In Sickness and in Health
This past Friday, Richie went in for his fourth surgery on his ankle… count them… one …… two …………….three …………………...four. That is four times he has been taken away into an operating room, sent off to la la land, cut open, sawed on, screwed into, bolted together, scraped apart, and sewn back together. Four times that he has come back from la la land in a dazed state, first wondering where he is, and then slowly becoming aware that the inevitable pain is getting ready to set in. Four times that he has had to sacrifice days, weeks, months (and nearly an entire year the first time around) of "normal" hang out time with his family. That bedroom gets to be a lonely place after a while. Four times that he has had to let go of walking, and rest patiently to allow time pass so he can gradually get comfortable doing it again. This stuff takes a toll on a person. It is as much (if not more) of a mental surgery as it is physical. It is unbelievably taxing. From where I sit ...