa
Hey Amy!
ReplyDeleteI just got back from vacation. I'm glad to hear that your surgery went well!
I'm curious if the surgery was for your sciatica or your back? I have had sciatica in both legs for 12 yrs now. It came on when I was pregnant with my first child in the 2nd month of the pregnancy. They told me it would go away after I had the baby but it didn't. When my daughter was about 2 I went to the doctor and they gave me Dilantin to help control it which it did really well. But, you can't get pregnant on this medicine and you have to have blood work done every 3 months to make sure you aren't killing your liver. So I went off the medicine which was really hard because of the withdrawal pains were worse than the sciatica itself. I went to physical therapy and this therapist showed me some simple exercizes that has helped me so much. If you need to know how to do these let me know and I will tell you how to do them they are sooooo easy and seem to put my alignment back or something. They only take me a minute to do and I do them after I shower in the morning. My sciatica was at it's worse when I was pregnant with my 2nd baby. The weird thing about sciatica is that if you stand to long in one place it hurts, if you sit to long in one position it hurts and if you walk to much it hurts. Can't win. I'm not sure if it is bad enough for me to do surgery though.
Hugs,
Angela
Angela, I have similar nerve damage from pregnancy. Unfortunately the damage is permanent. My daughter's head compressed a nerve in my pelvis to the point where 18 years later I still have numbness down my left thigh from hip to knee.
ReplyDeleteFind yourself a good neurologist or neurosurgeon and ask for a consult. Your sciatica is very fixable! It amazes me how long people are willing to put up with the agony before having something done about it. There's no reason to go through life in such pain. Promise me you'll do it! I don't put much faith in non-invasive treatments when it comes to nerve issues. Nerves don't respond to therapy the way something like muscles do. Drug therapy worked for me, but as you mentioned, liver damage is worse than recovery from surgery.
You maybe find out that your problems aren't related to what you think. I was surprised to learn that I had arthritic bone development that was putting pressure on my left sciatic nerve, something my neurosurgeon couldn't tell me until I was on the operating table.
Well, I'm sure that's more than you asked for but I've been through 2 back surgeries and I'm a big proponent of it because it's such a quick yet lasting fix!
Amy, I am so happy you are on the mend. I didn't realize you were still having back problems.
ReplyDeleteLife without the kids around, now there is a treasure. LOL. You know I love kids especially my great grandson but boy is it nice when they are gone.
You sure do seem to have made the change to country life with great ease. GOOD for YOU!
Take care and God bless!