Cabernet and Carboplatin

I had x-rays last week and then a video conference with my New York surgeon on Friday. He says four more weeks non weight-bearing, and then, if x-rays look good, on to the walker, for probably another four weeks. Atleast with the walker I will have more freedom. I will be able to drive and be more independent. Right now I feel trapped. Today was a particularly bad day. I was home all day. The desire to go out is coupled with the desire to not go out while I use a wheelchair. Taking a ride in the car doesn't cut it for me. And I truly hate going places in the wheelchair. The last couple of days I was as low as I can remember being. I had those thoughts that if I had died when the bus hit me Jerry would have moved on with his life, maybe even met someone new by now. He has to do pretty much everything around the house-- laundry, taking care of the cats, a lot of meal prep. He is going away next week, and I really want him to. He will be doing flight instruction in Texas, and h

except for the one in my femur. After I fell a couple weeks ago I got in touch with my primary care physician's office and went in for x-rays. Nothing terrible showed up so we prepared to go to Tbilisi with my wheelchair, figuring after a couple of days I wouldn't need it. Fortunately our Tbilisi apartment had a lift and doorways wide enough for my wheelchair, so I knew I would be okay until I could use my prosthesis again. But as each day went by my leg got no better, so we made the tough decision to go home early, leaving the same day as our traveling companions. Traveling on a commercial flight using a wheelchair was a nightmare, but that's a story for another time. The day after we got back I saw my rehab doctor, Dr. Gonzalez, and she ordered another set of x-rays, and this time the news was not so good. The images showed a non-displaced hairline fracture at the top of my femur. When I spoke to Dr. Gonzalez, she told me she had spoken to one of the orthopedic sur

My physical therapist warned me: the more I walk the more I'm going to fall so I'd better get used to it. But this last one was a doozy. We had come home from a lovely Rosh Hashanah dinner at my cousins' and went upstairs. I remembered I had left my phone downstairs and wanted to see my daily step count, so I headed back down to get it. I sat down on the couch to look at it, got up, and after perhaps one step my prosthetic foot decided not to move, and down I went. It was a similar fall to the one I took in Mexico City, only more so. The pain and anguish had me howling. Since I still had my phone I called Jerry to help me up. Only I couldn't get up. Just like in Mexico City. Jerry went to the garage and once again, got my wheelchair. He removed my prosthesis and helped me into the chair. He got me upstairs and helped me undress and get into bed. I downed a megadose of Ibuprofen and attempted to get comfortable. Ha! I suppose comfort is relative. I did get som

The more I walk, the better it gets, or one would hope. At least my right leg is doing well. It has mostly healed from my Mexico City fall, and I am back to walking around the house sans cane. Unfortunately, the more I walk, the more my left leg, with its 22-year-old knee replacement, is not happy. It gives, which contributed to several near-falls in Mexico City, and may have resulted in that pretty bad fall I took. It also locks, clicks and is altogether not a happy knee. A couple weeks ago I saw a physican's assistant and today I saw an orthopedic surgeon. Unhappy with previous x-rays and a CT scan, he accompanied me back to x-ray, and he had them take quite a few until he was satisfied. When we got back to the exam room he showed me what he and the PA had suspected: the plastic piece in the replacement had worn down, causing me trouble. We discussed options: the first, which I am starting immediately, is wearing a brace. He admitted though, that this would be a temporary

And not nearly traumatic as the last time. While I tripped a couple of times this week, today I took an actual fall. We were headed to the Anthropological Museum and my foot got caught in a grate. Down I went. I laid there for a minute and could tell I couldn't walk. Len had reserved a wheelchair for me at the museum, and Lisa went in to see if she could bring it to me at the base of the plaza where I took the fall. Moments later she returned with the wheelchair, and while still in a lot of pain, I managed to climb aboard. At that point I could barely breathe, but I was convinced I would start to feel better in a bit. As Jerry pushed the chair around the museum the pain did begin to subside. I am thankful that this museum is fairly new, and it is equipped with ramps and all things accessible. Our amazing tour guide, Emanuel, made sure I could see evetything. He was incredible and I learned so much. We stayed and had a great lunch at the museum and then called an Uber. A museum

While I am getting more and more independent and mobile every day, my biggest challenge continues to be the shower stall. I need a shower easy to get into, hand-held, with a stool, which is specifically why I reserved this particular Airbnb in Mexico City. Bars by the toilet, while not totally necessary, would make life easier, and everything on one floor. Ideal. While Aero Mexico says it has WiFi on flights, it did not work on our flight, wnd so I settled in to watch a film I had downloaded. Wicked Little Letters with Olivia Coleman was great fun. But partway though the flight Lisa texted us asking if we had seen the message about our Airbnb. I explained WiFi wasn't working (though texting was for some reason) so no. She told us there were torrential downpours that day and our apartment had leaks, but they had another apartment in the building, with the plan that we would stay in it for two days and then move to the original apartment. At this point what could we really do bu