Every day there is another surprise here in Oysterville for Farmer Nyel.  First came a get well card from our friend Dick who lives in Bainbridge.  Then Maggie-of-Portland-and-Ocean Park left a dozen red carnations on our doorstep.  Yesterday Petra and Michael came from Astoria bearing a sack full of DVDs and a picnic lunch for four.  To say nothing of daily phone calls from son Charlie in L.A. and e-mail and FaceBook queries from far-away friends and relatives.  And even a promise of brownies from Sandy Stonebreaker!

        Nyel is basking in the pleasure of it all and I am glowing in his wake.  Plus, there have even been a few things earmarked for me – jars of blackberry jam and spiced apple butter and, from Gordon, a bejeweled and inscribed blue egg.  I think the latter was meant to show our girls what a blue egg really looks like and, though I read the words to them, – “Blue Hawaii,” “Blue Moon,” “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Blue Monday” etc. – the eggs they are producing have yet to meet Gordon’s challenge.  Chicken-egg-blue, at least in our coop, has a distinctly khaki tinge.

Meanwhile, we have learned a bit more about what’s going on behind all those dressings and the knee immobilizer on Nyel’s left leg.  As we understand it, his quadriceps tendon – it’s the tendon connecting the quadriceps muscle, which lies on the front of the thigh, to the patella (kneecap) – had completely ruptured and atrophied.  As in no ‘there’ there.

In some way, the surgeon split the quadriceps muscle and pulled it down to attach to the patellar tendon which connects the patella to the tibia (shin bone.)  This involved drilling holes in the patella (which is his own bone, though as of his knee replacement two years ago, the rest of his knee is mostly titanium or some such) and suturing things together with surgical wire.

Thankfully, after a miserable first four days, his pain is being better managed and he is getting the hang of hopping along on one foot with his walker.   Next week he’ll see his surgeon again and perhaps get an idea of how long the recovery will take.  No doubt it will be lengthy, but Nyel is a good patient and is already measuring the days in terms of DVDs and brownies and friendly visits.   We truly have wonderful friends!