We Have a Winner

According to Jo, every year after the Miss America Pageant, Miss Texas has a big hot dog in the Philadelphia airport on her way back to Texas. Congratulations go out to Jill and Anthony Martini. I have already seen your prize - absolutely beautiful. Can you believe that she has gone 21 years between hot dogs? She says she doesn't have anything against them. She claims to just not have had many opportunities.

Jo's shoulder is doing well. The bandages have all worked themselves off and the incisions appears to have healed nicely. She doesn't say anything about being in any pain, but I can tell that she is pretty careful with that arm.

A Clue

Jo saw Dr. Kelly today and they took a look at an x-ray of Jo's shoulder. Everything appears to be healing well. Jo's pain level is getting better every day, but Dr. Kelly says she has to take it easy for at least 6 weeks.

Yes, 21 years ago was the Miss America pageant that Jo competed in and the correct answer does have something to do with that time frame. More specifically, it has something to do with an activity after the pageant was over, but before she returned to Texas. Apparantly, this was a tradition for every Miss Texas upon leaving Atlantic City. Before your mind heads into a Casino, keep in mind that what she did was considered very "All-American".

Guesses will continue to be accepted.

For the First Time in 21 Years...

Like she normally does, Jo has worked hard to transition from the heavy pain killers to Tylenol as quickly as possible. I can tell she is in a good amount of pain, but every time I ask she says, "It feels pretty good."

This was quite a bit bigger incision than any of Jo's previous shoulder surgeries so a longer recovery is only natural. I have not seen any sign of her abandoning her sling. We are approaching a week and for the previous shoulder surgeries, the sling was long gone by this time.

We have Meema for another 2 weeks here in Denver and then Jo and Anna will head on down to Texas for a little R&R with Memaw Rita. Anna is in 7th heaven because she and Meema have ice cream together every night.

Oh yeah, you probably want to know about the 21 year streak that has come to an end. This past weekend, Jo did something that she has not done in 21 years. Now that I think about it, why don't we pause and take a moment to hear from the viewing audience. If you think you can guess what Jo did this past weekend for the first time in 21 years, leave your guess as a comment on the blog. The winning guess (closest guess) will receive a set of hand-made gift cards from Jo this summer. If you didn't know this, Jo took several craft classes a few years back and she makes the most beautiful hand-made gift cards you have ever seen.

Kill Ratio Below 25%

It's not even 5:00pm and Jo has been cleared to go home. We should have time to stop at the Cherry Creek Grill on our way home for a quick order of Spinach Dip - exact same Spinach Dip we get at Houstons. If you think I'm kidding then you don't know Jo. She may nod off a few times while bringing a chip to her mouth, but that is not nearly as dangerous as when she drinks hot tea in the morning.

Our nurse's name is Cindy. This is at least the 3rd time that Cindy has taken care of Jo in the last 18 months. Today we found out that Cindy goes to the same church as us and she even goes at the same time. Last year she went on a cruise sponsored by the church with two of our very best friends, Gary and Kathy Weimer. Small world, eh?

You are probably anxiously awaiting my explanation of the "kill ratio". Jo's morphine pump will allow her to give herself a "shot of happiness" every 8 minutes. The machine keeps track of how many total shots she gets and it also tracks the total number of attempted shots. Jo successfully gave herself 25 shots of morphine. She pushed the button trying to get a shot 107 times.

Sadly, Jo's morphine pump was taken away from her this morning. They said something about the button being worn out. She is on oral pain killers. I have already checked the Internet and I have found nothing that suggests any problems that can occur when pain killers are mixed with spinach.

The Morning After

Jo had kind of a rough night. She has a morphine pump for her pain, but in the middle of the night she couldn't stay awake long enough to push the pump. She would wake up in tremendous pain and then fall asleep before she could push the pump. There are pros and cons to being a good sleeper.

Dr. Kelly mentioned that the shoulder pain could be even more than what Jo experienced with her hip replacements. We'll have to wait until Jo feels better and see if we can get her to give us a comparison.

The piece of bone that was transplanted into her shoulder was described as the shape of a mushroom with the top being about the size of a half dollar. The reason the surgery took so long is that the hole that the new bone goes into has to be created very slowly and carefully so that the new piece of bone fits as well as possible. The last thing you want to have happen is to put the new bone in the hole and then find out the hole was too big!

Jo is resting in her hospital room. She is expected to come home tomorrow night or Saturday morning.