Update:
I am amazed how much work there is to get done so that I can take some
time off. Not only do I have to make
certain everything is up to date, but I also have to do some things a couple of
weeks in advance so that things keep humming along while I am gone. I am doing pretty well and only have about
three big things left on my To Do List.
Barring something unforeseen, I should get it all locked down by close
of business.
I’ve got an appointment today at the lab that made my prosthetic leg. They are going to evaluate the sore on my leg
to see if it has healed well enough so I can start wearing my prosthesis
again. And they’ll give me some help on
getting my slightly swollen calf back into the prosthesis. Obviously I am hoping that they will give me
the okay to wear my leg; but if they don’t, I’ll just have to suck it up and
keep rolling along in my wheelchair. The
chair does help me keep my upper body in shape so it is not an entire loss.
On Friday morning, I have an appointment with my retinal
specialist. It is time for him to take
photos and evaluate how everything is going and then I’ll get another injection
in my right eye. That will put me out of
business for the rest of the day. Friday
evening is opening night for Karen’s latest play at the State Theatre. This is the last in the Beowulf series, The
Dragon. My plan is to attend the play
Friday night—I won’t be able to see well out of the right eye so I’ll just have
to pay close attention keeping my left eye on the all the action.
Saturday morning my vacation officially begins and I am hoping to feel
well enough to drive down to see my brother (just me—the wife and rest of the
family cannot go). If I am not up to
driving, I’ll have to wait until Sunday to go.
When I planned my time off I didn’t realize that my eye doctor would be
on vacation and would be gone until the Friday before I planned on leaving. He didn’t want my eye to go without
evaluation and treatment until I got back, so that is how I have an eye
injection suddenly scheduled the day before I leave to go spend time with my brother
in Missouri.
While I am gone, I don’t plan on writing Updates and Thoughts on a
daily basis. I may write one every few
days and get it posted; but I hope that I am having way too much fun to have
time to write. So you won’t hear too
much from me for a couple of weeks.
Thought for the Day:
I was thinking about some of the benefits of being an amputee. First of all, I get a great choice of parking
spaces. It only takes me half the time
to clip my toenails. A pair of socks
lasts me twice as long. If a dog bites
my leg, I have a 50/50 chance that it will hurt him more than it hurts me; the
same goes for accidently dropping something on my foot—I have even odds that it
won’t hurt me. I have a built in excuse
if I want to get out of some commitment, “Gee!
I would love to come to your party; but I have to… uh…‘wax’ my
prosthesis this evening.”
Now for some of the negative things about being an amputee. I have to remember where I put my leg when I
get up in the morning (I’m always losing stuff). If someone tells me a whopper and is pulling
my leg—they might just get away with it now.
I lose more arguments because my opponent realizes that I don’t have a
leg to stand on. I often find that I’m
stumped by simple math problems.
As you can see my sense of humor hasn’t suffered any (it hasn’t
improved any either).
Seriously one positive thing that being an amputee has done for me is
to cause me to slow down, look around, and appreciate what I have. I’m still busy some days; but most days I go
at a slower pace. I am not so frantic
and impatient as I used to be. Since I
am more limited and I have to spend more time thinking about how I can do
something, I find that I pray about more things than I used to.
Another positive thing about my amputation is that it has given me an
opportunity to prioritize the activities in my life. Before my day was filled as I went from one
thing to another, never really stopping to think if I should be doing it all—I could,
so I did. Now I am a bit more
selective. I have a chance to question
my motives and my effectiveness. “Should
I really be spending this much time doing this activity? Is it really worth it?”
I’ve also become more thankful for the little things. Instead of seeing only the flaws, I see
positive things now as well. That’s
helped changed my attitude immensely. I’ve
got room for improvement in this area; but it’s a start.
So I’d encourage you to seek out the good and work at seeing past the
bad. Let’s work at seeing the positive
instead of only the negative. I’m not
talking about unbridled optimism, but instead of overwhelming negativity, let’s
strive for a realistic & accurate assessment of our lives, our
relationships, our jobs, and our future.
No comments:
Post a Comment