Up to Now...October

I don't remember if I told y'all that what they think I have is called OSTEOPETROSIS which is where your bones get too dense, and break rather than bend. It's sort of the opposite of osteoporosis. It is considered a rare disease by the National Institute of Health... they say that only 1 in 20,000 get it. It's hereditary. They suspect that I could break more bones (ick!)

So now my left leg is healed enough so that I've gone back to visit the surgeon, J. Dean Cole, MD. in Orlando. Dr. Cole, it turns out, invented the pin and screw that I have in my left leg. He doesn't say anything bad about how the first one (the right) was done, only that it will fail, and he'd rather operate before that happens, although he can handle it if it's after.

We're now looking at the end of November, because my left leg will be strong enough so that I'll be able to use a walker while the right leg heals.

On top of this is the fun of being totally off prednisone, which means that the arthritis and fibromyalgia, from which I hadn't suffered, is coming on strong, because prednisone is also an anti-inflammatory.

I'm so lucky, though, I have a whirlpool (hot tub, spa, whatever they are called), so my usual routine begins with a soak, then breakfast. If I'm up for it, I have weights that I can wear in the spa, and exercises I can do. They are much easier in the water. And a lot more fun.

I hate Physical Therapy: I've been doing some form of it most of my life, however this time I've found a terrorist with a sense of humor, who is a trekker, builds small rockets for a hobby, and does stained glass windows for another hobby. Most wonderful is that I feel better after my hour of out-patient PT than when I went in! They are are a new, sort of, group called Highlands Rehab. They actually worked for another group who decided to pull out of our county, and these three or four decided to stay here and open up their own shop. Greg, my terrorist is now working with Al and Shana, and another lovely lady whose name I don't know. Usually I feel better when I leave than when I come...

So now it's working daily at getting better, getting Adopt a Grandparent straight, and doing email. I'm also struggling with a painting... I'm about ready to white it over and start again. I'm also working on knitting a felted bag, a cotton top, and an afghan to donate to the Martincitos.

The weather is cooling off as well, so I believe I'd like to start walking outside (still on the walker), and at least, I can sit on our "LANAI", a Florida term from Hawaii which means screened in porch.

So I have lots I can do, the trouble is simply getting the energy to do any of them. I'm writing this on my Palm Pilot, for transfer later, which means I'm still in bed and it's almost lunch time. No real problem, though, I have gotten up, and gotten dressed, and am doing this.

My thoughts are with all of you who read this. Thank you. Please write to me at "paralipa@yahoo.com", so I can keep in touch. It’s great that I have all these things to do, but, for me, the most important thing is to stay in touch with my friends. Please write.

PAMELA'S "HOW I BROKE MY LEG" EXCUSE LIST

1. I was swinging from a trapeze and missed the person I was supposed to be connecting with.
2. I was bungee jumping with a 20-foot cord. Unfortunately, the cliffwas only nineteen feet high.
3. I was leaping out of a seventh-story window without my red cape andthe "S" on my chest.
4. I was trying to play Twister while white-water rafting.
5. I was trying out for the skateboarding X-Games.
6. I was jumping out of a plane without a parachute.
7. I was playing that game of "not stepping on the seams on the floor".
8. I was doing the shoo-fly (or is that "shoe fly"?) shuffle.
9. I was executing a perfect jete in my tutu, but I forgot to tell Stan he was supposed to catch me!!
10. I was searching for a way to return to the loving care of the hospital.
11. I ran over my leg with a motorcycle.
12. A refrigerator fell on me.
13. I was feeling well enough for a day trip so Stan and I went up toVermont to attend the hot-air balloon festival in Quechee.Unfortunately, in an attempt to capture a great picture, I fell into the gorge and had to be "air-lifted" back to the comfort of my home hospital. The balloons were beautiful though........
14. After many days in the hospital, I decided to get some sun and relax near the water. As I was dozing off, I heard a clicking noise on the tile. I dazedly looked out of the corner of my eye to see a huge (are there any other kind?) crocodile heading for me. I jumped up to run and fell over the dog. The barking of the dog distracted the crocodile and brought Stan running. He manfully chased the crocodile away and carried me into the house to await the ambulance as I had broken myleg.
15. I was bored, went parasailing, and missed the landing.
16. I was playing hopscotch with the neighbor kids.
17. Okay, I admit it; I hated walking with that damn cane and decided todo something about it!
18. While camping in the Adirondacks, I was surprised by a bear. In my attempt to get out of his path, I tripped over a large rock and crashed into a bear-proof garbage can. I quickly realized that while it might be bear-proof, it wasn't Paralikis-proof. I fell into the can head first. My legs were left on the outside of the can - which was okay until the can tipped over and began to roll down the side of the mountain. In the course of rolling along, my leg decided to go one way while the can and the rest of my body went another way. You can hear more if you go to the local diner where everyone is still talkingabout the tourist whose leg got away.
19. Knowing that I like to be adventurous and try new things, I recently joined an acrobatic water skiing team. You may have seen something like us at large aquatic amusement parks and festivals. While my background experience was limited, the coach realized that I was the one that could accomplish one of the most terrifying tasks - being the top of the five-row water skiing pyramid. My team and I had been performing for a few weeks. The crowds had been totally tantalized by our abilities. When we went by, it was my job to wave from high atop my perch and to unfurl a sign. Typically it was a simple stunt and all was well, but this time....when the winds came up, caught the sign, which went flying out of my hands and flew out across the lake. It floated downwardand landed across the face of the boat driver blinding him. He swerved erratically which of course threw the pyramid off balance. Meanwhile the boat was headed for the water ramp; and as you might suspect, the bottom skiers went up the ramp and flew through the air. I left the pyramid about midway up the ramp. After doing a great swan dive, I landed 25 yards away on the back of a ski jet. Unfortunately, when I landed I forgot to "assume the position" and instead of squatting had legs straight out. As my foot hit I heard a bone snap and well, the rest is history. (There was a rather nice write up in the local paper completewith color picture. I have been told that I can't return this season but they'll keep my spot open for me for next year.)
20. I was trying to break up a barroom fight.
21. All I wanted was a small dish of Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey ice cream and, being the independent soul that I am, was trying to get it myself. Of course the pint container had fallen to the bottom of our new small chest freezer. While stretching to reach it, I lost my balance and fell head first into the freezer with the freezer door dropping onto myflailing legs......I can't wait to get home and have Stan bring me someof that ice cream......
22. I wanted to have a new way to test the airport security people and see if they could find the rod in my leg with their metal detecting wands.
23. I was table dancing and when the man at the table stood up his ----caught the edge of the table...well, you know.

There are a number of these that will be used in everyday explanations... so many could have been true! There is no way I could choose award winners from all this creative input, so an honorary bandaid to all who entered... BTW, you can still send more to either Mary or me, or even just comment here.

Thanks everyone.

You just won't believe this...

It turns out I didn't have the operation to repair my right femur, because I got very sick, see below for more, and was on a ventilatior, congestive heart failure, kidney failure, and on and on, but the Lord decided I am to stay here for a while, and gradually got me out of it. I when to a rehab place, which I won't reccommend to my worst enemy (who I don't have), and checked myself out a week later.

I had had some pain in my left leg before all that happened, even saw an orthopedist about it (HE GAVE ME AN INJECTION OF CORTISONE IN MY KNEE, TOOK XRAYS AND DECIDED I WAS KNOCK-KNEED, BUT COULD SEE NOTHING ELSE) that was really a lot like my right leg before it broke, and, incredibly enough, was. It (the left) broke about a week after I had gotten home. So now I'm back home after another pin and a stay in the same hospital, would NOT go back to the rehab place, awaiting visits from a home health nurse, an aide and a PT. The left leg is really painfull, and it is very hard to walk, but it is only 4 days after the surgery, after all.

I've now got pins in both femurs, and still have to replace the right one. The condition or deisease they suspect is Albers-Shoenberger Disease: osteopetrosis - adult mild form, which is inherited, and affects Mediterranian and Arab types... I may not have that quite right as I'm still gathering information. The very good news is that this form of it doesn't affect life expectancy!

So I'm even more bionic than before (although these bionic implants don't increase performance)... I'd better not walk near any strong magnets...

PS the next post will feture entrys from the "How I broke my leg" Excuse contest, with the winners taking home the much coveted Perils of Pamela award (an autographed copy of the PDA, an aluminium walker ingraved with your name, and a long titaniaum femur pin).

How do you think I look?

Here is my most recent webcam pic.... I did lose some weight in the hospital, but still have the prednisone "chipmonk cheeks". Let me know how you think I look.

P.S in the background, you can see my latest drawing project.

Another Update

I'm sort of enjoying the Florida summer (hotter than Bangkok most days) because I have great air conditioning. I sit outside in the mornings early, and after sundown. And of course, I have the whirlpools at night as my reward for doing my exercises.

I'm still using a walker, but am practicing with my cane, and I believe I'll be back to that soon. I'm still trying to adjust my medications (whenever I had something like this before - 2x, it threw everything off), and get all the readings back in line. I'll get there. As most of you know, one of my long suits is patience...but it seems I only have patience for others, not me - for myself I only have stubbornness, unfortunately.

I have promised Stan that I wouldn't go to Peru to live this coming year, but I will be there to visit...possibly in March or April. Because I took sick, I didn't have the operation on my leg to do the bone marrow transplant, and reset my leg, so I'm looking at that still in November or December.

Again thank you for your emails. I'll be lots stronger soon and able to answer each individually.

What I was told happened, and what I remember happening:

It's pretty difficult for me to remember what was happening just before I got very sick. In fact, I don't remember the day before or the day before that. For me it all began three weeks later.

I'm told that Stan found me non-responsive the morning of the 8th of July, and rushed me to the ER which is right around our corner). They put me in a regular room. His first confrontation was with my primary care Doc, when Stan insisted I be in ICU. Stan was right because I'm told that many of my systems began to fail: Kidneys, congestive heart, suspected pnumomia...etc. I was intubated and put on a ventilatior. I must not have liked it because they say I pulled the tube out. They re-inserted it, tied me down, and knocked me out.

There is some question whether or not I was in a coma, or just knocked out with drugs.Whichever it was, I had the weiredest dreams!

Two to 3 weeks later, the tube came out, and I woke up. They then moved me to CCU. I had a great deal of difficulty eating without getting sick. That continued for a week. I was two weak to walk by this point.Thinking that I would regain my strenght in a rehab center rather than at home, I went to the rehab center about 40 minutes drive from my home.

It was, for me, a very big mistate. I had even a harder time eating (to the point of dry heaves), and couldn't participate in the PT and OT program, which I absolutely detested.After a week of that, I got out of there, and arranged for PT at home.

Stan's good cooking, being at home, and doing PT at home is working out much better. I now play a dailiy medication game, trying to keep my blood sugar in range (yes, they put me back on Prednisone) and trying to keep my blood pressure down (or sometimes up). In between, I'm still trying to read, Knit, paint my Martincitos portraits, and actually try to get to a more normative life. I'll get there, it will just take longer than I want...

oh, and I still need to have the marrow graft and new rod put in my leg...oh well, stay tuned.

Please write to me or answer on the blog if you was more info, or just to chat.

Update to April

In the last post, I had just gotten to Peru, around the end of January. I had a great two weeks, followed by two weeks of hell. I got some kind of bug, which was going around, but with my system, I caught the same thing twice. I wasn't able to keep water down (or in), so no medications. That's the point when my pinched nerve in my neck chose to assert itself.

In a great deal of pain, unable to recover from the bug, or catching it (or whatever else) over and over: I decided I had to return to the States. I got back on February 15th, and have spent most of the time in bed or seeing doctors. Also during that time we discovered that the rod in my leg was poking out of the bone, as the fracture is healing. It will have to be removed, but is the source of the pain I have when walking. No step aerobics, the doctor said.

During all this, we sold our house in Massachusetts, and are building a new one in Florida. In two weeks we'll be down there, and the house will be ready on June 1 or so.

I'm much better in health now, except that my blood pressure is high, and so is my cholesterol. I'll be looking for a good primary care doctor as soon as I get down there.

So the real update is that we're starting yet another chapter, one in which both of us are retired.

I'm in Peru!

I am finally here, and going through the fun first week. I have to adjust to speaking and hearing Spanish all day (exhausting), plus doing a bit more walking and moving than at my north Home. Also I have to adjust to 85+ degrees (I know it's a tough job, but someone has to do it).

All in all, I'm feeling pretty good, the trip didn't completely wipe me out, and everything feels better in the warm.