A View from the Other Side of the Pond

David fishing on the Little Gunpowder

Currently, Rebecca is in Kenya, and I am in the US. We will be sharing two posts this week to tell our different stories. David has recently joined me here as well. I guess it is the sign of well-seasoned travellers that we are all coming back to the US on different flights over several weeks, and we will return to Kenya in the same way. David and I will be first, followed by Rebecca several weeks later. 

The reason for my early arrival back to the US before our home leave begins is medical. I have noticed in the past 12 months that my right hip has been worsening. I recognize the symptoms because I had the same thing on the left side about 9 years ago. My long dance career, prior to my work in international development, is the culprit here. Fortunately, we live in an advanced age of sports medicine, and I had a full replacement on the left side in 2015 that is indistinguishable from the original. I decided that I would be proactive about choosing a time to get the procedure done for side 2 this year, so that most of my recuperation would happen over vacation. So I came back from Kenya about 3 weeks ago, and had the procedure done last week. 

pre-surgery with Oren and Dad 

I feel a bit like an evangelist for this procedure because it has been so successful for me. At this point, it feels amazingly systematic and streamlined. The anterior approach procedure does not cut any muscles, just spreads them to the joint, which is removed and replaced. The whole procedure takes about an hour. I got a spinal anesthetic and a light sedative, so I was only dozing. I arrived at the hospital at 7am and left at 1pm with a new hip. I even had to walk to the bathroom before I was allowed to leave. 

If this sounds surreal, it is. That is not to say that there were not about 5 days of pain afterwards, there were, but I was required to at least stand up every hour. After 5 days, I could walk over a kilometer. The main trauma is the inflammation, which makes touching my toes and putting on socks nearly impossible at first. also the extreme stretching of the psoas muscle that runs across the hip socket during surgery makes flexing the hip unbearable for a few weeks. But all the pain in the joint from the arthritis is gone. And I expect to be completely back to normal in a few weeks.

belated Mother's Day

I am on day 7 and walk around without pain with the assistance of a cane. I cannot drive yet because that involves hip flexion (to change pedals), but I am fine walking around. I am off pain meds. This has been a very quick recovery, and I am glad I had been doing a lot of exercise before I had the procedure, which makes the recovery go quicker. 

Since Rebecca is still in Kenya, I had to decide where to stay during my convalescence. Oren is here, but he is staying with Rebecca's brother's family, which does not really have more room. My parents already live in a retirement community in Baltimore, so I asked them if I could stay with them. The accommodations here are outstanding, of course. They were happy to welcome me, which was a real blessing because I would never have had such an opportunity to spend several weeks with them, almost exclusively. It is the height of irony that my 92-year-old father and 90-year-old mother are taking care of me this week! They brought my meals, helped me put on socks, fetched things for me, etc. But I think it has been a positive experience for all of us. 

dinner with Grandparents

Being here early has also allowed me to be a parent to Oren this summer. It is a real challenge to have him off at college and to see so little of him during the year. Since I am back right at the beginning of the summer, I have helped him in the process of making a transfer to Goshen College as well as find a summer job. We did some driving around together and noticing a sign on a 'Cava' restaurant near where he is living lead to him getting a summer job. I was really happy for him as it was a key part of his summer plans. 

David arrived 2 days after my surgery, so Rebecca's parents (who also live nearby) and Oren went out to Dulles to pick him up. I was impressed by David. At sixteen, he took his first International flight alone and even had to transfer through Frankfurt. He did it without any problem. He has been staying at his grandparents' house (Papa Dave and Grandma Jean) and has done multiple chores related to getting the house and garden ready for summer. This included picking strawberries, mowing, weeding, edging, and even some light construction. 

Once David arrived, he was happy to visit both grandparents' homes and even willingly sang some bluegrass songs with me, accompanied on the banjo. (Sorry, no video.) 

At 16 David needs to try to get his driver's licence by the end of the summer (if possible). The first hurdle is to get a learner's permit. This requires some work for me and him. He has to study for the written test, and I had to pull together a ton of documentation for the card, as this is a legal 'real ID'. Fortunately, I had his birth certificate, SSN card, proof of addresses, etc to successfully complete the process. Today was the day he went to take the test, and he passed (by the skin of his teeth). So he can now legally drive when accompanied by an adult. I took him for his first 2 hours of practice today. (It is a bit unsettling on some of the rural roads around his grandparents' house.)

David, Oren, and I have tried to do as much together as possible. At this time, I am pretty much completely disabled, and I need to rely on others to drive. My dad takes me to visit David, but Oren has a car as well and has been driving us around quite a bit. One of the first places David wanted to go was down to the Little Gunpowder to fish. I could watch from the edge of the road, but couldn't traverse to the water. He caught 2 perch as the first catch of the year.

The second thing he wanted to do was go to Dave and Buster's, which is a huge arcade center. He loves to go there for some reason. So on day 3 we were dropped off there and David, Oren, and I spent several hours there. Oren dropped us both off to our respective households and returned home that night. 

Bocce ball at grandparents '

I am glad to say that beginning on Saturday, we will all be in the same house (which will make driving logistics easier).

I have not said a lot about work because I am not on the ground. Rebecca wrote about the activities of our office. But I am working daily, answering emails and having online meetings. I will say, being out of the office a month before I would normally leave feels a bit like playing hooky, and believe me, if I had the choice of not needing surgery and staying there, I would have done so happily. Fortunately, both Rebecca and I can do the job alone when needed, and we talk daily. 

I have been able to visit our church once so far before my surgery. It is nice to connect with old friends and colleagues again. I think that covers the things happening on this side of the pond. 

choir concert with dad singing

construction project