Our Green House

About two and a half months ago we used the lumber from our Sukkah to build a small green house (4 x 8). The lattice helps to protect the plastic from the wind.

Eight weeks ago I set up a hydroponic system along with two growing beds. The idea was to grow some cucumber and spinach in the hydroponic system and lettuce in the growing beds. By planting some seeds every week in the beds I hoped to have a continuous crop of lettuce.

Since I eat two huge salads a day I consume about eight bunches of red and green leaf and romaine lettuce a week. Also lots of tomatoes, cucumbers, red bell peppers and Italian squash .
Growing some of everything would help the grocery budget and at the same time have fresher and better quality veggies.

What I have ended up with are no cucumbers, they did not even sprout; six spinach plants in four cups, I planted six seed to a cup; and two lettuce plants that I moved to the hydroponic system last week. The lettuce has tripled is size in just a week in the growing system. I harvested a small baggie of spinach today. I am hoping to start harvesting lettuce in two weeks.

The growing beds are not growing as fast, that may be due to the cold weather. The first lettuce I planted was very close to the door and six feet from the heater. It is only about 1/2 inch after eight weeks. the next planting which is closer to the heat is about two inches and I am thinning it out and planting in another area so it can grow larger.

The left end of the bed is the first planting and the right end is the second, a week later. There are suppose to be three rows, but the back row by the plastic just has not sprouted well or grown.

The bed below was planted three weeks ago. It is amazing how the temperature effects how fast they grow.

As the days get warmer the results should be better. I am glad that I had the heat cube in there this week with all the extra cold for Arizona weather. One morning the thermometer said 40 at about three feet off the floor. The water bucket has a thin layer of ice in it.

Thursday update

Healing is slow and full of pain. Helen is starting to be more alert at times. Unfortunately those are the times when we need to be rolling her around to make changes. It is quite painful for us to roll her around.

We are needing to watch her skin really close. there are some spots that are very red, not good signs. It is good that the bathing aid is here three times a week and keeps a very close eye on all areas. Breezy is excellent and very thorough.

We will have a patient lift delivered Friday and a reclining wheelchair. Next week we will start trying to get her into the TV room with David for a while each day. She needs a change of scenery. That will be a new experience for Carla, learning to use the patient lift. I will let her practice on me first.

I would say she is doing quite good for being only about two weeks since the break and only eleven days since surgery.

Helen is Home

She is resting comfortably in her own bed tonight with a cat for company. The healing process will take quite a while, but the home environment with family around will be much more comforting.

Home health should be back in on Monday, Wednesday and Friday to bath and the nurse should be back some time during the week to do the normal weekly check ups. We will need physical therapy to set up a schedule and exercise plan.

It is good to have the convenience of being able to walk into her room to check on her anytime instead to a trip to the third floor of KRMC. They serve there purpose, but home is always better.

Alert and ready to roll

Helen was very much with what was going on tonight. She is confused at times, but about the same as before last Friday. Her vitals have stabilized and she is eating with assistance. She may discharge as early as Saturday or Sunday.

We will need a patient lift to move her from point A to point B. She is not to be more than 20% weight bearing on the right leg. The home environment with her cats and family close at hand should help the progress.

We will need a transport to bring Helen to the house as it is just to hard to load her into the car and get her back out. The nurses are quite surprised that we want to bring her home instead of transferring her to a skilled nursing facility. There will be more challenges for a while, but home is always better.

Helen Update

Tuesday evening we found Helen had been moved from ICU back to a regular room. Her blood level is maintaining and her other vitals are stable. At this time it appears that she is progressing as expected for her age.

Carla is planning on going to visit during the day. This hopefully will allow more time to talk with the nurse. In the evening we always catch the changing of staff. The day nurse is leaving and the night nurse is trying to catch up wit the activity herself.

We have no idea at this time when she will be discharged.

correction of update from AM

Boy did i get all the information wrong in the morning post. The Cat scan is still on hold. The PIC line is still on hold. The respiratory has stabilized and there was no need for a ventilator. It seems that ever procedure that permission was requested for has not been needed or is still on hold.

After a total of four units of blood Helen's blood levels are where they want to see them. Her blood pressure, pulse, and O2 level (on 4 ltr of O2) were all good tonight. She is very weak and her voice is extremely soft. It will be a long road.

On the positive side Dr. Allen is very pleased with the way the incision site is healing.

Sorry about all the bogus information this morning.