Re: And the moral of the story is ...

July 3, 2006

There must have been more than a small sense of humor left, grim though it was,

for you to write this!

I think we all make these choices to take the chance to do something normal. If

we didn't we'd have finally given in, and giving in could be a worse fate than

the CP in the first place.

Philip - http://www.xcskiwinn.org/community/blogs/panmanphil/default.aspx

And the moral of the story is ...

Listen my children and you shall hear/

The story of Ann, who has no peer./

She wanted to wash her truck, you see,/

so she got out a bucket & sponge, oh me .../

She got out the 3-step ladder, aluminum,/

with sharp edges and traps good for the milluminum./

The driveway was sloped, oh dear, oh dear,/

But the truck needed washing, it had been a year./

Ann stood on the top step to wash the truck's roof./

The ladder tipped streetward, but she corrected her

goof./

She thought what a horror to fall it would be,/

with so many ways to bang up her knee,/

so many holes for her foot to slip through,/

but that hadn't happened, so nothing to rue./

She got the right side of the truck washed all clean/

and moved to the left, being careful not to lean/

streetward as she climbed up the ladder again./

She swabbed the roof as sure as 2 men./

Then ladder tipped over and, falling and flailing,/

Ann wondered how many parts of her'd be ailing,/

how many bones she would break -- and her knees!/

Was that the HIT ME sign swaying in the breeze?/

Her butt hit the ground, and her ankle and wrist,/

Her foot bent real funny, she knew it was hist-/

ory. Her ankle was broke, of this she was sure,/

and something odd with her toes -- would there be a cure?/

Then her heart skipped a beat, then beat Very Hard/

and hurt -- a heart attack now? Had IT gotten jarred?/

Was she going to die 'cause thanks to her knee,/

her heart was too weak to handle this spree?/

She lay there a while hoping neighbors had seen/

but Sunday eve dinner in all households was queen./

She'd have to survive, skip the heart attack./

Nobody to help, she'd have to bounce back./

She tested her toes, not broken, that's good./

She tested her ankle, and found that she could/

move it as well; and her knees had escaped!/

But the swelling on her foot would have to be taped./

She somehow arose, leaving ladder and bucket,/

hobbled into the house, hoping someone would look at/

her broken and bent, and making her way,/

leaving blood on the driveway, done for the day./

Blood in the entryway, blood on the stairs,/

Blood in the bathroom, her payment for dares./

" A little old lady, that's me " she declared,/

" I'm 64, out of shape -- I should have been scared " ./

She washed off her wounds, her scrapes galore,/

got an ice pack, an Ace wrap, the usual store,/

bandaged her wounds, and wrapped her foot tight/

with the ice and then lay down for the night./

The pain it was growing, but nothing was broken./

She got pillows to elevate -- there was nothing for jokin'./

Turned on the TV, kept wiggling her toes/

To stave off thrombosis, and other big woes./

" I coulda washed the truck on the street " she said, knowing/

that during the night the swelling would be growing./

" Tomorrow I'll hurt more, how stupid is me " /

But HIT ME did lose -- nothing happed to her knee./

Sigh.

July 3, 2006

Oh Ann,

I don't know whether to laugh in delight at your

witticisms, or cry to hear you've fallen. I'm hoping

that with your prose so intact, the rest of your body

is ok, in fact. How's that ankle this morning?

Feeling good enough to clean the blood off the various

places??

Oh my....keep icing and moving a bit today.

And..........no heart attack, ya hear?? Must have

been quite a scare -

Take care,

marianne

And the moral of

the story is ...

Listen my children and you shall hear/

The story of Ann, who has no peer./

She wanted to wash her truck, you see,/

so she got out a bucket & sponge, oh me .../

She got out the 3-step ladder, aluminum,/

with sharp edges and traps good for the milluminum./

The driveway was sloped, oh dear, oh dear,/

But the truck needed washing, it had been a year./

Ann stood on the top step to wash the truck's roof./

The ladder tipped streetward, but she corrected her

goof./

She thought what a horror to fall it would be,/

with so many ways to bang up her knee,/

so many holes for her foot to slip through,/

but that hadn't happened, so nothing to rue./

She got the right side of the truck washed all clean/

and moved to the left, being careful not to lean/

streetward as she climbed up the ladder again./

She swabbed the roof as sure as 2 men./

Then ladder tipped over and, falling and flailing,/

Ann wondered how many parts of her'd be ailing,/

how many bones she would break -- and her knees!/

Was that the HIT ME sign swaying in the breeze?/

Her butt hit the ground, and her ankle and wrist,/

Her foot bent real funny, she knew it was hist-/

ory. Her ankle was broke, of this she was sure,/

and something odd with her toes -- would there be a

cure?/

Then her heart skipped a beat, then beat Very Hard/

and hurt -- a heart attack now? Had IT gotten

jarred?/

Was she going to die 'cause thanks to her knee,/

her heart was too weak to handle this spree?/

She lay there a while hoping neighbors had seen/

but Sunday eve dinner in all households was queen./

She'd have to survive, skip the heart attack./

Nobody to help, she'd have to bounce back./

She tested her toes, not broken, that's good./

She tested her ankle, and found that she could/

move it as well; and her knees had escaped!/

But the swelling on her foot would have to be taped./

She somehow arose, leaving ladder and bucket,/

hobbled into the house, hoping someone would look at/

her broken and bent, and making her way,/

leaving blood on the driveway, done for the day./

Blood in the entryway, blood on the stairs,/

Blood in the bathroom, her payment for dares./

" A little old lady, that's me " she declared,/

" I'm 64, out of shape -- I should have been scared " ./

She washed off her wounds, her scrapes galore,/

got an ice pack, an Ace wrap, the usual store,/

bandaged her wounds, and wrapped her foot tight/

with the ice and then lay down for the night./

The pain it was growing, but nothing was broken./

She got pillows to elevate -- there was nothing for

jokin'./

Turned on the TV, kept wiggling her toes/

To stave off thrombosis, and other big woes./

" I coulda washed the truck on the street " she said,

knowing/

that during the night the swelling would be growing./

" Tomorrow I'll hurt more, how stupid is me " /

But HIT ME did lose -- nothing happed to her knee./

Sigh.

July 4, 2006

Thanks for understanding. I'm so frustrated. All it would take is for a

surgeon to agree to do an upper compartment replacement. I'm 64, fer god's sake

-- isn't that old enough? I've waited 6 years, gone through 7 docs in the last

year. What I'm worried about is my heart. It's apparently gotten very weak. I

had a normal EKG for the surgery I just had, but I was lying down not doing

anything, not falling off a ladder. Later last night I also had heart symptoms.

Maybe I should have called 911 & gotten an emergency room doc to evaluate my

heart. Maybe I need a letter from a cardiologist saying if I don't get my knee

fixed I'll die an early death.

Sorry -- I'm just really frustrated.

Ann

And the moral of the story is ...

Listen my children and you shall hear/

The story of Ann, who has no peer./

She wanted to wash her truck, you see,/

so she got out a bucket & sponge, oh me .../

She got out the 3-step ladder, aluminum,/

with sharp edges and traps good for the milluminum./

The driveway was sloped, oh dear, oh dear,/

But the truck needed washing, it had been a year./

Ann stood on the top step to wash the truck's roof./

The ladder tipped streetward, but she corrected her

goof./

She thought what a horror to fall it would be,/

with so many ways to bang up her knee,/

so many holes for her foot to slip through,/

but that hadn't happened, so nothing to rue./

She got the right side of the truck washed all clean/

and moved to the left, being careful not to lean/

streetward as she climbed up the ladder again./

She swabbed the roof as sure as 2 men./

Then ladder tipped over and, falling and flailing,/

Ann wondered how many parts of her'd be ailing,/

how many bones she would break -- and her knees!/

Was that the HIT ME sign swaying in the breeze?/

Her butt hit the ground, and her ankle and wrist,/

Her foot bent real funny, she knew it was hist-/

ory. Her ankle was broke, of this she was sure,/

and something odd with her toes -- would there be a cure?/

Then her heart skipped a beat, then beat Very Hard/

and hurt -- a heart attack now? Had IT gotten jarred?/

Was she going to die 'cause thanks to her knee,/

her heart was too weak to handle this spree?/

She lay there a while hoping neighbors had seen/

but Sunday eve dinner in all households was queen./

She'd have to survive, skip the heart attack./

Nobody to help, she'd have to bounce back./

She tested her toes, not broken, that's good./

She tested her ankle, and found that she could/

move it as well; and her knees had escaped!/

But the swelling on her foot would have to be taped./

She somehow arose, leaving ladder and bucket,/

hobbled into the house, hoping someone would look at/

her broken and bent, and making her way,/

leaving blood on the driveway, done for the day./

Blood in the entryway, blood on the stairs,/

Blood in the bathroom, her payment for dares./

" A little old lady, that's me " she declared,/

" I'm 64, out of shape -- I should have been scared " ./

She washed off her wounds, her scrapes galore,/

got an ice pack, an Ace wrap, the usual store,/

bandaged her wounds, and wrapped her foot tight/

with the ice and then lay down for the night./

The pain it was growing, but nothing was broken./

She got pillows to elevate -- there was nothing for jokin'./

Turned on the TV, kept wiggling her toes/

To stave off thrombosis, and other big woes./

" I coulda washed the truck on the street " she said, knowing/

that during the night the swelling would be growing./

" Tomorrow I'll hurt more, how stupid is me " /

But HIT ME did lose -- nothing happed to her knee./

Sigh.

July 4, 2006

Thanks for asking. Amazingly , I can walk. I know it got majorly turned under

me. The whole side of that foot is quite swollen and blue (does that sound like

a song?), and does hurt, but the fact that I can put my full weight on it must

mean nothing's broken, or nothing important, and if it's sprained, it must not

be very sprained. I had a sprained ankle when I was 6 and couldn't walk on it.

Yeah, the heart attack thing was the scariest. At least it gives me more

ammunition for my next plea to my OS to replace the upper compartment.

Thanks again.

Ann

And the moral of

the story is ...

Listen my children and you shall hear/

The story of Ann, who has no peer./

She wanted to wash her truck, you see,/

so she got out a bucket & sponge, oh me .../

She got out the 3-step ladder, aluminum,/

with sharp edges and traps good for the milluminum./

The driveway was sloped, oh dear, oh dear,/

But the truck needed washing, it had been a year./

Ann stood on the top step to wash the truck's roof./

The ladder tipped streetward, but she corrected her

goof./

She thought what a horror to fall it would be,/

with so many ways to bang up her knee,/

so many holes for her foot to slip through,/

but that hadn't happened, so nothing to rue./

She got the right side of the truck washed all clean/

and moved to the left, being careful not to lean/

streetward as she climbed up the ladder again./

She swabbed the roof as sure as 2 men./

Then ladder tipped over and, falling and flailing,/

Ann wondered how many parts of her'd be ailing,/

how many bones she would break -- and her knees!/

Was that the HIT ME sign swaying in the breeze?/

Her butt hit the ground, and her ankle and wrist,/

Her foot bent real funny, she knew it was hist-/

ory. Her ankle was broke, of this she was sure,/

and something odd with her toes -- would there be a

cure?/

Then her heart skipped a beat, then beat Very Hard/

and hurt -- a heart attack now? Had IT gotten

jarred?/

Was she going to die 'cause thanks to her knee,/

her heart was too weak to handle this spree?/

She lay there a while hoping neighbors had seen/

but Sunday eve dinner in all households was queen./

She'd have to survive, skip the heart attack./

Nobody to help, she'd have to bounce back./

She tested her toes, not broken, that's good./

She tested her ankle, and found that she could/

move it as well; and her knees had escaped!/

But the swelling on her foot would have to be taped./

She somehow arose, leaving ladder and bucket,/

hobbled into the house, hoping someone would look at/

her broken and bent, and making her way,/

leaving blood on the driveway, done for the day./

Blood in the entryway, blood on the stairs,/

Blood in the bathroom, her payment for dares./

" A little old lady, that's me " she declared,/

" I'm 64, out of shape -- I should have been scared " ./

She washed off her wounds, her scrapes galore,/

got an ice pack, an Ace wrap, the usual store,/

bandaged her wounds, and wrapped her foot tight/

with the ice and then lay down for the night./

The pain it was growing, but nothing was broken./

She got pillows to elevate -- there was nothing for

jokin'./

Turned on the TV, kept wiggling her toes/

To stave off thrombosis, and other big woes./

" I coulda washed the truck on the street " she said,

knowing/

that during the night the swelling would be growing./

" Tomorrow I'll hurt more, how stupid is me " /

But HIT ME did lose -- nothing happed to her knee./

Sigh.

July 4, 2006

I'm curious about what you say here and what others have said about not being

old enough to get the knee replacement. I have always assumed it was possible,

but would avoid it as long as possible. This is because a friend here (who has

already had a hip replacement) has been told he'll probably be a candidate for a

knee replacement too. Now I'll have to ask him if that's likely and why he who

is my age, 47, would be a candidate and others not. This guy was an extreme

endurance athlete and basically just wore out his joints by ignoring the pain.

Reading from the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons website, it seems that

even a new knee won't allow him to do many of the sports he did at anywhere near

the level he would choose to do.

On the heart, were you saying that a wildly beating heart after a fall was not

normal? I have also noticed in myself that my heart and blood pressure were

really affected by the combination of little exercise and high stress at my job.

I monitor it pretty regularly because of training and would never have imagined

how out of whack it could get in such a short time. It seems like you are right,

fixing the knee is essential to your long term health.