
I went out to walk my dog Sunshine in the evening on Monday October 12th, slipped due to the recent torrential rains that left a landscaping mess in their wake, and broke my leg. After that it was a blur of hospitals, x-rays and painkillers. I had to wait until a week after the accident to have the surgery for repair. Let me tell you, lying around for a week with broken bones pointing in the wrong direction is no picnic; I don’t care what kind of drugs they give you! The orthopedic surgeon said, “this is an unusual collection of injuries…you don’t see this very often”. It took nine surgical screws and a stainless steel plate to repair the three fractures and completely displaced ligaments in my lower leg.

Sunshine decided to show support & solidarity by injuring her leg as well. Nothing too serious….she decided she did not like a calloused spot on her leg and began worrying at it, resulting in vet trips and the doggie “cone of shame” to keep her away from it. I think she just wanted to maximize her sofa time. She has been successful in that, as she spends a lot of time with me on the sofa where she can be relieved of her “cone of shame” while she sits with me and gets a shameless amount of petting and good doggie praise. Sunshine and I have been staying with Bluwatermom at her home for several weeks, which is more continuous togetherness than we have had in 20 years. I do not know what we would have done without Bluwatermom’s love and care.

Sunshine is still wearing the doggie “cone of shame” and I am still going from wheelchair to walker to crutches and back…but we are both improving. I put both feet on the floor today and wore two bedroom shoes instead of just one! I already had a phobia about falling (clearly a well-deserved phobia!) so getting back to full function is an interesting and shaky journey. If I can get two steady legs by Christmas, Bluwatermom and I may be able to get back to our normal lives by the New Year. Did you hear that Santa? Fingers crossed….