Author: mriverswright

Seen & posted today by a Facebook friend in Cape Town, South Africa.

All last week, my 12th PO, I dropped my daughter at school for the first time in four months. This is the walk from the school parking lot to the front door. I took one crutch with me in case I got tired.

Monday I dropped her off & went home & took a nap. Tuesday I started out down the sidewalk with the theme to Rocky in my head. Friday I left the crutch in the car.

This morning it had snowed, and I went super slow to avoid slipping, but still went without the crutch. I’m working hard to normalize my gait, using the weak hamstrings to pull my leg forward instead of relying on inner thigh & outer hip, but it hurts to do it. Hammies ache. Numb skin down the back of my thigh prickles. Can’t take long strides. I got back to the car and closed the door and cried.

When I started up the engine, the radio gave me George Michael’s “Faith.”

So, onward, Hamsters.

Perspective applied. Little gifts. (I’m in blue.)

Den of Positivity, 12 Weeks Post-Op: “…Due to the advances in polymer sciences, the use of bio-absorbable implants in orthopaedic surgery has become more frequent. These implants offer the advantages of initial biomechanical protection and gradual loading of the biological interface between the two tissues, as well as a reduced need for hardware removal. With the use of these biological ‘anchors’, the formation of collagen fibres that anchor a tendon into the bone following surgical reconstruction has generally been regarded as a critical event in the reconstruction of a bone–tendon interface. With time, healing between the two tissues occurs through a process of progressive re-establishment of an integrated collagen bridge between the tendon & bone…Bony integration of this interface tissue appears to occur via progressive ossification of the extracellular matrix (ECM) that ***GRADUALLY MATURES TO RESEMBLE A ‘NORMAL’ INSERTION BY 12–26 WEEKS.*** Wo-hoo! 12 weeks, baby!

Anyone remember this song from Sesame Street..?

…I couldn’t get it out of my head today…

Den of Positivity, Day Who-the-F*#%$-Knows-Anymore:

Weekends suck. Vodka does not. Cheers.

Den of Positivity, 15 Weeks PI, 11 PO:

“…I have a different perspective now: I feel more peaceful and patient. I keep being reminded of the cyclical nature of the world of 10,000 things and have powerful insights that change what I see. I know that we humans are like the rest of the natural world and that sadness, fear, frustration, or any troubling feeling cannot last. Nature doesn’t create a storm that never ends. Within misfortune, good fortune hides.”

– Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao

My wife took our kids up to NH for three days over the school vacation to ski with my in-laws. I stayed home to work and keep healing (11 weeks PO). My son is 10 and has been skiing for a few years, but my daughter, who’s 8, was terrified the first time she tried at age 5, and hasn’t wanted to try again since. Until this week. I was sad helping them pack up their ski clothes and wishing I could be on the mountain with them in a body that didn’t hurt. But Leah’s smile from the chairlift erased all of that. And I will ski again next year.