Cabernet and an Allen Wrench

As far as weekdays go, Friday is my only unscheduled day, so I thought I'd look through the Towson Y's schedule to see if there was a likely candidate to get me out of the house. I saw there was a late morning yoga class, so I thought I'd head over to the Y to watch it and see if it would work for me. I ran into a friend of a friend right before, who told me about a knitting group on Friday mornings. I thought great! I can knit for a while and then do yoga. The class had just begun when I walked in, and the teacher came to the back of the room. I told her I wanted to observe to see if it was right for me, to which she replied, we have chair yoga classes. That was not what I wanted to hear. I walked in using a cane, so she made assumptions. I stayed to watch the class, and became more angry with each passing minute. I could do just about everything the class was doing. My only need would be chair to help me get off the floor. But I couldn't help think, do I want to a...

Jerry and I got home last night from two wonderful weeks in France. A couple days in Paris to get acclimated was delightful. We stayed in the same hotel in the Marais as last time, so we knew the neighborhood and what to expect. They let us check in early so we got to take nap, which was great. The only downside was putting us in a room in a building with stairs and no railing. The wall and Jerry were quite helpful. We went back to the Musee D'Orsay and the babka bakery. A lovely few days. From there it was a train to Avignon. The train has reserved seating and our seats were up a flight of staris, but a railyway employee, when she saw me, wasn't having it. She found us seats on the lower level, and off we went. Because I screwed up dates, we arrived in Avignon the day before our food and wine tour started, but that turned out to be fortuitous. We checked into our hotel and had a day to explore the old town. We found a great place for lunch, and I got to practice my cobbles...

Last evening I went to Walking School. University Of Maryland Rehab holds this several times a year, open to all amputees. The first time I went I was still using a wheelchair and did not have a prosthesis. Last night, I was probably the most advanced walker there, but I had some questions and wanted to up my skills. I'm so glad I went. It has become obvious to me of late that I depend far too much on my "good" leg. When I get up or sit down it bears all my weight. When I'm standing still my weight is not evenly distributed. I knew I had to learn to trust my prosthesis more than I do, and I figured the folks at Walking School could point me in the right direction. The physical therapists and the man who runs the sessions, who is himself, an amputee, ran me through a whole series of exercises. Squatting, lunging, walking with resistance bands around my prosthetic leg. My leg did things I really did't know it could do. While I was there, I also worked on stairs, ...

Jerry and I flew down to Marathon, Florida a couple days ago for a wedding. The invitation said the dress code was "beach casual," but I was at a loss as to what to wear. I felt that showing my prosthesis would be distracting, but what did I have that would work? Nothing. So I did what any of us would do. i went online shopping. I found a lightweight, very plain silk dress, as well as a pair of wide leg trousers and a short-sleeved tunic made in Finland. i bought them all so I could have options. The day of the wedding I decided on the dress, which turned out to be a good decision, because while the temperature did not soar, the humidity did, and a dress would be cooler than trousers. The wedding ceremony was delightful. The officiant was a fellow physican friend of the groom's. He told wonderful stories and the vows were simple but quite meaningful. After the ceremony were appetizers and live music, followed by a forgettable dinner and even more forgettable wine. ...

Eight years ago on January 4, I had what is referred to as debulking surgery. My surgeon removed three very large tumors, my ovaries, fallopian tubes, omentum, 12 lymph nodes, and every speck of cancer he could see. I had already had my uterus and cervix removed earlier, so he basically cleaned out my abdominal area. I remember being so naive, that after the surgery I asked him if I was going to need chemo. He looked at me like I had just arrived from another planet, and he said, "Uh, yeah." So after healing and getting a port, I went through six rounds of chemo and two years of a maintenance drug, and besides a bout of a barely there bladder cancer, I continue to be cancer free, eight years later. Despite everything I have gone through since then, I have to consider myself blessed. Crazy, no? I am pretty certain I survived everything I have survived for a couple of reasons. First off, amazingly skilled surgeons. It is not all that common for someone with advanced ovar...

When I saw my orthopedist a few weeks ago, I told him my knee replacement revision was still painful, but it wasn't going to stop me from doing what I wanted and needed to do. He totally gotmit, and he discharged me from care. But yeah, it still hurts, and nothing I do seems to help. In addition, my quad in my residual leg is painful when I walk, and my right shoulder is not a happy camper either. For some time now, I have been alternating between acupuncture and myofascial release therapy. The latter targets the connective tissue surrounding muscles. It has helped some, but no, not enough. And acupuncture is relaxing and it has really helped my PE scar be less painful, so I keep going. I continue Pilates and water exercise, and while I know it is making me stronger, my guess is, it is making me hurt more. So what to do? Enter Voodoo. My acupuncturist sprays Evil Bone Water on my knee. Yes, you read that right. Evil Bone Water. Well, at least it smells good, so I decided to lo...