Update on Rich

Well, it's been a week today since Rich had the foot surgery. For the first few days, he had quite a bit of pain, especially when trying to sleep at night. On Wednesday following the surgery he had an appointment with Dr. Feldman, where they took an xray of the foot and redressed the toes. Once the bandage was off, Rich said the pain was gone. After the surgery the toes/foot had swelled, and that had caused the bandages/dressing to be too tight and that in turn was affecting his circulation.

I went in while they changed the bandages, because I wanted to hear what restrictions the doctor was giving Rich. When the doctor says a few days, Rich hears ONE. Dr. Feldman said he needed to listen to ME!!!! Imagine that!! He told Rich that everything had to go perfect between now and the first of June if Rich wanted to be back on the courts. Unfortunately - he told Rich that he was a "perfect speciman" for a quick recovery. Needless to say Rich has continued to remind of this 'perfection' several times since then. But he was instructed to keep the foot elevated periodically over the next few day, and to keep his walking to a minimum.

Well- he has done quite well. No more pain. But it's getting more and more difficult to keep him down. He still must keep the surgical shoe on any time he's on his feet. No way does he want the toes to bend yet!! And he must not get it wet! Makes bathing a real chore!!!

Yesterday , was a comfortable overcast day, so near evening I went out for a walk. About half way back , and just ahead of me on the road was Rich- RIDING HIS BICYCLE!!! You just can't leave the man alone for a minute!!!! However, I will say that he was being very careful and made it back without incident.

Yes - he's smiling!!! He got to go for a ride today to the barber shop to get a hair cut. But I'm sure that if the park was filled with pickleball players you would see a much different face! I think Rich and I are the ONLY pickleball players in the park right now. This afternoon he's going to go down and shoot some pool with Lee so that will keep him happy for a little while.

There's not a whole lot to do--------------so he draws Smily Faces!!!!

Not too much else going on. The park looks so deserted! Kevin and Linda took off yeterday. They'll go to Orlando for three weeks and then off to Maine. Lee and Gerry will be heading out in a few days. The only people left in the park that we know are a few of the workers, and I don't think there's even a half dozen of them left. And it will be this way till next Fall!

Rich goes back to the doctore on May 5th, and then we'll start getting ready to head over to Cocoa Beach. Probably not a lot of beach walking - but he should be able to get in the pool and do a little swimming. We're hoping for the doc's OK.