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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