Monthly Archives: October 2019

Compare and contrast

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So, I’ve completed a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) of therapy at Prosperious. It is hard not to contrast it with therapy I got at Casa di Cura Liotti. For one thing, I’m in a lot of pain now, after my sessions. I admit this was not something I was seeking out! But it tells me that there’s a difference between the two. I cannot put my finger on what, exactly it is. I raised the issue with my therapist and he assured me it was normal. Next week, I hope I will be able start working out in the swimming pool. The Prosperious doctor needs to assess my incision first.
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Beautiful autumn day. Our Saturday K-zero market was up and running. I bought some things for soup. I experimented with a soup his past week and really liked it. It had winter squash and a couple links of sausage. Also some fennel, pasta, and chick peas. Nicely hearty. So I bought more squash and some nice dark cabbage for another soup this week. The squashes here are huge, like pumpkins, so they hack them up into pieces and you just buy what you need.

My piece of squash…soon to be in my soup!

Last night we fell back…our time changed to standard time. I’m told it is the last time it will happen here in the EU. They have decided to scrap the whole thing. Should make for some confusion ahead!

First Prosperious therapy session and…

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So, Monday was my first scheduled PT session at our nearby rehab facility, Prosperious. Super highly thought of here in Italy, with both in-patient and out-patient facilities. I can walk there from our house but this is, in and of itself, a workout. First I descend 56 steps…piano, piano. Then I walk about 10-15 minutes. This is all good IMO. Walking is good. Steps, maybe not so much but once I can use both legs then good. Repeat…

Once I reached my destination I was directed to Lorenzo for my therapy. The facility is nice. Big and spacious with lots of folks, of varying ages, in various stages of therapy for various joints. Oh, we fragile humans!

Prosperious from outside

Mostly it is non-weight bearing exercise now with some massage. And afterward, electron therapy. Luther and I laughed at my auto-correct which changed electrode to electron. So they place electrons (-trodes) on my thigh to stimulate the muscles. Luther said it up-ended his quantum physics learning!

And afterwards I walked home. I didn’t pay, I didn’t get my patient card back. I’m sure they will inform the idiot American of her error eventually.😑
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It is not all about medical issues, thankfully! Last night we decided to walk over to FOXX, our new pizzeria just across the river. Short walk for us. We wanted to try their Apericena. This is an interesting mash-up of two Italian words by the way. Aperi is short for Aperitivo, or pre-dinner drink, and Cena is the word for dinner. So you get a drink and bar food. It’s like a happy hour thing. It starts at 6PM. Here are some pictures of the posh new space and the looooonnnggg buffet of food. Order a drink and it’s all you can eat…cost? 8 Euro. Not bad.

My plate

Outside space – it is still nicely warm so many people were outside.

Spiffy bar

Since it was on our way we stopped to check out the 3 pomegranate trees I found earlier this year. I picked a few to see if they are ripe. I know NOTHING about pomegranates. I had to look up how to know if they are ripe, whether they will ripen more once picked, and how to open them up. The one I opened is one of the bigger ones and the seeds are yummy but a little sour. Maybe a bit too early. Pictures…

One week home

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Well, I’ve been home a little over a week. It’s been good. I had most of the week free. I shopped at the market Saturday and Wednesday. I met up with friends for caffè. I had a Campari spritz with Luther in the piazza and walked to our new, very sleek and glitzy pizzeria very nearby named FOXX. I pronounce the pizza first class.

Monday I went to Prosperous to make an appointment with the doctor for PT. I saw him Friday and liked him. He admonished me to keep using my crutches. So I will. I’m set up for PT Monday-Wednesday-Friday ongoing – start Monday (tomorrow).

Saturday I went back to Perugia and my doctor removed my punti, staples. I thought I’d be happier but actually my knee hurts more. But I also went to the grocery store and our special butcher so maybe that’s why it’s more painful…

Pictures  near our butcher in Bosco. I’ve always loved these views. More soon!

I’m home!!!

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Well, I am home. Up in my casa in the sky. Happy happy.

This past week went as I imagined. The routine is fixed. And I just went with it. The worst was the afternoon and evening which stretched on forEVER. I did my PT everyday. I worked hard and made the most of it. I’m doing very well. I saw my doctor this morning and he said I had to come back in a week to have my punti removed. (Staples)

Time is weird. Although the days stretched on and on, when I looked back it didn’t really feel like two weeks. Of course it was an alternate reality so maybe that was it. And I thank my visitors for helping break up the monotony. My husband, who went above and beyond, Jen, mia amica in Perugia who came many evenings, my Italian teacher Marilena, and our friend Vera.

I arrived home about noon today, Friday. I managed the 56 steps to our apartment. It wasn’t hard per se but I need to be careful of my “good” knee, which is not so good really. It has to do all the heavy lifting for a while. So I’ll limit myself to one up and down a day, allowing myself to go places and do thing without a lot of stress.

Sabato

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Today is Saturday. There is only a half day of therapy today, and none tomorrow. I have NO idea how I’ll amuse myself for a whole day here.
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This morning after raising all sorts of ruckus yesterday, I had il Capo Dottore, his name is Berrettini. I finally put my glasses on so I could see his name tag. And also both of the Dottore Del Citernas father and son. Turns out there is no way I can transfer between facilities within the same Region. I wish I had just known that at first. Che casino as they say here, which means, what a mess! I can check myself out at anytime though. And if I want I can go to Prosperious as an out patient, walking over for daily sessions. I think I’ll have to pay for them if I don’t want to wait for the system to find a place. That’s OK. I told il Capo I would like to be released on Friday. Just a week, which I can handle. So, the saga ends. Italia – 1 Hamptons – 0
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This morning I was a bad girl. I went to ginastico and they put us in the room with 7 beds. And instructed us to point our toes up and down. Well I did that for a long time. Quit and waited. Finally someone came back and put a big rubber roll under our knees and we were instructed to do leg lifts. So I did about a bazillion of those. Finally I quit. I sat and waited maybe 15 minutes and then I got disgusted. It was such a waste of time. So I left. On the way down the hall I met an employee on the phone. He got excited I was going on my own. But I told him I was perfectly capable of going down an elevator on my own. They insist on escorting us for some reason. He asked me to wait and I did. Then our PT guy, that I had waited so long for, came out of the elevator. I said finito, and he asked if I wanted to go down on my own. I said si. And went back to my room. I wonder if there will be any repercussions from me doing this. I hate to wait and hate to waste my time. Bad l’Americana!!
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Today’s lunch was good enough. Bow tie pasta with ragu, chicken cutlet and peas. Pear for dessert. I put hot sauce on the chicken 😋

This next week will be more of the same so you won’t hear much from me til I’m sprung outa this joint. Except for any interesting observations or decent or interesting meals. Thanks for following along so far. Ciao!

Rehab – day five.

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Short post since not much has changed. No word about my transfer.

It is a brilliantly sunny day. Cool and crisp. Very autumnal. It’s my favorite time of year so I am hating that I’m missing it. We DO have a door to a balcony in our room. It allows lots of sunshine to come in. Cheery.

Today’s lunch was fish. Well, it IS after all, Friday in Italy where they hang onto Fish Friday religiously. 😋 It was pretty good.


I’ve joked while here that this is my Italian lesson for the day along with my ginastico or PT exercise. I’m speaking more than I’ve ever spoken before. I’m definitely getting better and no one laughs at my attempts. If I could just stay here another month or so I’d be fluent! Just kidding!!  But seriously, I think it will help me be less self conscious about speaking when I get back home. This is an unexpected extra. This morning a patient came up to me speaking German. So I responded in German. THAT surprised him 😅. Anyway, that’s it from Casa di Cura for today!

Rehab – Day four

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Il Capo Dottore came by as usual this morning. He speaks good English. He’s married to an American woman from San Diego. He confessed he was unhappy that she is a die hard trump supporter. I’ll say no more. I relayed that Luther went to Prosperious and they told him they would call the hospital here and arrange for my discharge. One guy said it probably wouldn’t happen until Saturday. I guess it doesn’t matter since I’m getting PT here. And I’ve told Luther to stay home until I’m discharged since I don’t need anything. No sense in making him drive all the way down here.
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PT today was a hoot. The PT therapist had about 11 of us there. The lady next to me began to give him (he looks to be late 30s) her recipe for a chicken dish. I was thinking, only in Italy. He was noting it down while we were warming up. So he asked l’Americana for a recipe. I had just been talking about cooking Mexican, Thai, Indian so I decided to give him my Chicken Fajitas recipe. It is simple enough and doesn’t require a lot of strange ingredients. He was happy.
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My roommate, Francesca was slated to leave after PT today. But just before she was coming they realized they had never removed the staples in her incision. So she stayed and I went up to PT. I was afraid she’d be gone and I wouldn’t be able to say goodbye…and I was right. She was gone when I came back. So sorry. She and her family were lovely. Her son would cut her meat, open the bags with the utensils and the Grana Padano bag for her soup or pasta, and peel her fruit. Sweet, taking care of la mamma. I’ll miss Francesca, we were truly the odd couple!


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Lunch was good today. Risotto with asparagus, and turkey polpette or turkey meatballs with tomato sauce and peas. Kiwi for dolce.

Once I do the second PT, which is after lunch sometime, then it is mighty boring. I’m sure it’s why they do the passaggiata everyday, get themselves out of their rooms! The evening stretches on endlessly. Sigh.

Another day

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Ginastica today was much better. Good workout. Felt good to do it. There’s one lady there who had both knees done! I’d couldn’t do that. Of course I didn’t understand all the directions but once everyone had started I imitated them. One funny part is at one point I gave the thumbs up to Francesca (my roomie) for her good work. The instructor said the odd couple me and Francesca, she is from Bari Puglia and doesn’t understand Italian any better than l’Americana! I guess we are the odd couple. 😀

If you didn’t know, all regions have their own, very different dialect. They don’t necessarily resemble actual Italian at all. After the formation of Italy they mandated one language as “Italian” and they picked the dialect of Florence as the official lingua. Places like Puglia, Calabria, Sicily, Campagna (actually every region) all speak totally different languages. My roommate speaks Bariese dialect. I’m sure all her family does, as well as her friends and the people where she lives. She’s never needed Italian. I’ve listened to her on the phone with her friends and wow! Really strange language.
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Yesterday I washed my hair! It made me very happy. I had to figure out the bathroom. It is commodious and very green. Sink at one end, shower in the middle, which drains into the drain on the floor, and toilet with bidet on the wall opposite. I like this bidet thingy. It eliminates the need for the separate appliance. It allows you to clean yourself better and easier than the bidet. Quite well thought out.

Since I couldn’t get my bandages wet I couldn’t actually shower so I did it piecemeal. Start with the bidet. Go to sink and wash face and bits. Then wash hair with shower attachment. Easy peasy.
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Other news
The administrator brought a form, helped me fill it out and Luther has to take it to Prosperious. Then we will see what they say.
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Life goes on outside the hospital. Luther and I had our appointments to pick up our long awaited Permessi di Soggiorno. He went and got his and told them I was unable to come. This time it took 7 months 🙁

Ginastica Italian style.

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    First off, latest news. I got a new piece of information yesterday. It’s always something it seems. So I was counting on being moved from here to Prosperious for the rehab, as you know. I had a gaggle of people in the room to include the “big” doctor. I guess he’s the head guy – il capo. He has everybody’s charts and makes decision about care. I asked when I’d be moved to Prosperious and he explained that the hospital I am in is a rehabilitation hospital and they don’t send people other places. So if I want to go somewhere else it’s on me to figure it out. Again, blindsided by the System. Luther had asked the nurse on Friday and she had confirmed I could go there but nope. But misunderstanding again. He asked can she go to Prosperious after she’s finished here? Well yes, of course I could do more after. But after means after two weeks of rehab HERE. There has been much gnashing of teeth. Should we pursue the change to Prosperious, considering we didn’t know exactly how? Or should I just tough it out here. I knew my doctor was here and that’s a consideration. But Prosperious is one of the best in the country. We slept on it.

    Any orthopedic docs in the house? This was interesting to me. A list of my new parts that they gave me.

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    Another scrumptious lunch. 😏 I could eat the pasta, but not the secondi. It was unknown fish and crustaceans and extremely fishy tasting. Not to my liking.

    Physical therapy Italian style
    So, today was my first ginastica, or Physical Therapy session. I’m finding it hard to slow down to the pace they want here. I started walking with a walker yesterday. And he told me to slow down. I naturally move fast. Italians naturally move slow. And he caught me carrying the walker once and I was reprimanded. I was not to ever walk without using it. In trouble again 🙄. This morning a gaggle of us headed upstairs to the top floor (which is orange) for a session. 5 women and one man. We laid on beds and Rikki and Francestino told us what to do. I did a total of four exercises. Blink. I think the session lasted maybe 30 minutes. The man to my left fell asleep. The lady at the far end was snoring. So what’s this going to help? Of course it didn’t hurt to do some exercises. I’m sure it did some good. If/when I transfer to Prosperious we will see what difference there is. One thing is all the ladies are in their 70s or 80s, one looked to be in her 90s, so how can they stress them too much. And the man? He did as little as possible.

    Afternoon we were all herded up to the top floor again. They let me use my crutches. This session they placed two electrodes on my injured leg and for an hour I sat bored to tears listening to the other 4 Italian women talk. These ones aren’t very old. Some could be early 50s. I need to look up the procedure to see what it does.
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    Final news flash
    Il Capo of the hospital came to our room on his rounds and in our conversation he mentioned that my surgeon had initiated a transfer to Umbertide to Prosperious! So the decision was made for us and I’m sure it’s the right one. That my doctor did this means he is fine with me going there. And this hospital is fine with me going there since it is convenient for family and friends to visit. Totally different viewpoint. Since it’s National Health, it’s not for profit so they are fine with me going elsewhere. Interesting.