The Infamous Christmas Letter from Klep and Barbara

Merry Christmas 2017 from the Klepper House!

We are so thankful to celebrate this season and to spend time reflecting on what has passed since we last wished each of you Merry Christmas.  The highlights of our year are time spent with our family, seeing our children as adults, and watching our granddaughters transition from young children to more mature girls.  Other wonderful experiences have been intermixed with these.

As Christmas 2017 rapidly approaches, we find ourselves still pretty much involved with my (Barbara’s) recovery from bilateral knee replacement. I was the one who had the surgery, but Klep’s life has been very involved with the whole experience as he has acted as caretaker, encourager, and all around major supporter.   Although we have forgone many of the elements of a normal Christmas season for us, we celebrate the spirit of Christmas and the reason for it in our hearts.

This year we managed to put a few miles on the old knees I had replaced.  Many moments stand out as highlights this year as we have tried to relish this wonderful thing known as life.  Klep has published several genealogical articles in Distant Crossroads and I completed the rough draft of a novel which will probably never be read by anyone other than me! Small events and large have been sprinkled through the year beginning with a lovely cool day late in January which we spent  at St. Marks Wildlife Preserve on a birding excursion.

 We took an overnight trip close to home

in early February to visit the Okeefeenokee Swamp and Sapelo Island in Georgia, both places which are rich in wildlife and old Southern beauty.

March found us at home most of the time preparing for New Hope’s annual Share Day when we share things with the community and each other.  We were also preparing for our spring trek to the house in Winegar Hollow where we enjoyed time spent with relatives and friends.  Many of the spring flowers did not wait for us, but we still enjoyed those that did.  We especially enjoyed sharing the history of Klep’s family with

a couple of cousins from the next generation who had not heard a lot of the old stories nor seen a lot of the old landmarks.

May came in with another Jasper High School Class of 1960 reunion and proceeded with all the early summer activities.   June we worked crafts at VBS. 

July saw us celebrate my 75^th, the diamond birthday, with a trip of a lifetime from Budapest to Bucharest on a Viking River Cruise.  For those who follow our blog, you have probably read more about that than you want to!  We feel truly blessed to have had the experience.

August we traveled to the Eclipse Zone to enjoy the solar eclipse with some of our Klepper cousins.

September was dominated with waiting for Irma, going through Irma, cleaning up after Irma and watching the power crews  as they got the electricity restored.  By the time she reached us, much of her strength was gone, but we did have from Monday morning to Thursday afternoon with no electricity.  We were blessed with a cool spell which moved in so that the heat was not uncomfortable.

October we enjoyed the Hollow House again and took a side trip up to Gettysburg and Lancaster County Pennsylvania on a genealogy

trip for Klep.  We had not been to this region since the seventies and we could hardly believe how some of it has changed.  When we got off the main highways, though, we found the same serene farmland.

November and surgery time rolled around way too quickly.  We have been in rehab/recovery mode with little instances of normalcy scattered in.  We look forward to the New Year and renewed mobility without pain. 

We wish you all the merriest of Christmases and a most fulfilling 2018!

Recovery Headed Toward Six Weeks

The Five Week Report……And Almost Six!

I am not out walking around the yard nor am I back to doing the much needed housework.  The Christmas tree is not up and the baking has not been done.  Things are starting to look up as I pass the five week milestone since bilateral knee replacement.  This did not get posted due to our internet which decided to slow down last week.  I think it must have had surgery also!

Wednesday after a good PT session, we went to Dr. Bearden’s office for my check up.  He gave the knees a good working out and pronounced everything good, answering many of the questions that I had about the way the legs and feet were feeling as normal under the circumstances.  After being thoroughly x-rayed, I was pronounced “cane ready” which made me very happy.

We procured the said quad pronged cane, and I walked back to the car using it.  I had thought that there might be times I would be more secure feeling using the walker, but so far it has stayed at the same place we put it Wednesday evening.  I even find occasionally that I am stepping out and forgetting the cane, but I am far from striding quickly and confidently across a room!

I feel that I look very laborious and awkward with the cane, but Klep told me that I actually was moving better than I had most of the time before the surgery.  Anyway, it gives me hope that I will soon be through this whole recuperative period.

We are continuing to get out a little more and a little more.  Even when I am not comfortable, it is good to stretch myself and the doctor encouraged me to push through this with as much determination as possible.  We enjoyed joining our NARFE friends for a Christmas lunch yesterday and tonight we will meet Rob and Traci for supper out.  Sunday it was good to enjoy seeing the young people’s drama at church, but there are still limitations that friends often do not understand.  I am not sure enough on my feet to be crowded in by fast moving people nor do I need to contend with tables with hidden supports or other non-sensitive legs surrounding mine.  It would not be a good thing for me to land on my knees for any reason right now.

I am so thankful for all Klep has done l to get me get to this stage.  It brought pleasure to me that I could pour a cup of coffee for him this morning.  One night this week, I even prepared a little simple supper and I did most of Sunday lunch. 

I am also thankful for the whole PT crew that pushes me through during each session even though I will never like some of the exercises that I have to do to get through the interminable list!

I am, most of all thankful to God who built my body and who has taken me through the gloomy, discouraging recovery times when the discomfort was a little intense!

I am thankful for the emails I get from a friend in Virginia who has been through knee replacement this last year who has helped me to understand what I am going through when I hit some rough patches like to being able to sleep.  The cards and notes from other friends have helped also.

So, we press on.  I am learning to make peace with the state of the house.  It really isn’t all that bad, but as you all know, we each have different priorities.  For example, my pantry has never been so well organized as it is now as is the linen closet and my cabinets.  I must admit though, Klep is becoming quite the cook!  His pecan pie, baked for the luncheon Thursday was absolutely superb!

We enjoyed our Anne’s visit this weekend and she pitched in around the house which both Klep and I appreciated!

I wonder what improvement the rest week 6 will bring as we hurtle toward Christmas Week.

Week 4: PT, Forays Out, Slow Progress

Yesterday was one of those days.  You know what I mean!  It was one of those days when no major problems occur, but little things which nibble at the edge of joy happened.  We were headed to Valdosta for PT session right on schedule.  I surrendered the walker to Klep at the top of the back steps, came down the steps carefully, retrieved the walker and proceeded to the car.  Klep locked the back door and followed to the car where I settled into the seat carefully and waited while he folded up the walker and went to the driver's seat.  He could not find his keys.  We knew he had had them.  He locked the door.

My keys, of course, are somewhere in the tightly locked up house.  Eventually, fifteen minutes or so later, after searching, he found them and we were on our way.  We made it just a few minutes late.

The PT session was good, but tiring as usual.  I now start off with ten minutes on the stationary bike, followed by a whole lot of other exercises before knee angle measuring time.  The knees did well with a 115 and 116 degree bend on them.  The left is still slightly outperforming the right.  I had my ice down/stimulator time and we were on our way through the light rain to lunch.

We try to find a restaurant that is easy to get into and out.  In this, they are not all created equal.  We ended up at Wooden Nichol yesterday.  Eating out is a way of adding a little normal to a pretty confined life at this point.  After checking my phone while we waited for our order, I asked Klep to remind me not to forget it.  I should have put it back in my bag then.  I next thought of it an hour later after I was home.  It is residing safely in the restaurant safe until we return to Valdosta tomorrow for the next PT session.

I cautioned Klep as he left to go out to the church to help the secretary with the bulletin for next Sunday.  I think we were both looking for the third thing to go wrong.  I find this morning that my niece Pam stepped in a hole and sprang her ankle.  I guess that was it!

Anyway, I suppose I am progressing.  I was hoping that I might start getting off the walker this week, but it isn't going to happen.  It would be nice if I had a time table that would tell me when everything will happen.

So, the fourth week begins with a cold, grey day.  Normally this day would be used to really get in gear for our Christmas open house.  That will not happen this year, but I trust that this time next year, we can look back on this as time well spent toward better movement for the rest of my life.

I continue to appreciate my caregiver.  I know he is probably as weary of all this as I, but he keeps a good spirit and he can cook a really good egg.

I pray that the Lord give me strength to keep as good a spirit as he has!