Thank you for your prayers

This hasn’t been a good year for Kathy.

Last fall she went outside to pick up the daily paper. Reading the headlines upon entering our apartment, she caught a foot on the leg of a chair that was beside the door. She stumbled across the living room, finally coming to a stop when her head hit the corner of an end table. Her wound required an emergency room visit and a few stitches.

In January she endured hip replacement surgery, spending several days in St. David’s hospital in Austin. This was preceded by several weeks of stumbling around the house and continued unsteadiness. Her recovery time was several weeks and while the surgery was necessary, and considered a success, it didn’t help a whole lot her ability to walk around without discomfort and even some unsteadiness.

All this was in addition to discomfort in her replacement shoulder, getting along with two artificial knees, one kidney plus bad feet. There’s more! In March she began to develop a pain in her left arm. Our family doctor thought it was probably a strained ligament from using a walker and cane. Still, she continued doing all her regular housework, shopping, visiting and carrying out her accustomed duties.

A few weeks later the bone finally broke when she tried to put her seat belt on in the car. She pulled on the strap and we both heard it pop. We hurried back to our doctor and an x-ray clearly defined a break close to the elbow. There was no orthopedic doctor available that Thursday afternoon or Friday just before Easter so we went to the emergency room and had a splint put on waiting for an orthopedic doctor. Monday there was none that would take care of the break so we went to our surgeon in Austin.

She wore a cast on that arm two months hoping everything was going well when it was removed. However, a trip back to Austin two months later and another x-ray clearly showed the break had not healed, leaving a gap in the bone. Kathy had felt all was not well but she continued to hope for the best. So… my heart aches for her because she simply doesn’t need to endure more surgery.

Last Friday we returned to St. David’s for more surgery. I wish I could have taken her place because folks as good to everybody as Kathy is (including her husband of 62 years) deserves better than she’s getting. Over the years Kathy has faced a lot of surgery and it certainly isn’t because she hasn’t been a good person and so very thoughtful and kind to folks who were facing bad situations.

Anyway, Kathy’s home and doing quite well after a one-night stay in the hospital. In a few more days she’ll return to her surgeon for a check-up. So far, so good! She’s a fighter when facing adversity, plus a loving and exemplary citizen all her days. I will never understand why Kathy has had to experience so much surgery and illness when she has lived her life just like God asks us all to live it. However, once more she has endured surgery including a bone graft and a metal plate in her arm.

Thanks for your prayers, cards, letters and phone calls.