I have been thinking about the newsletter I used to send out with info about family members. There is always something I want to share and I'm sure my readers have newsworthy info about their families' accomplishments. This is the easiest way and actually the cheapest since postage stamps are now 78 cents each.
I'll start with what is happening at our house.
Vic has been busy pruning the 29 rose bushes in our yard. We have daffodils in bloom, with hyacinths, some ground cover, and Johnny-Jump-Ups. I plan to harvest them to dry for use in my crafts. Which I really haven't been able to do much of. Remember when we tried to sell our house and we put tons of stuff in one of those storage pods? When our house didn't sell? We gave up and emptied the pod back into the house? Those boxes are still unpacked! I could unpack them but it would be difficult to put things away once the box was emptied. (From a wheelchair.)
Around the same time as the arrival of the boxes, my left foot became so painful I couldn't walk so I ended up in a wheelchair. After several doctors and numerous x-rays, it was diagnosed as Midfoot Arthritis.
IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ ABOUT FEMALE PROBLEMS, STOP HERE.
Meanwhile I was having a lot of pain which I attributed to my bladder, since I had a bladder suspension at one time. Well, there is a shortage of specialists in our area, and it took me several months to get to an appointment, meanwhile getting more and more pain in the region of my bladder. Then one doctor said it was a prolapsed vagina and atrophic vaginitis, surgery required. The doctor whose specialty it was to do such surgery was booked so far ahead I couldn't imagine being in pain til at least May, when I had an appointment for a consult with him. Mind you, we made the appointment in January!
Meanwhile my foot started feeling better, but the other area was getting more and more painful. So, I asked my PCP to find me a doctor who could do the surgery sooner than May. I suggested OHSU and Spokane; OHSU was not taking referrals, Spokane was ready to make me an appointment...in July.
I finally ended up in Hermiston with an OB/GYN. Oy vey, more was wrong "down there." Surgery required but more extensive than was previously thought. If you want to know what was found, Google "rectocele," and "enterocele." Basically, my rectum has broken through the vagina wall. I continue to be in pain, increasingly more and more. I have an Rx and surgery will be after some healing is done. All of this is because I had five vaginal births, I'm post-menopausal and lacking estrogen. Also, being overweight does not help. (I'm working on that, 23 lbs. down!)
I'm still in a wheelchair because it is painful for me to stand and walk. We were renting one but finally bought one; I've been in one since the end of September. Vic has to do everything, essentially. I can make my own coffee, sandwich or fry an egg, but he has to do the laundry because the wheelchair won't go in the laundry room, but I wouldn't be able to reach to load the washer anyway. He has not complained at all. He said he's just glad one of us is able to help the other!
I'm not asking for pity, but I'd sure like your prayers. Some days I have a pity party all by myself but mostly I'm okay, just in pain and having problems sleeping at times. Surgery will be in about 2 months, in Hermiston, Oregon.
I will give updates now and then. Meanwhile, if you have something you would like to share with the rest of us, email me or text me and I'll post it. I'll try to post regularly,
