Resurfacing for the Holidays
Pardon the radio silence
Seasons Greetings, Outsiders —
The last you heard from me, I was planning to write a post about a Japanese farmer/homesteader. Of course, that did not happen.
I’ve missed writing here and engaging with all of you. In fact, I’m not even writing this. I’m dictating it to one of my cousins. Correcting her punctuation has already earned me an eye-roll, and we’ve barely made it through a hundred words. If I’m nice enough, though, I’m hoping she might consider making this a repeat effort on my behalf.
You see, your faithful correspondent is recovering from shoulder surgery—more specifically, rotator cuff arthroscopy. Tuesday will make Week 7, and what can I say? I don’t ‘do nothing’ well. After sleeping in a recliner for 6 weeks—had to keep the shoulder elevated—I was thrilled when my surgeon said I could go back to sleeping in my bed.
So, what did I do to land myself in this mess?
I spent a lot of August and some of September up in the mountains, where I slipped and fell, hitting my right shoulder on a rock. I ignored the pain for far too long, assuming it was just an alignment issue. (Note to all: never do that.) Within a few weeks, my arm and shoulder began seizing up, so I went to a chiropractor who helped a fair bit by re-aligning me. However, the pain did not fully dissipate, and I did what I rarely do: I went to a doctor, who ordered X-rays and an MRI. Nothing was broken, but his sneaking suspicion that I tore my rotator cuff was spot on.
And here we are.
It’s been a painful journey, as I declined all post-op pharmaceuticals/painkillers, but it’s getting more manageable with each day. Physical therapy helps. I’m in good hands.
There’s more to say, but we’ll have to save it for another day since I can’t type this myself.
From the “sticks,” and my family to yours, have a very Merry Christmas.
-JM
As always, happy to hear from you, but sorry you've had a long and painful recovery. Thanks to your cousin for transcribing, and sincere wishes for your Merry Christmas and pain-free New Year.
Wonderful to hear from you once again JM.
Good grief! I know two people that have had that surgery, and it's a slow road back.
They both complained mainly about sleeping in a recliner.
I remember visiting Monticello and reading that Jefferson's preferred sleeping position was that,
to keep "dark humours" away from his head. No thanks;)
Four years back I had a Grade 3 shoulder separation, that I'd got after falling while running in a farm field with Sophie. My foot lodged perfectly in a same sized dried tractor tread, and I went down like the tall tree that I am. What was humourous about it was going in for second consult with xrays at the local hospital to see if surgery was warranted. The surgeon said no, not warranted, but you're going straight to emerg. I was put in a wheelchair and pushed a city block by a tiny 70ish volunteer woman.
I'd punctured my lung and it was slowly filling with more and more fluid!
They collapsed the lung, drained it, then let it fill properly again....a procedure developed by the local doctor Norman Bethune....who became a folk hero in China when he accompanied Mao Zedong on his long march....fascinating man played by Donald Sutherland in the film Bethune: the Making of a
Hero.
Anyway....Very best to you and your family and a Merry Christmas to all!