MY PITY PARTY...

What started out

 to be a

 wonderful weekend...

The Captain 

and 

his apprentice...

...were gathering together

 supplies 

for a much awaited 

back yard 

project...

...but before that,

 the lawn needed mowing 

and as much as Kai 

NEEDS to be

 at the Captain's heels,

 he just can't abide 

the sound of the weed whacker

 so he follows the progress 

from door to window,

 as long as that part

 of the job is

 being done.

Unfortunately,

 during that part of the job, 

the weed whacker broke 

and Papa used a few potty words,

 so that moved the apprentice

 from the door and the window,

 but only as far

 as the

 porch.

Then,

 it was my time

 for my Mother's Day present.

 A trip to Hobby Lobby 

and a few items to use

 in that much awaited 

back yard 

project.

It was a great day.

 It rained really hard 

on the way to Hobby Lobby 

and I love riding in the car 

when it is raining,

 as long as I'm not driving!

 We stopped at our favorite 

In and Out Burger joint

 and that made Kai

 very happy. 

When we returned home, 

we caught up on

 some back stories

 of the Alaskan Bush People 

and went to bed early.

  On the way to the bedroom,

 I felt like my foot

was swelling. 

It hurt to bend it.

 Now here, 

I guess, 

is where I bring you 

up-to-date on my health issues. 

 They are not bad, 

and at my age,

 I feel very lucky 

that I am as healthy as I am

 but,

 along with these 

wonderful golden years,

 sometimes there is

 a price to pay.

Some of you

 have heard this story before,

 or parts of it,

 so just stick your fingers

 in your ears

 and sing la, la, la,

 if you don't want to hear it again.

  About 6 years ago,

 I had a blood clot

 in my lower right leg

 and I was rushed to

 Mercy Hospital in Sacramento.

  It took a few hours 

to get the situation taken care of 

and in that time, 

the surgeon thought 

he might have to remove part of my leg. 

 What he did do, 

however,

 was cut one slit 

on the top of my foot 

and one on the side 

of the ankle, 

and using an instrument 

he pulled the clot out. 

 That took care of that problem but,

 in the meantime, 

the circulation was shut off 

long enough 

that it killed three of my toes.  

I had to have them amputated 

and I was put on Warfarin 

to stop the problem ever happening again. 

 It was supposed to be

 an out-patient procedure 

and usually 

when I have to have anesthesia 

I never have a bad reaction

 and wake up free of pain,

 but this time 

that was not the case. 

 I woke up screaming

 because it was really painful 

and they admitted me

 to the hospital. 

 I stayed in 

for about 4 days. 

 During that time 

 whenever I had to get out of bed 

and put my foot down, 

I didn't think 

I could stand it. 

 I couldn't do

 any physical therapy at that time 

as it was too painful 

to put weight on. 

 I promised I would put weight on it 

when I got home 

but all I did 

was hop on my good foot

 to get any place.

 If you have ever had

 any type of surgery

 where you can't use certain muscles 

right away,

 you will know 

what I'm talking about here. 

 I didn't know 

you could lose 

mobility

 so quickly.

I am only showing you

 pictures of flowers

 as I didn't think 

you would enjoy

 seeing the outcome 

of a toeless foot! 

Long story short, 

I had to learn to walk again 

by using a walker for quite sometime 

and then going to physical therapy, 

then walking with a cane 

for a while longer. 

 Even putting

 a regular shoe back on 

took about

 three months.

My foot is always 

slightly swollen 

compared to my other one, 

but I started having pains

 where the toes were 

a few nights ago 

which felt like 

little bursts of lightening 

going through.  

This went on at night time

 for a few nights 

then stopped and

 I was able to sleep. 

 Then, Saturday night was when 

the swelling got more pronounced

 and after soaking it in hot water

 and keeping my foot up for three days 

it feels somewhat better now. 

I really don't want 

to go to the doctor 

but will give it 

a few more days to see.

 I have seen the commercial on TV 

for diabetic nerve pain

 and the pictures look like

 what it kind of feels like, 

although, thank heavens,

 I am not diabetic.

 So we shall see. 

 I hope I don't have to go on

 any medicine

 as it is hard to regulate the Warfrin 

when you introduce new medications, 

and I do 

really well

 on it.

I really don't know why 

I wrote about all this 

except so many sent me

 Mother's Day wishes 

that I wasn't able to answer right away, 

I just felt I needed

 to explain...

...and all of the flowers

 were from a bouquet 

that Kai sent to me 

for Mother's Day 

and I wanted to share them 

with you...

...and if you

 are really into this sort of thing,

 I have a great story 

about a punctured bladder 

that I can tell you! 

But that is 

another story for

 another day.

I hope everyone had

 a wonderful Mother's Day 

and we will be going down 

to the kids in a couple of weeks 

and will celebrate with them then.

  I am looking forward to it.

...Judy...

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