Sunday, July 13, 2025

Hello! A lovely email from a dear family friend (Hi, Kathy!) reminded me that I wanted to check in when I returned home, sorry for the delay. 😉Except for being a long trip, my flights home were blissfully uneventful, with layovers in Amsterdam and London that were just long enough to allow me ample time to hobble through the airports and get some "normal" food. 

I was pretty wiped out, getting home in the late afternoon of July 3rd, and definitely needed a few days to get my head on straight. Monday and Tuesday I ran some errands, had a pre-op appointment with my orthopedic surgeon, and had my bloodwork done. I worked a few shifts at the end of the week, as an applications consultant for a medical equipment company, which worked out well for a couple of reasons. I was hired by this company at the end of May but had yet to work there because of travel and my hospital schedule. The job is very flexible, but I was hoping to get the chance to try it out, to see if it would be possible to work there while recovering from my surgery. They are incredibly supportive and relaxed, so I'll try a shift a couple of weeks after surgery to see how it goes. The rest of my time back home has been spent unpacking, doing laundry, preparing for my surgery (which is happening tomorrow morning, by the way!) and trying to teach myself how to relax and take it easy for a change. 😁 My knee replacement is outpatient surgery, so I will not have to stay overnight in the hospital or go to a rehab facility, thank goodness. I have a couple of friends who are going to tag team staying with me for the first week, then I'll be on my own and starting physical therapy, which will go on for 6 weeks.

In the meantime, I am looking into some ultrasound resources for the midwives and thinking about the next trip. I have reached out to the events coordinator for my community, asking if I can give another presentation about my work, hoping for the end of August or early September. Once I have gotten through the worst of the initial recovery, I will start thinking about supplies needed for my next trip. Knitters and Crocheters, I KNOW I will need to bring more baby hats! 

Well, that's it for now! I will leave you with a few photos from a cheeky little visitor I had while I was relaxing on the rooftop lounge of my guesthouse in Entebbe. As always, thanks to all of you for following along, and especially thanks for all of the well wishes for my surgery tomorrow.

Much love,

MB/Jo