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So that I don't hijack Dan's house update thread right out of the known universe, I thought I'd respond to the observation noting that we all look pretty much frozen in time. Maybe it's because time has not been fair in dealing with us. We allow it to go on its own merry way without interruption, and it shows its gratitude by doing things like this to us!
Last year, I had foot surgery. I also had both hands and wrists in braces for arthritis and tendinitis. I had to keep my left foot available in case I needed to kick the bucket.
Last week, I had thumb joint replacement surgery on my right thumb and am now sporting seven and a half pounds of plaster and bandages. Perhaps the extra weight is from the telephone pole it appears they installed in place of my thumb! I'll be in "The Club" for two weeks, a regular cast for two more and then back in the brace I wore last year for a couple months.
The arthritis in my thumb had gotten so bad that my thumb dislocated a couple months ago while I was sanding on a board and I had to snap it back in with my left hand to continue working. I've been getting cortisone injections in my thumbs every few months for a while and putting off the surgery because I didn't want to go through the four month rehab. The dislocation was the clarifying moment when I decided I really was going to go ahead with the operation.
The surgery actually involves removal of the trapezium bone, then cutting a tendon from the elbow down the middle, threading it through a hole in one of the remaining bones, pinning it in place and coiling up the rest of it where the trapezium used to be. After a few months, it builds up scar tissue and fuses everything together, leaving a moveable thumb. It won't be as strong as a normal thumb but I had no strength left anyway.
The fact that I've broken my right hand and wrist seven times probably hasn't helped the overall situation. Some say I have weak bones. Actually, the bones are fine. I just have a weak mind--I still play football, basketball, baseball, soccer, volleyball, go backpacking, whitewater canoeing, etc. at age 62 and intend to continue once I heal up.
This Friday, I'll have surgery for two hernias. The doctor asked if I had noticed the lump and I replied that I thought it was from all the ice cream I'd been eating.
I have to get it all done this month because the insurance rolls over September 1. Earlier this summer, Sophie had major back surgery for a broken L5 vertebrae--they had to go in from the front and back for her operation. I had to get her recovered enough so that the caregiver role could switch and she could then be my helper while I did my part to keep the medical profession solvent.
The bright side of all this is that it gives me another excuse not to learn to hand letter...
-------------------- David Harding A Sign of Excellence Carrollton, TX Posts: 5084 | From: Carrollton, TX, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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WOW David...Pretty soon the only original part of your body will be your agile and humorous mind!!! But as long as that stays intact you'll be fine and we'll all continue to enjoy your sense of humour.
I guess I have been fortunate by comparison...a broken leg at age 35, a torn achilles tendon at age 55 and a new hip at age 69.
-------------------- Dave Grundy retired in Chelem,Yucatan,Mexico/Hensall,Ontario,Canada 1-519-262-3651 Canada 011-52-1-999-102-2923 Mexico cell 1-226-785-8957 Canada/Mexico home
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God, I thought it was because you had a sex change... what a relief.
Just sayin.
-------------------- Bill'n'Annie Davidson Heathcote, NSW, Aus. my Aussie wife, a Toohey's Old, my Holden Ute, Retired from the rat race! Posts: 309 | From: Heathcote, NSW, Australia | Registered: Nov 1998
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This summer's been quite wet and cooler than normal. I was in Wisconsin visiting my 91 year old father earlier this month and missed some 70ºF August days down here--something a Texan is loathe to miss!
-------------------- David Harding A Sign of Excellence Carrollton, TX Posts: 5084 | From: Carrollton, TX, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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David...you're amazing...all those physical problems you have dealt with yet you kept your sense of humor...however you might consider cutting back on the sports just a little.
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I have a close friend in the congregation who says he has told me a few times that it might be time to "hang 'em up" but I tell him a couple problems that hit with advancing age are that both the hearing and memory go, so I'm sure he said something--I just don't know what it was!
-------------------- David Harding A Sign of Excellence Carrollton, TX Posts: 5084 | From: Carrollton, TX, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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My father is 91 and my stepmom is 98 and they still go camping.
Their house in Wisconsin burned down one Sunday morning in March when it was 10ºF outside. When smoke started pouring up the basement stairs, my dad said he didn't know what to save, so he grabbed his favorite antique--his 98 year old wife, and they headed out the door.
I hope I'm as alert, spry, active, and healthy as them when I get to that age.
-------------------- David Harding A Sign of Excellence Carrollton, TX Posts: 5084 | From: Carrollton, TX, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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"My father is 91 and my stepmom is 98 and they still go camping." ?????????? Where do they go camping, at the Ritz-Carleton?
-------------------- dennis kiernan independent artist san francisco, calif, usa Posts: 907 | From: san francisco, ca usa | Registered: Feb 2010
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They have a small RV and take it to the lake. At their age, they're done with tents!
I just got home from the hospital from my hernia surgery. I feel like I got kicked in the gut by a horse and a shoe is still stuck in there... other than that, I feel fine!
-------------------- David Harding A Sign of Excellence Carrollton, TX Posts: 5084 | From: Carrollton, TX, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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You know, for the "Plabs", you might want to go with Magic Sculpt. It'll be much stronger (in case an irate customer punches you in the gut); and hell, it could open up a whole new world of business for the Magic Sculpt people! They might even give you a commission....on bodily embellishments.
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So...David ol' buddy ol' pal, you do realize that at first glance, the second picture looks like "Trick photography the early days". The log you were talking about shoots straight up out of your cast. Some contemporary photoshop-ing would erase the bottom part of the telephone pole. Get well soon; invest in some Michelin Man padding, OK?
-------------------- James Donahue Donahue Sign Arts 1851 E. Union Valley Rd. Seymour TN. (865) 577-3365 brushman@nxs.net
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what's for lunch, Benjamin Franklin Posts: 2057 | From: 1033 W. Union Valley Rd. | Registered: Feb 2003
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