No, not a nip in the air, but we feel a little nipped at. Fortunately we have beautiful grand children to brighten our darker days.
The economy has not gotten better & no explanation needed for most of us.
The day before Thanksgiving, I had bunion surgery. A couple of explanations needed. 1st - when I agreed to the date I never thought of the holiday & so I agreed to ruin Thanksgiving for Mark & myself. 2nd- It was a more severe surgery than expected so the inconvenience for Mark has been very stressful. Now to explain that Thanksgiving was really kind of nice. Quiet as I had to lay with my foot elevated with 20 min. icings every hour. In the afternoon, Jean, Emily & Sister Ard brought over Thanksgiving dinner for us & a huge plate of goodies. All that know them ,know for a couple of days that we had yummy eating. I was blessed that the severe pain that I was told to expect was nothing more than an irritation. I never took a single pain pill & b/c of surgery I had to give up Goody Powders & caffeine drinks too. (more later on this) Then the Peed family jumped in to help. Dare brought a yummy meatloaf dinner over, Lynn brought 2 chicken & rice dinners (got to get that recipe from the other Nana), Shirley & Bill (G-Ma & G-Dad to our grand kids) brought enough for 2 meals too. Plus they loaned me 2 walkers, a raised potty, & a wheelchair for outings (Mark is getting a workout while I Christmas look). Life would have been really stressful w/o their help. Mark has been a gracious & kind caregiver for me but it is a lot & I pray on the 29th to get in a tennis shoe & permission to walk without my crutch & surgery boot.
My foot is still swollen but it is black & blue still, so we both hope the swelling disappears as the bruising goes away. He removed a 2-3" slice of bone from the side & saw my big toe bone in half. Then he chiseled the bone to fit together & screwed it in place. Recovery time is 3 months to a year. I expect 3 months. It is weird to feel the screws in my toe but he warned me that I could feel them & superior to there could be permanent pain. Today was CELEBRATION DAY - I got to take my 1st shower (not a bath but better than a sponge bath). I did have to tape a gallon size Ziploc bag over my foot, but I would have put it over my head for a shower. No photos of the crutch, shower & grip on shower bar.
It has been good for us in many ways. Mark has learned that their are chores that have to be done. We both found friends who helped in time of need, some we did not expect & some were missing that we took for granted would help. I have learned I was not made to lay around & eat cookies - the weight gain alone but the boredom is killing me. But mostly we have both learned gratitude for our health, each others, our friends & family..........but I have learned the struggle that handicap people go through on a daily basis. Waking in the middle of the night ... it is where is my surgery boot (1/2 the time on my foot), my crutch... the danger of a fall. Stairs - nightmare! Stores that we all take for granted ... the clothes on on racks to tall to reach from a wheelchair, half the isles are blocked by items customers dropped on floor, some isles too close together, the bank machines are too tall to be able to put your secret code in, & people to lazy to take the escalator or stairs fill the few elevators. Stores should be required to make themselves handicap friendly. In a few weeks, I will be walking again but many will struggle with this for their whole lives.
As if the stress was not enough, on the same day in Oct that I had a breast biopsy Mark's sister Minnie had a needle biopsy on the place in her abdomen. They said no problem expected but they did not get a big enough sample so they were going to do a regular biopsy. Within less than 6 weeks, Minnie went from no problem, cancer, cancer can't treat, 1 yr life expectancy, to 2 weeks , to she passed away 2 weeks later. It was a heart breaking time for both of us, but for Mark this is his 2nd sister in less than 2 years. Minnie was a loving sister. She went by car all the way to Provo, Utah to be at our wedding with us. She was a great sister, a great sister in law & a wonderful loving aunt. She will be missed.
Today, reminded me that sometimes you have to laugh as huge problems you can accept & something small makes you mad. Poor Mark, who's December has been difficult at best, came down with an awful cold. He says he does not have time for a cold but I say it seems unfair that he would have a cold too! Oh well, I am over my mini fit & recognize our many blessings.
A few of our blessings
- Halloween with the Peeds .... great costumes, lots of rain, & finding Hudson like me will not put something over his face not even to be Spider-man.
- watching the twins 1st Thanksgiving program was so cute!
- Hudson's 4th birthday .... oh my he is too cute! We jumped at the mall & then special Spider-man cupcakes (from Dare loving hands). Fun was had by all.
- Evan's 2nd birthday .... Happy Feet 2 (great movie) & then quesadillas & cupcakes with sprinkles. He broke his arm chasing the twins so a quieter party (less pushing).
- Our Gretchen took 3rd place in the Tennessee State Gymnastics. Her team took 2nd, the 3rd was among all the gymnast not her team. She rocks! Wished we could have seen it ... have foot that does not travel.
- Dallin finished up his season with the high school marching band. We hate we missed the competitions but maybe next year.
- Parker is growing like a weed & enjoying alone time with Mom as the others stay so buzy.
- Dale came to Minnie's funeral & we were thrilled to see our busy fireman. Looking forward to the visit at the end of the month with Leah & Rebekah.
- Dare is starting her Yoga Teaching Classes & keeping her blog going plus chasing 4 boys under 6 (one who broke his arm) ... Ryan works hard & is a great Dad to 4 boys.
- Stacey, well you just read what the Mom is doing.... running the house, the routes to events, getting the house ready to show for realtor, & etc. Richard is traveling between Orlando & Nashville plus started his food blog.
As you can see, we have lots of reasons to rejoice. I am sure Minnie & my Mom are trying to find a way to fix my problems from Heaven.
OH! yeah the caffeine drinks .... I found a few stores a hour away that have caffeine free Dr Pepper. We make runs & pick up enough till next trip. YEAH!!!!
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