Put Your Feet Up!

Well, put your foot up, might be a better title! Here are details of my recent foot surgery for those who are interested...

Some of you know that the last time I had an endoscopy, I started my own IV. Well, I decided to do it again! So, Woody was my assistant once again, and we got it started on the first poke! Yeah! I decided to give it a try again since my veins virtually disappear when I am cold or nervous.

Woody drove me to the hospital by 6AM so that we could sign papers and have me ready for surgery by 7. The doctors were pretty impressed with the IV. The doctors – surgeon, family MD, and anesthesiologist – all seemed very good, and we were pleased. I was in surgery for about an hour. They dissected the two nerves in the area, which looked normal. So, they decided to investigate a bit deeper and found a small mass close to the nerve and bone (4mm diameter). They weren’t sure if it was a “foreign body” or nerve tissue or some other type of small mass. They removed it and sent it to pathology. (No report as of yet.) They feel quite certain the surgery will correct my foot pain.

I’ve already been able to put a bit of weight on my heel or the side of my foot. For two days I will mostly be lying down with my foot up.

When we returned home after a long day at the hospital and a slow drive home through Christmas traffic jams, Brian and Stephanie had fixed us a lovely trout dinner. Our team riends had left a beautiful fresh flower bouquet, graced by a really nice card.

Woody has been my ANGEL during all of this! What would I do without him!?!?

Thanks for your prayers. Continue to pray for me during this recovery… that the surgery might truly correct the problem; for grace for Woody and me as I am so dependent on him; for relative freedom from pain; for the ability to rest.

Book Club

Today I got up bright and early in order to make bread dough before taking off with Woody for a two hour pre-marital counseling appointment with Pablo and Jenny. By the time we got back, I had just enough time to rush along my home-made rolls as a contribution to our final book club of the year.

I have really enjoyed reading this year. Book Club has helped motivate me, and we’ve come up with some winners! I’ve read over 20 books this year. Among my favorites have been Suite Francais; Cry, the Beloved Country; A Journey to Victorious Praying; The Kite Runner; One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich; The Hiding Place; and Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World.

We had a great book to conclude the year. We read Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Though I have read it before, it is one of those books that you can read again and again and still enjoy.

Some of our book club meetings this have been a bit dull. But today’s club was the most fun of all of them so far. Karen hosted the party, and she is a fantastic hostess! When we arrived, she had a Christmas craft ready for all of us. We made plates, decoupaged with Christmas fabrics she had brought from the USA. It was really fun!

Lunch was sumptuous! My rolls turned out great, for one. J Karen had fixed grilled chicken salad. You can’t beat a fresh Costa Rican fruit salad, including oranges, pineapple, mango, papaya, bananas, passion fruit, grapes and pecans! As we ate, we each had a chance to share a special Christmas memory.

We had a couple of special guests who also read the book in order to join our group today. Helen, a new intern from England, and Carol, a friend of Stephanie, were a great addition to the book discussion! Karen had each of us come prepared with a discussion question, so the dialog was animated.

Karen’s incredible home-made desserts were the icing on the cake. Birds nest cookies, fudge, and pecan snowballs were the perfect touch for a book club finale. As we washed up the dishes, I asked, “Are we going to have book club again next year?”

The group responded in unison, “OF COURSE!!!”