Skip to main content

It's not my first summer wearing a ski boot

A summer gathering on Drummond Island.
Post-cocktail hour.


After the most recent episode of grace in action, I scoured my memory for the details of my previous broken foot. For the life of me, I couldn't remember if I'd broken the right or the left or the year it happened. Having also sprained an ankle, two things are fairly obvious right now (more obvious than the black cast adorning my right foot). One, I need to write more so that I have written proof on which to rely since my memory is clearly not what it should be. (More on that later!) And second, I am a first-class, gold-medal earning (if there were such a thing), klutz. Klutzy Kathleen. Even before MS was part of my daily life, I couldn't walk and chew gum without a potential disaster.

After unearthing the picture above, I discovered it was my left foot. An adorable nearly two-year-old Delaney is partially camouflaging the evidence of the black cast/boot. And it was July or August because we would spend a weekend there every summer with the Andary's, Waldenmeyer's and Allen's. This will be my second summer in a hot, black ski boot. Oh boy!

It's ironic, perhaps, that I'd just gotten the results from my first-ever bone density test in April. It was the first medical test I passed on the first try. I mean, I was ecstatic! After the dreaded physical in February and the resulting referrals for tests and more tests, it was great news to learn I had strong bones.

My take away for today, if my bones had been bad I could have broken a leg or had a more severe break. And, having had MS I'm fully prepared with a garage full of walking aids to assist my recovery.




Comments

It's not a popularity contest, but ...

Lefties and Other Exceptional People

I have had the opportunity to do a lot of driving lately - back-and-forth to Wabash College and to-and-from Holland, Grand Rapids and East Lansing. It's given me lots of time to think and ponder the greater mysteries of the world; like the purpose of life, why my thumbnails always break first, the speed at which a state police officer will actually pull you over for and the theory of relativity. Oh, not THE theory of Relativity - with a capital 'R", created by Mr. Genius Einstein. No, my own theory of relativity - with a lower case 'r'. Created by this less-than-genius mother of three and wife of one! My theory is that the absolute worst drivers are those that drive exclusively in the left lane (I call them lefties) and the ones that believe the rules of the road apply to everyone except them (I call them exceptional people). I call it my own theory of relativity because these drivers are relatively unaware of how to drive. You know the ones that are going the spe...

Pinball wizard is falling

I've had some unusual titles to my posts, but I'm fairly certain this one takes trumps them all! Hold on, it's going to be a bumpy ride getting to the reason for this wacky title . . . I sat down to pray Sunday and was thankful God knew my heart because the prayers were scattered! I started praying for a friend who'd been in a terrible car accident, and then her husband,and then mine who was traveling to see the husband (his bestie, though I'm fairly certain they would never, ever refer to one another as 'besties' and might instead die of embarrassment at the term), then greater understanding into their bond of friendship. Then I got an answer to the prayer of understanding - brotherhood. So then the prayer bounced to my sons that they have such a bond as their father and his friend, and then on to my son Michael's exams in law school and then on to my daughter who also is heading into exam week for her first year in college in St. Louis. Then the pray...

Poster Child for chemo and freak of nature

I made the comment to my oncologist last week, during my chemo infusion, that I could be a poster child for chemo.  "You pretty much are," she said. I have thus far been sailing through chemo, albeit like a sailboat stuck out in the middle of Lake Michigan when the winds die and it's not moving for three to four days. Because my primary side effect has been extreme fatigue for 3-4 days post chemo. Last Saturday, 2 days post chemo, I took my shower and got dressed and announced to John that I now needed a nap - that kind of fatigue.  And being a woman who has dealt with the fatigue of MS, I thought this chemo kind would be familiar and similar to the exhaustion I feel on a hot summer day where retrieving the mail (our mailbox is at the end of our driveway) while riding my scooter to get it  feels like I've run a 5K. That kind of fatigue. This is the kind that makes it difficult to even get up, needing a nap after getting out of bed. Well that might be a little ...