The Third Day of Christmas

On the 3rd Day of Christmas
Nearly three weeks since surgery. We have been snowed in and iced in: have celebrated a quiet, unique Christmas, and have bravely--if tentatively--attempted new tasks such as going into the garage (so that I could travel outside without the need for the medical transport.) Today I may even go up the stairs!

Sometimes Jerry and I look like Frick and Frack, two folks trying to do normal things from a sort of abnormal position. Yesterday I fell off my scooter--no big deal since I only fell about 18 inches onto my right knee. You should have seen us trying to get me up. Suddenly I realised all I had to do was put my weight on my left foot and get up--simple as pie! That's what convinces me I can go up stairs: as long as there is a chair at the top for me to land on and launch from, I should be OK.

The commode has been moved into the bathroom. That means a lot, believe me.

Susan will come for supper tonight. It will be our Christmas supper. She went to San Jose to visit Lisa last weekend and her return home was delayed til Christmas night. Late! Jerry gave her the Trooper (with its 4-wheel drive) to get home--she needed it! Thus we were even more stranded yesterday. But the weather has changed; the snow is melting and the Court is clearing for driving. Things are slowly getting back to normal.

But it is NOT normal for us to be confined to this house. Jerry has gone out (to get the mail, change the hummingbird feeder, shovel the front path) but there has been no driving because of the ice and snow--and the fact that on Christmas just about everything was closed! We've spent the time quietly reading, doing a puzzle (thanks to Joanna, my neighbor), inspecting the Garmin Nuvis we each gave the other for Christmas (imagine that: two old folks each giving the other a means of getting directions so we can know where to go!!)

I've spent some time thinking about Bethlehem and the Nativity and how things went on the first Christmas. When we were there (just four weeks ago!) the guides spent a lot of time talking about the veracity of the traditional sites of the manger, the barn, etc. But I figure that, for the most part, Jesus was pretty much an unknown. Folks likely didn't know his family all that well (since Joseph had left Bethlehem to practice his trade somewhere else, like Nazareth) So the likelihood of his birthplace REALLY being remembered after even thirty or forty years let alone a couple of centuries is pretty low. I can go along with what is known as the "Traditional Site" but I also realized that the site is not as important as the fact. ANYWHERE in Bethlehem is good enough for me. . .so long as I can stand in that tiny city and say my Savior was born here!

I saw the TV shots from the Church of the Nativity at Christmas. Of course it was crowded and rightly so. Interestingly, there are three churches which use it but each church celebrates Christmas on a different day! Nevertheless, each service is full--just as when I was there there was a Patriarch coming so folks had filled the Church; there were lines of school children (all in their school uniforms!) come to pay honor to the Cardinal. It made for an impressive sight! But it also meant for crowds so we didn't see the traditional birthplace. Ah, well. Like I said above, I really didn't need to. And I wonder if I could have ambulated and stooped down to see!

One Week and Counting

It has been one week since I was transported home from St. Vincent's. This has been an experience worth commenting on to be sure. Moreover, I have at least three more weeks of the same to look forward to--three weeks including Christmas and New Years. Rah!

Day by day not much changes. Jerry is great about bringing me the paper and my morning orange juice. I have been dressing--I think that is helpful in bringing a certain amount of normalcy to this routine. Today I actually sat at the kitchen table for brunch (left-over Michigan macaroni. Yum!) The PT who came on Wednesday suggested I get up and move around on my scooter.

Today I actually entertained a couple of friends in the living room. That's what moving around on my scooter means! It was nice to sit in a real chair rather than on the bed or the Lazy Boy!

All of this is meant to point out that, even though I am still pretty limited, I can get around and do a few things, more and more every day. I am really grateful for this situation--inconvenience and all! When I was in Israel we walked--MARCHED!!--everywhere. It was painful to say the least. And I was well aware that, had I been alive in Jesus' time, I would have had to walk with all that pain ALL THE TIME, or not walk at all. OR, I could have sought out Jesus and asked him to touch me and heal me. But that would have been only if I had been in the same place at the same time as he was. Honestly, I felt the hopelessness that folks must feel when they found they were crippled or otherwise handicapped. I can remember thinking how fortunate I was to be able to anticipate going home and having this surgery. God's timing is pretty good after all (Jeremiah 29:11)!

So I hop around here or flop into a chair and elevate my leg (to remind me not to put any weight on it.) And I thank God for the surgeons and the cast technician (who put a racy "cast cap" on my toes) and Jerry and his loving care. I am blessed. And then someone calls to tell me she is thinking about me and praying for me and I am blessed even more!

Two weeks ago I was in Israel on a tour I'd dreamed of for years and planned for starting last February. I went before this operation because I knew my rehab would require up to several months. For sure I would be minimal weight bearing for several weeks and then, depending on how fast I healed, it would be months before I could travel extensively. My doctor had a baby in June and we couldn't schedule me before then. Which meant travel in November, surgery in December.
We left for Israel on November 20th, returned home on the 30th. That gave me a full 8 days in country. We "marched" everywhere! Well, maybe we didn''t march but we walked. A lot. We spent the first three days in the Galilee--northern Israel. It is green and hilly and quite beautiful and really my favorite part of the country. We traveled to Caeserea on the Coast where we started the tour in an ancient Roman out-door theater. Just as we began with "Holy, Holy. Holy" the heavens opened up and it POURED! What a way to start a trip! Fortunately I had my Columbia Sportswear rainjacket so was dry from the top of my head to my hips!
We thought we might be dry in the tunnels but found that the rain was coming down so hard that they were flooding! It made for instant bonding!

We spent the rest of that day drying off in Acco/Akre and Cana and then back to Tiberius to our hotel and supper. Our days were often long--we usually stopped for lunch for about an hour (falafel!) midway through and had worship and supper at about 6:30. Remember, Israel is above the Equator so they, too, are anticipating winter complete with early sundowns. That affected Sabbeth time.

My favorite spot was Ceasarea Philippi (see above left), the spot where Jesus asks who folks say he is, then asks Peter who he says Jesus is. It is a beautiful spot on a cliffside which had been used for altars to a variety of Hellenistic gods and goddesses. I could picture Jesus and Peter and James and John strolling in the cool of the glades, a waterfall which is one source of the Jordon. They were there to relax and in this beautiful place Peter makes his confession of faith. It affirmed my faith: I stood there and said the same thing: You, Lord, are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
That's about all I can do these days, affirm the Jesus is Lord and that He knows what is best for me. Tomorrow I go to the doctor to see how this ankle is healing. It feels fine so I expect the best. Of course, tomorrow we may have so much snow that I can't keep the appointment! We'll see!

Nine days ago I underwent an ankle replacement. The surgery itself was "unremarkable" in that it went well, resulted in relatively little pain, and should produce an excellent result--in several weeks.
But the rehab period is something else! This quilter mom is on bed rest with her right foot elevated above her heart (nose to toes). Moreover, there is to be NO weight bearing on that right foot for the next several weeks.
BUMMER!

Well, it is really not THAT bad. I can use my knee scooter to get me to the family room where I eat the meal Jerry prepares for me and watch TV--"Jeopardy" and the News. But there is a lot of learning and reflection time here!

For the next several days I plan to use this spot to "ruminate" and reflect on this experience. For now I am going to post this and check my e-mai. You see, I am ensconced in the library on one of the bunk beds. I have my lap top here with me as well as a great many other pieces of "stuff" to ease my time. I am sure that by the end of this "rehab" I will have constructed quite a cozy little nest--the operative words are little and nest!

I will sign off now, consider that I now have access to it (that in itself is a story!) and come back later--maybe even with a picture!