mentoring...dropping the ball

February 7, 2011

HI all,

It appears I have been slacking though I read summaries everyday to keep up with

the posts. I see a few people have piped up with surgery dates and are new to

posting anyway. I have been running a mentor program on this site with the

support of others since my revision in 2006. The reason is simple. I was a

member, posting and I had surgery but I quickly found that my family and

friends, though supportive, had no idea what I was going through. The strange

little things that happen like pain in the " butt " for real, the terrible bout

with " bathroom " issues, the balance of hard core medication. It was all foreign

to them and to me and I had no " lifeline " to speak of. I did not know of anyone

to call so I muddled through, finding the whole process emotionally crippling

with a six year old in toe. All that being said, I had talked a bit to

SharonGreene who was having surgery 6 months after me and I decided to " be "

there for

her. I called her almost daily, I emailed her I visited (she is local to me). We

discussed most everything as it happened. I was able to at least say, yes, I

went through that or encourage her to call her doctor if something seemed a

miss. Hence, mentoring was born on this website. All that being said, winded as

I am, I just wanted to say, mentorship is a personal thing so go ahead and send

me a personal email if you are interested in seeking out a mentor. We try to

limit candidates to those that have a revision date for surgery and I try to

pair you with someone who has similar things in common, working, pets, kids etc,

but if not, believe me this surgery is enough to have in common. So, feel free

and if you have any questions, send those along too. I am short on mentors too,

all of you veterans, so please if you can, step up and volunteer. Thanks,

C

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