Sorry to hear the hips are still hurting!! Not sure you could get out of the bathtub, just stand in shower & let warm water flow over your lower back as long as you can. Heating pads are great also but don't use for hours. Just take it easy as you can until you find out from dr what is going on. Glad you can craft some, you must be going crazy with mind saying craft, body saying,whoa, don't move!!!Praying that brighter days will soon be there for you! Jan

Susie, you asked time frame for recovery. Can be long-3 mos or short 6 weeks or less. I think shape you are in before surgery, drs that do it, age etc. all make a difference. My GF hubby had it last yr & he refused all pain medications since hospital he was at is known for medication mistakes. How he did it I don't know. But he recovered amazingly fast. Lady friend of mine had it for 2nd time after getting off a plane & complaining she was sick, everyone ignored her except a vehicle that pulled up to curb to take people to their stored cars, he said, hey lady, you look sick, want me to call for help- he saved her as they went to side street & fire dept arrived & after 2 days of kidney failure she was in good enough shape for the bypass. Took about 2 mos in bed & couple more to get on feet. Another man at church in 70's had it & it was about 6 weeks. Need to check out hospital well & tour area the patients are in if at all possible as 1 hospital out here seems to have very sick patients after the surgery, I visited several times over 6 weeks & patients were basically unconscious. Very few seemed to be making any progress. Lady I was visiting died. I man was back to work in 2 weeks,didn't have to do any lifting tho!!Don't know what hospital he was at. So it varies!! Jan

Thanks Susie :D This cheers me up,too! Hey Kirk, that's what the tree looked like when I was growing up. We planted hundreds and hundreds with our mother it seemed like,even staying out in the woods til well past dark with all sorts of wild animals jumping around at us out there,(back then it was moonshiners you ran into on your property, now it's meth labs) and it was scary when you're only about 6 or 7 years old! I never inherited my mother's ability or want, to wander alone in the woods til wee hours of the morning. After I was married and lived here, we still cut down our own trees, until trespassers stole all of them(to sell, I guess)one year. Some grew back up from the trunks, but we didn't feel like fooling with them any more after that. The smell is great, there's no comparison to a live tree, but we broke down and got an ARTIFICIAL pre-lit one :D lol Too many allergies, they dried out quickly,too. Boy could I tell you some FUNNNNY stories us and the kids endured with live trees ( one year involving a crazy Himalayan cat we had :D ) I can't wait til next Christmas!oh and I see Carol's tree skirt! It's just perfect. Cherry/Kudzu

well, I could've sworn I posted to this thread..but I don't see my comments,lol!....Beautiful plates, I would've gotten them myself,not sure if to decorate or mosaic with...just got my china cabinet back from the finisher,whoohoo!!...Sorry to hear of your troubles SusieSunshine, I hope all is well now... I haven't been "yard-saling" or shopping at my "gettin' place"s..but one sister has been bringing me treasures for my art works, like sky blue feathers from her bird, beads,charms, old jewelry, etc., and another sister bought me a wine-making kit from a yard sale, she just brought a huge box full of bags of fresh corks,too, I suppose I'd better actually make some wine instead of a HUGE bottle tree :P'''....another sister got me a Japan blue willow cup and saucer for my tea cup bird feeder chandeliers...Thanks to whoever mentioned goodwill online, because I LOVE it; I've only spent $17.99 in the last couple months and bought 2 silver plated teapots, sugar and creamer, so no gas money spent, no heat to deal with and it was delivered right to the front door..they're for mosaic'ing...I've been making altered art collages and Artist Trading Cards..so much fun..I killed my digital camera,the lens won't close all the way,or come out all the way(what's up with that??) and gave some away without taking pics, so don't know if I can take any pics, this cell phone doesn't take the best pics,either.lol....and babysitting youngest grandson from morning til night keeps me too busy for much.....